KADUNA, Nigeria (Islam Online) - While more and more states in the Muslim-majority northern part of Nigeria are following in the footsteps of Zamfara in trying to introduce Sharia (Islamic Legal System) as the form of adjudication they prefer, Muslims in the Christian-majority south too have joined in the clamor for Sharia.
In conferences and symposia held in major southern cities like Benin, Abeokuta and Lagos, Muslims have been brainstorming the possibility of adopting the Islamic Legal System among them.
In all these forums the message is the same: If Sharia is good enough for our northern brothers then it is good enough for us, we are all Muslims and should live by the dictates of our religion.
Alhaji Abdullateef Adegbite of Abeokuta, secretary general of the Nigerian Supreme
Council for Islamic Affairs, was a speaker at a Sharia conference held in Benin City, Edo State. He argued that the suitability of the Islamic Legal System is not in doubt, "since Islamic law has been existing in Nigeria for over a thousand years... whereas the common
law is not yet 200 years old, having been introduced into Nigeria by the British colonial
masters."
Another speaker at the occasion, Justice Abdulkadir Orire, Grand Qadi of Kwara
State, stated that Sharia is the divine right of Muslims and wherever a Muslim is based, he has the right to be governed by it.
While speaking to journalists after the conference, the Chief Imam of Benin, Alhaji M. J. Edosawan, said that even before the declaration of Sharia as the Legal System of Zamfara
State in October last year, "Southern Muslims had been striving hard to have Sharia in this part of the country. But there are a lot of impediments. You can hear the [protests] and cry over the application of Sharia in Zamfara State."
Southern Muslim women were not excluded from the call to introduce Sharia in the
south. Hajiya Kulthum Ilavbare, a nationally known woman activist based in Benin declared that "A lot of us are interested in having Sharia because it brings perfect order and tranquillity in society. If there is no stealing, no armed robbery, no assassination, no fornication and adultery, as well as other forms of corruption, everybody will be at peace."
Another woman activist who is a former deputy governor of Lagos, Nigeria's former capital, also had this to say: "I am for Sharia in all its ramifications. But let us first
revitalize our economy to make every citizen comfortable to some extent, so that people will not have to blame their bad behavior on inadequate [social] services".
Arguing that Sharia is practicable everywhere in the world, Dr. Iysa Ade Bello, head of the Department of Public Law at Lagos State University, added that "Sharia is meant for Muslims, not for Christians. And they are not supposed to impose on us a way of life. We are supposed to choose a way of life we think is most suitable for us. The Muslims want Sharia as a way of life, so be it."
Christians make up about half of Nigeria, the most populous African state with a population of over 120 million.
He stated that he loved what was happening in Zamfara State, and explained that one strong merit of the Islamic Legal System is that "It is impossible for someone who is not an offender to get punished, but it is possible for someone who is an offender to get away with his offense through the canopy of doubt. So even though it is hard, it is meant to deter, not to persecute."
In all, about 10 conferences on the Sharia debate were organized between November 1999 to date. But both speakers at the conferences and the general public agreed that the
greatest challenge to this yearning for Sharia is the multi-religious and cosmopolitan nature of southern Nigeria.
For instance, most families, not to talk of towns or cities, have adherents to both Islam and Christianity, and in some cases even traditional religion adherents also exist. But some proponents of the Sharia are optimistic that since the Islamic Legal System will be applicable to Muslims alone, this factor may not be a serious impediment.
According to Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu of Lagos, the way to go about this is to enlighten the southern public on what Sharia is all about. "We should start with an intensive public enlightenment campaign program. And then I can assure you that, if they are well-enlightened, it may even be the Christians themselves that will demand Sharia."
Hajiya Kulthum Ilavbare of Benin agreed. "We are trying to enlighten ourselves and
non-Muslims on the need to apply the Sharia. There are different groups working on this, and Insha Allah we shall have Sharia."
