Islamic Religious Education Textbooks in a Pluralist Nigeria

Pluralism and religious diversity offer opportunities for deep learning across cultures and religions. However, in some cases, religious diversity also results in tensions and conflicts in communities because religious differences polarize people of different faith traditions. This article analyzes how religious instruction textbooks used in public junior high schools in Nigeria promote integration and inclusion. In particular, the paper will examine the approved texts used in teaching Islamic Religious Studies (IRS). In analyzing the IRS textbooks, the article focuses on two major points: how the texts present Islam to the students, and how students are equipped to deal with the question of contrasting truth claims within and outside their faith traditions. This article argues that the IRS textbooks used in high school in Nigeria should expand their discussion on Islam to include open interaction about the religious differences within and across religious traditions. I argue that IRS textbooks need to prepare students to deal with different theological truth claims in a way that is both self- and other-respecting. To compose a text that engages religious pluralism, I propose that the approach of teaching religious education in junior secondary schools in Ghana should be used as a model, as it could offer Nigeria some insights on how to teach religious knowledge from a pluralistic approach.