Being a Welcome Address by the Rector, Professor Muhammad Nasirudeen Maiturare at The Graduation Ceremony for Hajj Institute’s 1st Stream of Arabic Language Proficiency Course for Hajj Managers at the Hajj House Abuja On Tuesday 25th November 2025
Protocols,
It is with great pleasure and honour that I stand before you today to welcome you to the graduation of our pioneer graduates of Arabic Certificate Course. This program represents a significant milestone in our commitment revolutionizing Hajj administration in Nigeria and Africa.
Today is a day of quiet pride and hopeful promise. You have not only completed a course of study; you have taken a deliberate step towards making our service to pilgrims more humane, more effective and more rooted in the language of the Holy Qur’an.
Our goal in the Hajj Institute of Nigeria is to make Arabic one of our signature courses. The logic is simple. Pilgrims travel with trust in their hearts and a thousand small anxieties on their minds. When their officials can communicate clearly and confidently in the language spoken by Saudi authorities, and the local community, we become far better equipped to guide them, ease their concerns and carry out our duties with the level of excellence that Islam truly demands. The Prophet, peace be upon him, reminds us that:
إِنَّ اللهَ يُحِبُّ إِذَا عَمِلَ أَحَدُكُمْ عَمَلًا أَنْ يُتْقِنَهُ
“Allah loves that when any one of you undertakes a task, he does it with excellence.” Language is part of that excellence.
This Institute has, therefore mainstreamed Arabic teaching into our core curriculum for Hajj management – combining language proficiency with situational practice in hospitality and crowd management in pilgrimage administration.
To strengthen that ambition we are committing to two strategic collaborations. First, we will pursue an academic partnership with Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah – a university with an established Institute for Teaching Arabic to non-native speakers and a long record of programmes designed for learners who come to Makkah for study or pilgrimage. Our aim, subject to formal agreement, is to develop joint modules, faculty exchanges and short immersion placements that allow our best trainees to study in Makkah under the supervision of Arabic language specialists.
These are not cosmetic affiliations. We intend practical, verifiable steps: jointly validated certificates, short residential immersion programmes, and continuing professional education credits for NAHCON staff and State Pilgrim Welfare Boards. In addition we shall pursue visiting scholar arrangements so that our trainers can learn contemporary Arabic language teaching methods from Umm Al-Qura. The collaboration is designed to extend to other capacity development initiatives. For instance, the Rafid Al-Haramain Initiative – a programme launched in collaboration with Umm Al-Qura University – to train 100,000 Hajj and Umrah service personnel in Saudi Arabia.
These partnerships will translate into real, practical outcomes: dual-validated certificates, continuing professional development credits for NAHCON and State Pilgrims’ Boards, and lecturer development that keeps our teaching methods modern and evidence based.
I must also emphasise that our research has revealed that, other Hajj missions across the Muslim world are doing the same. For example, Indonesia’s Hajj authorities integrate Arabic communication modules into their official manasik training for both staff and pilgrims. Officials there routinely undergo short Arabic courses to help them manage movement in the holy sites with less friction.
All of this reflects a growing consensus that linguistic readiness is part of effective and dignified Hajj administration.
For us here, the NAHCON Act already acknowledges the importance of Arabic proficiency for key operational roles, signalling that linguistic readiness is not just desirable but an essential policy priority for effective Hajj administration.
HIN, In sha Allah, shall become a regional reference point where Hajj management and Arabic language pedagogy meet, where practice and scholarship inform each other, and where graduates leave not just with certificates but with a disposition to serve the pilgrims to the best of their ability.
To our graduates, your next assignment is simple: keep using what you learnt. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “The best of people are those who are most beneficial to others.” Every phrase you use in service, every explanation you give to a confused pilgrim, every calm instruction in a moment of tension will count as beneficial action. Make the language part of your public service identity.
To our teachers, we cannot thank you enough.
Special thanks to:
- Danbaba Haruna
- Ali Usman Mani
- Abbas Zakariyya Gumel
- Tajudeen Adigun
- Sheikh Oloyin Abdulkadir
- Sheikh Zikrullah Ibrahim
- Sheikh Ishaq Umar Abdullahi
- Sheikh Sanusi Ibrahim Dabo
- Sheikh Ukasha Nurudeen
May Allah accept your efforts, increase your knowledge in ways that benefit the pilgrims and humanity, in general. Please join me in congratulating the 1st Stream of HIN’s Arabic Language Proficiency graduates.
To NAHCON Management, we say thank you for the support. HIN looks forward to even greater collaboration as we deepen our training and policy-oriented programmes, each one carefully crafted to transform Hajj operations and position Nigeria as the leading Hajj Mission in Africa and, in time, a global benchmark.
With all humility, we believe the Hajj Institute holds a unique capacity to address the operational and intellectual challenges of Hajj management in Nigeria. This is not an exaggeration. Beyond the Institute for Hajj and Umrah Research at Umm Al-Qura University, there is no other country with a dedicated national institution for professional training and research in Hajj.
With the right operational environment and necessary institutional backing from the Commission, HIN can grow into a shining star in the global Hajj landscape, and a source of real pride for NAHCON. It has the foundations, the vision and the talent to shine well beyond our borders.
Yet, as we all know, even the strongest child needs firm early support to grow into their full potential. The Prophet, peace be upon him, reminded us that:
الْمُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِ كَالْبُنْيَانِ يَشُدُّ بَعْضُهُ بَعْضًا
“The believer to the believer is like a solid building; each part supports the other.” In that spirit, HIN depends on the steady hands of its parent institutions to stand tall, take root and flourish into the national asset it is meant to become.
Barakallahu Jami’an wa Jazakumullahu Khairan
Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi Ta’ala wa barakatuhu.
