Ajami script

Ajami (Arabic: عجمي, ʿajamī) or Ajamiyya (Arabic: عجمية, ʿajamiyyah), which comes from the Arabic root for foreign or stranger, is an Arabic script used for writing African languages, particularly those of Hausa and Swahili, although many other African languages are written using the script, including Yoruba, Fulani, and Pulaar. It is considered an Arabic-derived African writing system. Since many African languages include phonetic sounds and systems not found in the standard Arabic language, an adapted Arabic script is used to transcribe those sounds not normally found in Arabic. Similar modified Arabic scripts exist in Iran, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Emblem of the Nigerian Army, which contains Arabic inscription (Translation: "Victory is from God alone")

The West African Hausa is an example of a language written using Ajami, especially during the pre-colonial period when Qur'anic schools taught Muslim children Arabic and, by extension, Ajami. Following Western colonization, a Latin orthography for Hausa was adopted and the Ajami script declined in popularity. Ajami remains in widespread use among Islamic circles, but exists in digraphia among the broader populace - Ajami is used ceremonially and for specific purposes, such as for local herbal preparations in the Jula language.[1]