Sultan of Sokoto and President-General Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Saad Abubakar III, says the preservation of manuscripts on African history and heritage will correct the European perspective of the continent, appreciate its contribution and worth to humanity.
He said this at a symposium on the Islamic African Heritage: ‘Memory and History’ held in Abuja by the King Mohammed VI Foundation of African of Ulamas.
He said many people recognised that Islam brought literacy to Africa 1,000 years before Europeans colonised the continent, while before the advent of the Europeans and missionaries, there was a level of literacy not any lower than Europe.
He said there existed a trove of manuscripts in private collections, universities, public libraries, and research centres in the country.
The Sultan said three leading Sokoto scholars had produced an astonishing total number of over 300 works, excluding nearly 86 different works of Nana Asmau, the daughter of Usman Dan Fodio, the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate.
He said the symposium was particularly important as it would broaden and sharpen the search for more manuscripts in Africa and present a milestone towards the quest to chart a course that is befitting its legacy.
General Secretariat of Mohammed VI Foundation of African Ulamas, Dr. Si Mohammed Rifki, described the seminar as a concrete step towards the fulfilment of one of the Foundation’s objectives to implement the proposals and recommendations adopted by the members of the committee for the revival of the African Islamic heritage, with all its chapters.
He said King Mohammed VI of Morocco wanted to make the Foundation of African Ulema a prominent platform for the preservation of the faith and its provisions, including the specificities of the heritage of African peoples.
Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammed Bello, thanked King Morocco for choosing Abuja as the host city of the symposium, the first time it would be held outside Morocco.
He said the occasion will further cement the bond between Nigeria and Morocco.
