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Nigerian
Muslims Oppose Anti-Islamic Bill
By
IOL correspondent in Nigeria, Sulaiman Osho
ABEOKUTA,
Nigeria, Jan. 31 (IslamOnline) - The Muslim community in Nigeria has
kicked against a Bill presented to the National Assembly on the
abolition of the death penalty as punishment for murder cases.
The
President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, Dr. Datti
Ahmed, stated that such an attempt was anti-Islamic because the
position of Islam was very clear on this issue: "a life for a
life". Stressing that the presentation of the Bill to the House
by President Olusegun Obasanjo was a "direct attack on
Islam," he noted that divine law should not be said to
"constitute cruelty and inhuman treatment."
Dr.
Ahmed added that the Bill was proposing to forbid Nigerians from
marrying more than one woman as it considered Islamic polygamy as
being "discriminatory against women." He warned that his
organization would not allow such a law to operate in the country as
it was against the principles and practice of Islam.
The
Muslim leader observed that Europe was pressurizing the Nigerian
government to pass the Bill in line with the United Nations
Convention and Western laws. Dr. Ahmed also appealed to Nigerian
Muslims to rise and resist the Bill, explaining that "the laws
were dangerous and should never be obeyed."
Dr.
Ahmed described the non-establishment of Islamic Sharia courts in
the southwest and southeast of Nigeria as a violation of the
fundamental human rights of Nigerian Muslims.
He
noted that while the government established common law courts in the
Northern Nigeria to serve the interests of the non-Muslims, no
Sharia courts was established in the South to take care of the
interests of the Muslims.
He
commended the efforts of the Northern states for the re-introduction
of Sharia law, disclosing that the adoption of Sharia in the
southwestern States of Lagos, Oyo, Osun and Ogun had reached an
advanced stage.
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