This study examines the historical evolution of Kanem–Bornu as one of the foremost centres of Qur’anic intellectual tradition in Sub-Saharan Africa and investigates the continuity of this legacy in the contemporary resurgence of Qur’anic studies in Borno State, Nigeria. Although previous scholarship has extensively explored the political history of the Kanem–Bornu Empire and the spread of Islam across the Central Sudan, comparatively little attention has been paid to the continuity of its intellectual institutions and their enduring influence on present-day Islamic education. The article addresses this scholarly gap by demonstrating that the current revitalisation of Qur’anic studies represents the continuation of a deeply rooted intellectual tradition rather than a new educational phenomenon. The study adopts a qualitative historical research design based exclusively on documentary evidence drawn from classical Arabic manuscripts, historical chronicles, archival records, biographical dictionaries, Qur’anic commentaries, juristic literature, and contemporary peer-reviewed academic publications. Using qualitative historical content analysis, the research reconstructs the institutional foundations of Qur’anic scholarship in eighteenth-century Kanem–Bornu while examining the mechanisms through which its intellectual heritage has been preserved and transformed over time. 

Keywords: Kanem–Bornu, Qur’anic intellectual tradition, Qur’anic studies, Islamic scholarship, Borno; Sub-Saharan Africa, Islamic education, intellectual history.