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 In
the Name of Allah, Most
Gracious, Most Merciful
1. What is Sharia Law?
Sharia is the law of
Islam, based upon
the Koran,
the Sunna, parallel
traditions and work of Muslim scholars in the two first centuries
of Islam.
It
is well know to most Muslims that the sources to the Sharia are
more than the Koran, yet it is frequently stated that the Sharia
is based upon the Koran. Calling the Sharia 'law' can be
misleading, as Sharia extends beyond law. Sharia is the totality
of religious, political, social, domestic and private life.
Sharia is primarily meant for all Muslims, but applies to a
certain extent also for people living inside a Muslim society.
Muslims are not totally bound by the Sharia when they live or
travel outside the Muslim world. The Quran states ...then we gave
you a Sharia in religion, follow it, and do not follow the lust
of those who do not know... From Police to Health, all such
municipalities and utilities are allowed in an Islamic State
based upon need and fair judgment and revelation isn’t absolute
in such circumstances.
In Sunni Islam, there are four schools,
madhhab, which all coexist in peace. No war has ever
been fought over the issue of different schools, and students of
religious subjects in most Muslim countries have to learn about
all four schools. It is in many cases permissible to use laws
from other schools, if one feels that this is more appropriate.
Fiqh is the science of Sharia, and is sometimes used as
synonymous with it. Fiqh is collected in a number of books, which
are studied by students and used by the
ulama-Scholars. These
books are studied and interpreted according to rules found in
school, madhhab, the student or learned man belongs to. But most
people belonging to the ulama cannot interpret freely the fiqh-
books, this is a right reserved for the
mufti, who can issue
fatwas, 'legal
opinions'.
2. Who’s interpretation of Sharia?
Maliki School of Thought rules the Nigerian
Sunni Muslims. This is executed in the traditional Islamic Courts
of Justice set up parallel to the Secular Courts. The Qadi or
Judge has the final say and lawyers could defend alleged clients
and even appeal judgements in the Appeal Court of Law.
3. How far has the Sharia Law been applied
in Nigeria, has it been accepted and adopted by the Federal
Government of Nigeria?
12 States in
Nigeria, out of 24 adopted the Sharia and the Federal Government
has accepted. The Minister of Justice has cautioned that Sharia
Laws should not infringe on Nigerian’s constitutional rights.
Shagari, a former President of Nigeria said,
on behalf of the select committee that advises on the Sharia
implementation that: "This council also discussed extensively on
the remote and immediate causes of the present crisis. The
discussions were very, very sincere, frank and courageous. And
government observed that the sharia issue had been part of our
legal system since independence, and therefore it should not and
ought not to be a reason for the present crisis in the country.
Particularly, the northern governors have agreed that this is not
a new issue because the code, which is the operating law in the
northern states, is substantially sharia. In order therefore, to
restore normalcy and to create confidence among all communities,
it was decided and agreed that the President and
Commander-in-Chief will make a broadcast to the nation later that
evening (February 29,2000). The federal government has no right
to direct the state governments to suspend or rescind any laws.”
A
point to note is according to Professor Muib .O. Opeloye – "by
the time Lagos became a British Colony, Islamic influence had
grown considerably among the Yorubas. It is on record that
in 1899, the Muslims in Lagos forwarded a petition to the British
Colonial Government demanding for the establishment of Shariah
legal system – subsequent to this development was the
establishment of Shariah courts by some Yoruba Muslim traditional
rulers in their domain." The point to stress is that at the time
of the birth of Nigeria Islam was the predominant religion among
the Hausa Fulani of the North and the Yoruba of the South-West
and that a fully-fledged Islamic system of government including
the enforcement of the Shariah was on the ground.
Barring the focus on the stoning to
death episode, as if only one Muslim lady in the world desrves
our media sympathy, multiple other cases have been tried in the
Islamic Courts. Mallam Bello Jangebe had his left hand amputated
for stealing a cow in Zamfara State. Many more have lost their
limbs and a host of others got several strokes of the cane and
jail sentences. Lawali Isa, a fiirewood seller became the second
person to be amputated for stealing
two bicycles. A tradional ruler in Jigawa State, Alhaji Abba
Ajiya of Kazaure got 40 strokes of the cane for keeping at home a
house wife, Faiza Bala, who was not his legal wife. In Narbodo, a
town in Toro Local Council of Bauchi State, 100 strokes of cane
were meted out to a woman, Hajo Poki for committing fornication.
A 35-years old man, Attahiru Umaru was sentenced to death in
Birin Kebbi, Kebbi state for having anal sex with a 7-years old
boy. On January 3, 2002, Katsina State executed Mallam Soni Rodi,
25, by hanging, who was the first murder convict under the sharia
law. He was found guilty of killing with a machete, 35-year old
Hajiya, Zainab Hamza, wife of his master and her two children,
Hadiza, three and Abdullahi who was 3 months old.
However, not all
cases are necessarily Shariah compliant, being Judges are
fallible, and hence the story of Hussaini and Amina.
The situation came
to the attention of the authorities when the man who impregnated
her decided to confess his crime to the police, rather than pay
the child support that her father asked of him. There are many
glaring errors in the case, from a classical, "Orthodox" fiqh
point of view. These errors (which would aid the woman) are not
coming from a "reformist reinterpretation" of Shari'a, these
errors are so great that any of the qadis of the past would have
thrown the case against her out. During a similar case in
Nigeria last year, a Muslim lawyer, Asifa Quereshi, documented
the legal errors committed by the Shari'a court in the name of
Islam. The Quran,
24- 4, states ..And
those who accuse chaste women, and produce not four witnesses,
flog them with eighty stripes, and reject their testimony
forever, they indeed are the Fâsiqûn (liars, rebellious,
disobedient to Allâh).
4. How has the
Sharia Law influenced the ordinary Nigerian?
According to a study
on Nigeria by the U.S. Library of Congress for the Department of
the Army, 47% of Nigerians is reportedly of the Muslim faith; 35%
reportedly of the Christian faith; and 18% practice traditional
religion. A majority of Nigerians 53% are thus non-Muslim. They
should have no fear since Sharia is only implemented on Islam
Adherents and only in the presence of the Muslim Authority.
Sharia was not imposed on the Muslims but this has been a
grassroots demand from the millions of Muslims in the North and
is not to be subjected to the Christians and animists
in any of the states.The riots that came about in Kaduna or
elsewhere recently are really extremist and political flares and
have nothing to do with the religion Islam as Obsanjo
unequivocally said. Media reports, indicate that the Muslim
leader Dr. Lateef Adegbite, Secretary-General of the Nigerian
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) led by example when
following the controversial publication, he wrote to the Editor
of ThisDay requesting the management to tender an apology and
retract the article or face legal action. Following the
publication of an apology, he appealed to Muslims to accept the
apology of ThisDay and lay the issue to rest.
5.
Lastly, what role has the Sharia Law played in the politics of
Nigeria as a whole?
Like everything
else, sometimes the circle of religion gets politically
influenced, leaving a sustained stench of cutthroat and bigotry.
Some states in Nigeria flashed the Sharia card to win elections
and presently if the President wants another term he will have to
be lenient on the powerful voters bloc up North. As a matter of
fact, much of the fanfare of anti-Sharia comes from the
President’s opponents. Also many Muslim Governors, afraid of
being dubbed anti-Islam, quicken their paces for the announcement
of Sharia in their federal States. But democracy remains the will
of the people and if some 50 million odd say they want Islamic
Law that answers much of the crime and robbery, immorality and
injustice then let it be. Something for us to ponder is the fact
that 'adultery and fornication starved-Sharia potential
countries' have reported limited cases of the ravaging AIDS virus
compared to non Muslim majority countries like South Africa and
Uganda.
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