MAKKAH, 3 May — Nigerian Muslims have put pressure on state governments in recent years to reintroduce Shariah. Despite the demand, the federal government of the Christian President Olusegun Obasanjo tried to prevent the coming of the Shariah in order to Christian organizations.
But in October, 1999, the Zamfara state declared it would Shariah and was soon followed by Sokoto, Niger and Kano. Now the governors of other states, including Katsina and Kaduna, are also under pressure to introduce Shariah. Last year the Katsina state assembly approved a ban on prostitution, alcohol and gambling in preparation for Shariah.
The opponents of Shariah have spread fears that its adoption will trigger communal violence and an eventual splitting of Nigeria, home to 120 million people and the world’s most populous black nation. The country is divided between a Muslim-dominated north and Christian-dominated south. President Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano have downplayed the fears.
Recently, a conference on “Shariah in Nigeria” was held in London. “The whole idea behind the conference in London is to let the general public, the media and the Muslims in UK, in particular, know the facts,” Professor Dawud Noibi, Consultant with the London-based Iqra Trust told me. Professor Noibi is not only a prominent Nigerian Muslim scholar but was also associated with the Nigerian Shariah movement during the 1970s and 1980s. To understand Nigeria’s present situation we should look at the country and Africa’s historical background in an Islamic context.
Africa may correctly be described as a Muslim continent. Roughly two-thirds of its population is Muslim. Both eastern and western Africa came under the influence of Islam many centuries before the Christian missionaries arrived. East Africa learned about Islam very early and Islam was in Nigeria by the 9th century and by the 11th, it was virtually all over Africa, especially in West African region. During this period, Islamic states were established in West Africa, — in Mali and Nigeria. Christianity first came to southern Nigeria in 1841 whereas Islam had been known long before that. Islamic education and Islamic scholarship was also widely known in southern Nigeria. During the colonial period, the British adopted different strategies to rule Nigeria. In the northern areas, they applied indirect rule, which the Sokoto Caliphate had established long before their arrival. In the south, they resorted to direct rule and thus Shariah was prevalent in north but not in the south. The south, however, was well-acquainted with Shariah law through contact with the north.
Up to the time of independence in 1962, Nigeria had separate constitutions for each region. There was, however, one federal constitution, which dealt with federal matters such as foreign affairs, finance, military and police.
After the coup of 1966 and the successive military governments, the country wanted one constitution rather than four. Muslims from the north and the south wanted the incorporation of Shariah in the Federal Constitution which was already in the constitution for the north. The Christians did not agree. “It almost triggered a civil war in the country.
The present president was the head of the state for the whole country at that time in 1979 and ultimately the issue was settled somehow and the Constitution recognized Shariah,” Prof. Noibi said. “What is not pleasant to Muslims is that they did not seem to be given full opportunity to practice Shariah through the establishment of courts; they are still demanding that.” he added.
The movement was successful because the Christians who wanted no mention of the Shariah in the Constitution failed in their endeavors. The Constitution of 1979 incorporates Shariah as an applicable law in Nigeria. It came into effect in 1979 and from that time, any state in the country could establish Shariah courts of appeal.
“The north already had Shariah and all the northern states can establish Shariah courts. The constitution allows Muslims in the south as well to have Shariah court of appeal. As of now, there is no Shariah court in the south,” Prof. Noibi said.
There is only one Constitution in force and it provides that any state in the federation which wants Shariah can have it if the state assembly decides and the state governor approves. Muslims have not been able to carry this out in southwestern Nigeria since they have few members in the assembly.
Since the election in 1998, Muslim politicians have said that if they were elected, they would work to widen the scope of the Shariah.
When Muslim candidates won, the governor in the state of Zamfara was the first to fulfil the promise. They went even further and prohibited such un-Islamic things as prostitution, games of chance, gambling and alcohol.
Muslims throughout Africa celebrated the adoption and implementation of Shariah in Zamfara. Prof. Noibi mentioned their reactions. “When Shariah was to be launched in 1999, Muslims from all parts of the country expressed their solidarity and soon after, other states in the north declared their intention to implement Shariah. Zamfara is overwhelmingly Muslim with a Christian minority and Shariah was implemented in 1999.”
So far as the implementation of Shariah in the south is concerned, Prof. Noibi said, “The present struggle is to let the whole country know that what the north has done is constitutional. It is accepted that it is constitutional law but non-Muslims in particular are still fighting against it.”
About the prospects and success of the implementation of Shariah throughout the country, Prof. Noibi believes that so far as the northern part of Nigeria is concerned, there is no doubt of its success. Ten states in the north have already adopted Shariah and are applying it. Many cases have gone to the courts and Shariah punishments have been implemented. Other states in the north are following gradually. Internationally, there were some favorable comments in newspapers and from the governments of Canada and Australia.
Naturally, there were some adverse comments from non-Muslims. Speaking of them, Prof. Noibi said, “In the teeth of opposition, Muslim leaders in the north said that this was the people’s right. The federal government also examined the constitution and the Attorney General — who is not a Muslim — said ‘We have studied the Constitution. The establishment of Shariah, is constitutional. Action can only be taken in the matter if a person alleges that his rights have been violated as a result of these laws. In that case, it will be a matter for the courts. Up to now, however, nobody has complained.’ He said that he had received thousands of petitions but none of them, whether from a Christian or a Muslim, has said that his or her rights have been violated. Even Muslims, who have been given Shariah punishments have not complained. So what more can I say?” concluded Prof. Noibi.
