Islamic Studies

Islamic Studies is a Department in the Faculty of Arts of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi. The Department offers B. A. Degree in Islamic Studies since its establishment. The programme was fully accredited by the NUC in 2007. This encourages the Department to write a proposal to start running post-graduate programmes which was approved by the University Senate in 2008. The Unit eventually started Post-graduate Studies Programme with a view to offering M. A. and Ph.D. Degrees in Islamic Studies from 2008/2009 academic session. The programmes have undergone NUC resource verification and is currently awaiting NUC accreditation.

The Department further got another full accreditation in 2015. This again led to the proposal for additional course in post-graduate programme. Therefore, the Department is presently running B.A and P.G programmes which include M.A,  MPhil, Ph.D, PGD Islamic Studies and a professional Master in Islam and Gender Studies. Other proposed professional Masters courses are in the pipeline

The courses designed in Islamic studies for the award of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Islamic Studies degrees cover principles and fundamental doctrines of Islam, institutions and outstanding movements which sprang up from the teachings of Islam. The study will be based on the original sources of Islam. The programme aims at providing training in the theory and practice of Islam, cultivating high moral values, articulating clear thinking and developing skills in research; revitalizing the intellectual dynamism of Islam and the academic disciplines and educational activities, enhancing the leading and progressive roles of the Muslim ’Ummah in all branches of knowledge thereby contributing to the improvement and upgrading of the qualities of human life and civilization. Successful students of these programmes (M.A, and Ph.D.) in Islamic Studies are prepared to take up jobs and careers in teaching, preaching, social works, administration, judiciary, foreign services and other areas where a holder of such degrees can utilize his knowledge.

1. To acquaint the students with the broad outlines of Islam as a religion and a way of life and to acquaint him with the original sources and methods of understanding the principles and laws of Islam.
2. To prepare the students to understand Islam as a culture and civilization.
3. To describe Islam to the students according to its original sources; especially the Qur’ān and the Sunnah.
4. To maintain rigorous scholarly approach to the problems of the contemporary Muslim communities with particular reference to Nigeria.
5. To create in students the scholarly habit of facing new challenges with intellectuality rather than sentiment.
6. To produce graduates who will advance the frontiers of what is known in the field of Islamic studies through useful research programme relevant to Nigerian situation in particular and the world in general.
7. To produce graduates who will be tolerant to the other person’s opinion and treat issues with merits founded on knowledge.
8. To place Islam in the context of other world religious traditions especially those that relate to Nigeria.
9. To produce graduates who will adequately serve the staffing needs of post primary and tertiary institutions.
10. To produce graduates capable of handling Sharī‘ah (legal matters) to meet up with the current demand and practice of the Sharī‘ah legal system in Nigeria.
11. To produce graduates with sound moral, academic and professional training for Da’awah and Irshād and other appropriate means to promote peace, stability and progress in the pluralistic Nigerian polity and also help in various ways in solving the nation’s decadence and corruption and enlighten the people about Islam and the sublime purpose of life.

The mission of the Department is no other than keeping to this tradition the unit has, as the bedrock of its scholarly activities, the production of conducive environment for research and learning by students at all the levels of University education, who are intellectually competent to study the various branches of Islamic studies and adapt them into formats which are implementable to solve various problems facing the Nigerian nation in particular and the human species in general bearing in mind the diversity of socio-cultural background, circumstances and time between the human generations.

The Staff of the Department in their zeal to pursue academic excellence are able to work assiduously in giving their best to students. The Department has also subscribed to mobile e-Library for both its staff and students, which they can browse from their mobile phones and laptops.