Sudan is the largest country in Africa. Covering an area of a million square miles, it extends from the desert in the north to almost the equatorial belt in the south. Islam entered Sudan from the north via Egypt and from the east across the Red Sea during the reign of Abdalla Ibn Abi al-Sarh in Egypt. It then spread southward rapidly.

For centuries, Mauritanian education system was established upon traditional Islamic schools, found in the nomadic communities and in settled villages.

Tunisia was called Ifriqiyah in the early centuries of the Islamic period and was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, which lasted until 1922. Today Tunisia is the smallest of the 'Maghreb' states with Arabic as the official language, although French is widely spoken.

The various Arabic Institutes in Fèz, have placed Morocco on the world map for Arabic studies. However Fèz, in the Islamic world has been traditionally renowned for *Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University for well over twelve hundred years. A typical Institute, of many, underlying how learning constituted the heart of Islam and its civilisation.

Famous for Al-Azhar Islamic University, Egypt has a very good reputation for Islamic and Arabic studies both in the Islamic world and the West. However over the last decade an increasing number of private Arabic Institutes have also been set-up with the purpose of teaching both traditional 'fusha' and colloquial Arabic.