by Aremu Rasheed Olamide
“In the process of reinventing a wheel, we can get something worse than a semi-circle.”
As a student of common and Islam law, University of Ilorin, these are my arguments on the current controversy of shariah law in western states Nigeria particularly in Oyo State where shariah courts were to be established.
This article focuses briefly on how shariah law emerged in Nigeria consideringits diversity and ethic tapestry, the current position of law as regards shariah law, the probable pros and cons of the law in Western Nigerian and of course the way forward overall.
It is no verbosity that Islam first came to Nigeria in the North In the 11th and 12 century through trades and was accepted “ubberimae Fidei” i.e In good faith before it’s proliferation to other parts of Nigeria. It was the mixture of customary law and the received English law from the Europeans that was put in place to governs the entire country as at the time.
Shariah as the basic tenets of Islamic principles is the combination of the Qur’an and the hadith and other subsidiary sources divinely sent to guide the affairs of the Muslim. It came about in Nigeria when Ahmad Sani Yerima the then governor of Zamfara state began the push for the establishment of shariah law at the state level of government.
That year, 12 states was declared to have adopted this law into thier states. These states are strictly northern states albeit championed by Zamfara state.
Islamic law is a complete universal law which is diffrerent from customary law and any other laws like the civil law or the canon law. It has its own codified code ie the Qur’an and hadith and its not flexible like the customary law.
This position has been further highlighted and buttressed by the court in the ground-breaking case of Alkamawa v Bello.
In this case, justice Niki Tobi enumerated that Islamic law unlike other laws is written, precise and with divine ossification. There are other cornucopia of cases decided in this manner which further strengthened Islam law as a unique law distinct from other laws.
There is no gain-saying that the divinity and spirituality of Islam as a religion comes with the total submission to Allah and its teaching and practices, thus necessitated all muslims to follow these tenets to better propagate thier Deen.
Today, Islam is seen especially its law as one holocaust, detested religion with no single benefit except being maniacal, oprobium and harsh. However, these perceptions are far from truth.
Islam is a religion that values human life, accommodates other religion and preaches righteousness to its people.
In fact, the stern adherence to Islamic law is essentially needed in a diverse country like Nigeria where corruption and immorality thrives.
It is only in Nigeria that you see wide suzereinty of the rich and the poor and where affluence trample on the desolate, a country with no respect for rule of law but the rule of man, a place where oppression, suppression and insurrection are the order the day.
As an avid reader, you would want to ask why the states that have adopted this law are still in deplorable condition?!
The answer is not far fetched.
The constitution which is the apex law in Nigeria provides that there should be no state religion, it also spelt out the right to freedom of religion and as such every person can choose it’s religion. The constitution also provides that any state can establish the shariah courts if they so desired.
There are also the Criminal Code use in the southern states and the penal code for states that adopted the shariah law.
These codes are being utilized in criminal matters. These codes are of no benefit to the shariah courts when it comes to criminal matters as the constitution has ousted the jurisdiction of islamic courts in any trials involving criminal dealings.
Consequently, on civil dealing, the courts were given the power to entertain any civil matter only in relation to Islam or when the parties subject themselves to Islamic law. As if that’s not all, the appeal of any Islamic matter can only be entertained by the court of appeal and the Supreme Court respectively which thier Justices have lilliputian or no knowledge about the shariah. There are other catena instances where the constitution subjects the shariah law to be non functional.
This mismatched and distorted practice of shariah law is what the constitution could offer for the past 25 years. The situation is no rattling as the foreign English law that was received into Nigerian debased Islamic law as a customary law and preempt it will no longer be feasible in the test of time. Thus the establishment of the shariah was an afterthought and was never envisioned nor envisaged.
“Repeating the same thing and expecting different remarkable results is a minimum qualification to the school of insanity.”
At the risk of establishing ipse dixit, Oyo, a state located in the southwest Nigeria which is renowned for its diverse culture and rich heritage engendering mostly Christians and partly Muslims was said to have planned to reintroduce shariah court in the state.
This inchoate development was met with wide controversies and staunch rejection by the people of the state. Which further made them suspend the inauguration.
The non-Muslims and the irredentist of Oyo State argued that the establishment of the courts has provides no sound benefits to the states that have adopted it since 1999 but further crippled the thinking and orientation of the people… The most pauperized state in Nigeria currently are some of these shariah states which does not adequately addressed thier needs overall.
It was further argued that the interpretation of the law and it’s tradition has discourage critical thinking and intellectual dissent. It has historically made those states to be less receptive to new ideas and innovation.
There is also the fear of proselytizing the entire state with dogmatic Islam principles especially from the non-Muslims which the establishment of the courts could bring through the back door as we have seen in other shariah states which also by implication will give room for Islamic fanaticism and at worst, terrorism.
Another concern raised was the nature of punishment in the shariah law that is alien to the western part of the country which varies from amputation, stoning, haddi lashing among others. Albeit, these are criminal punishment and very far from civil matters but concern cannot be under-emphasised.
Notwithstanding thier genuine concern most of these tenable arguments are not true. However they were able to come up with a point which speaks to the foundational and fundamental establishment of the shariah law in the country.
The implementation of Shariah law in Nigeria has been hindered by core and alchemystical problems, including historical, constitutional and infrastructural challenges. Addressing these issues is crucial to ensuring that Shariah law is applied fairly, consistently, and in accordance with the principles of justice and human rights in the entire Nation.
The way forward
It flows from the fact that shariah law which is an half-backed law in Nigeria has failed to address the needs and concerns of the people and even the state that have adopted it into thier laws because of its foundational problems of its provisions in the constitution. Therefore, further implementation of the old system of shariah in other states will be non-starter.
There should should be an outright re-engineering of the law by the government through constitutional reform as the current happenings is a wake up call for constitutional revolution in the country.
The Islamic law scholars should also increase thier huddles for the sensitization and education of the pulchritude nature of the shariah principles and teaching.
There should be total overhaul of the current islamic judicial system and new one, which will address and adequately represent the Islamic affairs for all Muslims including the criminal and the civil matters. While considering other religion and faith as it is being done in other climes where diffrerent laws thrive in a sole country.
The total implementation of the shariah law is not to bring shangri-la or utopia to Nigeria but promising hope to turn to in this desolate sourjoun of the people our dear nation.
