Author: Abdulfattah Shith Abdulrafih
Date: 2026/01/10
This study examines humanism in Nigerian Arabic poetry, focusing on the works of poets from the Yoruba region—specifically from the Oke-Ogun area in northern Oyo State—who have chosen to express themselves in Arabic, a language that has long served as a medium of culture and religion among Muslims in Nigeria, both historically and in contemporary times. The study aims to uncover the humanistic dimensions in their poetry, such as calls for compassion, equality, justice, human rights, resistance to oppression, and the defense of Islam, in addition to moral and social values that reflect the spirit of humanism in Islam. Nigerian Arabic poetry in general—and Yoruba Arabic poetry in particular—represents a form of cultural interaction between the Arabic language and African languages. Poets have successfully blended local concerns with universal Islamic conceptions of human dignity. As a result, themes such as brotherhood, cooperation, rejection of social stratification, advocacy for the poor and marginalized, and calls for reform in society and governance are prominently expressed in their works. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach by examining selected poems from a number of Arabized poets, such as Luqman Nurudeen Alawiye and Abdul-Wasi' ibn Mudathir Eleyinke, in order to reveal the humanistic features of their literary production.
Keywords: Yoruba Arabic Poetry, Humanism in Literature, Social Justice, Humanism in Islam, Moral values, Anti-Oppression Discourse. Download PDF