NIGERIA: MUSLIMS PERSPECTIVES ON SHARIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 06503

E.O. 12356: DECL: OADR
TAGS: PGOV KISL PINR NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: MUSLIMS PERSPECTIVES ON SHARIA


1. CONFIDENTIAL - ENTIRE TEXT.


2. SUMMARY: DURING POLOFF'S TRIP TO THE NORTH
APRIL 3-14, MUSLIM SPOKESMEN PROTESTED THAT WESTERN
PORTRAYALS GIVE A DISTORTED PICTURE OF THE SHARIA COURT
SYSTEM. CONTRARY TO ITS BRUTAL IMAGE IN THE WEST, THEY
ASSERT, SHARIA PROVIDES A HUMANE AND EFFECTIVE DETERRENT
TO WRONGDOING THAT IS COMPATIBLE BOTH WITH MUSLIM ETHICS
AND THE HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE OF ISLAM. MOREOVER,
CHARGES THAT IT IS A VESTIGE OF "BACKWARDNESS" THAT WILL
BECOME EXTINCT BEFORE THE ADVANCE OF "MODERNITY" HAVE
NOT, THEY STATE, BEEN BORNE OUT IN ACTUALITY. THE
EXAMPLES OF SHARIA CASES PROVIDED, WHILE INSUFFICIENT
EITHER TO VALIDATE OR REFUTE THEIR CONTENTIONS, SHOW HOW
DEEPLY ENMESHED SHARIA IS IN MUSLIM SOCIETY IN THE NORTH
AND HOW INTRACTIBLE IT IS LIKELY TO BE AS A POLITICAL
ISSUE.


3. IN COMPILING THIS REPORT, POLOFF SPOKE WITH THE
FOLLOWING PERSONS: JUSTICE MU'AZU ALIYU, GRAND KHADI OF
KADUNA; SHEIK ABUBAKAR MAHMOUD GUMI, LEADER OF THE IZALA
SECT OF ISLAM; PROFESSOR AUWULU HAMISU YADUDU, HEAD OF
THE LAW FACULTY, BAYERO UNIVERSITY IN KANO; AND
PROFESSOR MUHAMMED SANI ZAHRADEEN, HEAD OF THE ISLAMIC
ARTS AND STUDIES DEPARTMENT, BAYERO UNIVERSITY IN KANO.
END SUMMARY.

HISTORICAL GENESIS OF SHARIA
--------------


4. ACCORDING TO ZAHRADEEN, THE SHARIA COURTS ARE A
PRODUCT OF AN HISTORICAL EVOLUTION THAT IS DIFFERENT
FROM, BUT NO LESS VALID THAN, THAT WHICH OCCURRED IN THE
WEST. THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE--WHICH, HE
ASSERTS, IS THE INTELLECTUAL PREMISE UPON WHICH
OPPOSITION TO SHARIA IS BASED--IS, HE DECLARED, A
CONCEPT WHICH ARISES FROM, AND IS SPECIFIC TO, THE
HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE OF WESTERN EUROPE. THOUGH NOW
DEEPLY ENGRAINED IN THE POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE WEST
AND OF WESTERNIZED NIGERIANS, IT ONLY BECAME THE NORM,
HE SAID, AS A RESULT OF CENTURIES-LONG STRUGGLES BETWEEN
POPES AND KINGS OF CHRISTENDOM WHICH HAVE LITTLE
RELEVANCE TO OTHER PEOPLES.


5. INDEED, ZAHRADEEN DECLARED, NEITHER THE ISLAMIC NOR
ANY OTHER NON-EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION EVOLVED SUCH A
CONCEPT, AND MUSLIM BELIEF SIMPLY DOES NOT INCLUDE THE
NOTION OF "RENDERING UNTO CAESAR THE THINGS THAT ARE
CAESAR'S AND TO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE GOD'S." IN
FACT, HE ASSERTED, ISLAM EXPLICITLY DEFINES MAN'S
POSITION NOT ONLY IN RELATION TO HIS FELLOW MAN AND TO
HIS GOD, BUT TO HIS GOVERNMENT AS WELL. MUHAMMED, HE
POINTED OUT, WAS THE ONLY MAJOR RELIGIOUS FIGURE TO
GOVERN A TEMPORAL STATE, AND FROM THIS EVOLVED STRONG
NOTIONS OF THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGIOUS
ETHICS AND GOVERNMENT. TO IMPOSE CONCEPTS SUCH AS
CHURCH-STATE SEPARATION ON THE FOLLOWERS OF ISLAM IS, HE
OPINED, THE HEIGHT OF WESTERN ETHNOCENTRISM--AN ATTEMPT,
AS HE PUT IT, TO SUBJUGATE ONE LEGITIMATE SYSTEM OF
VALUES TO THE BELIEFS OF ANOTHER.

SHARIA AND "MODERNITY"
--------------


6. ECHOING THE ETHNOCENTRISM THEME, YADUDU IN A
SEPARATE CONVERSATION, STATED THAT WESTERNERS HAVE
DEVELOPED A NOTION OF AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING
"MODERNITY"--TO WHICH THEY ASSUME ALL HUMANS INVARIABLY
ASPIRE--THAT TRANSCENDS CULTURE. THE CORROLLARY TO THAT
ASSUMPTION, HE SAID, IS THAT ANYTHING THAT IS NOT
"MODERN" IS "BACKWARD," AND THUS DOOMED TO EXTINCTION BY
THE "MARCH OF PROGRESS." ALL THESE CONCEPTS, IN
YADUDU'S OPINION, ARE IN FACT CULTURE-BOUND, AND IN
RECENT TIMES HAVE BEEN UNDERGOING REEVALUATION BY
NON-WESTERN PEOPLES. WHERE THE WEST WAS ONCE CONSIDERED
TO BE THE MODEL FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ITS
EXPERIENCES HAVE, IN HIS OPINION, NOT PROVED TO BE
UNIVERSALLY APPLICABLE AND NON-WESTERN SOCIETIES ARE NOW
LOOKING FOR WAYS TO DEVELOP THAT ARE IN KEEPING WITH
THEIR OWN CULTURAL AND ETHICAL PRECEPTS.


7. TO ILLUSTRATE HIS POINT, YADUDU PROVIDED POLOFF WITH
THE SYNOPSIS OF HIS DOCTORAL DISSERTATION. (FYI:
YADUDU RECEIVED HIS PH.D. IN ISLAMIC LAW FROM HARVARD IN

1985. END FYI.) IN IT, HE TAKES ISSUE WITH WESTERN
SCHOLARS WHO ASSERT THAT SHARIA WILL FADE FROM THE SCENE
AS ISLAMIC SOCIETIES ARE DRAWN INCREASINGLY INTO THE
MATRIX OF INTERNATIONAL LEGAL SYSTEMS. ON THE CONTRARY,
YADUDU POSITS THAT SHARIA HAS NOW BECOME MORE WIDELY
ESTABLISHED IN ISLAMIC SOCIETIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND
AFRICA THAN AT ANYTIME SINCE THE END OF THE COLONIAL
ERA. HE ATTRIBUTES THIS TO THREE FACTORS: ITS
ADAPTIBLITY AND RESILIENCE TO THE PRESSURES OF
"MODERNITY"; ITS APPROPRIATENESS TO THE WAY MUSLIMS
LIVE; AND ITS ABILITY TO BRING INTO BALANCE MUSLIM
ETHICAL AND LEGAL PRINCIPLES.

SHARIA'S APPEAL IN NIGERIA
--------------


8. IN A SEPARATE CONVERSATION, GRAND KHADI ALIYU ALSO
SPOKE OF THE APPROPRIATENESS OF SHARIA TO THE MUSLIM WAY
OF LIFE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA. CONTRARY TO WESTERN
PORTRAYALS WHICH, HE SAID, EMPHASIZE SUCH SEVERE
FEATURES OF THE CODE AS PUNISHMENT BY AMPUTATION, MOST
MUSLIMS CONSIDER SHARIA TO BE A HUMANE AND EFFECTIVE WAY
OF RIGHTING WRONGS. IN PARTICULAR, HE SINGLED OUT THE
ELEMENT OF PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT WHICH COMES FROM AN
INDIVIDUAL'S ABILITY TO PRESENT HIS OWN CASE TO THE
JUDGE. THOUGH ONE HAS THE CHOICE OF HIRING A LAWYER,
THIS ABILITY TO "SAY ONE'S OWN PIECE," SAID ALIYU, GIVES
THE ORDINARY MUSLIM A GREATER SENSE OF RECEIVING A FAIR
HEARING THAN IN A WESTERN COURT IN WHICH HIGHLY
TECHNICAL--AND OFTEN INCOMPREHENSIBLE--BRIEFS ARE
DEBATED BY ATTORNEYS.


9. SHEIK GUMI, WHO AT ONE TIME WAS APPOINTED GRAND
KHADI, DECLARED THAT SHARIA ALSO HAS THE ADVANTAGE OF
EFFICIENCY: SAVE FOR LAND DISPUTES, WHICH, HE SAID, CAN
DRAG ON FOR YEARS, MOST CASES CAN BE RESOLVED IN A
FRACTION OF THE TIME REQUIRED BY WESTERN COURTS. IN
ADDITION, HE SAID, SHARIA GIVES GREATER SCOPE FOR MUTUAL
ACCOMMODATION BETWEEN THE CONTENDING PARTIES: IN A
MURDER CASE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE VICTIM'S FAMILY HAS THE
OPTION OF DEMANDING COMPENSATION INSTEAD OF THE DEATH
PENALTY. AS FOR AMPUTATION, HE SAID, THE PUNISHMENT HAS
A DEMONSTRATED EFFECT IN CURBING CRIME: DISPLAYING THE
SEVERED HAND OF A THIEF IN THE MARKET PLACE, HE CLAIMED,
IS A SURE WAY OF DETERRING OTHERS FROM THEFT.

SHARIA IN ACTION
--------------


10. NORTHERNERS PROVIDED VARIOUS EXAMPLES OF THE
OPERATION OF THE SHARIA COURT SYSTEM WHICH, THEY
CLAIMED, EXEMPLIFIED BOTH ITS POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES AS A
LEGAL SYSTEM AND THE REGARD WHICH THE PEOPLE HAVE FOR
IT. ONE TOLD OF A LAND CASE--ACCORDING TO GRAND KHADI
ALIYU, BY FAR THE MOST NUMEROUS AND COMPLICATED CASES ON
HIS DOCKET--IN WHICH A FAMILY PATRIARCH GRANTED USE OF A
PIECE OF LAND TO A DISPLACED FRIEND FROM ANOTHER
VILLAGE, SAYING THAT THE MAN WAS "LIKE MY OWN BROTHER."
WHEN THE PATRIARCH'S SONS SOUGHT TO REPOSSESS THE LAND
AFTER THEIR FATHER'S DEATH, THE FRIEND'S HEIRS CLAIMED
THAT THE ALLUSION TO "BROTHER" INDICATED INTENT TO CEDE
THE LAND PERMANENTLY. THE JUDGE RULED, HOWEVER, THAT
THE LAND HAD BEEN GRANTED FOR USE IN TIME OF NEED, WHICH
WAS NO LONGER THE FAMILY'S CASE, AND SO MUST BE RETURNED
TO THE DESCENDENTS OF THE ORIGINAL OWNER. MOREOVER, THE
JUDGE REQUIRED THAT COMPENSATION ALSO BE PAIB, NOT
BECAUSE OF THE PROLONGED USE OF THE LAND, BUT BECAUSE
THEIR ACTIONS CONTRADICTED THE SPIRIT OF FRATERNAL
AFFECTION WHICH THE PATRIARCH HAD ALWAYS SHOWN THEIR
KINFOLK. IN SUCH INSTANCES, OUR INTERLOCUTORS INSISTED,
A SHARIA COURT COULD REACH A DECISION, WITHIN THE
ETHICAL CONTEXT UNDERSTOOD BY ALL PARTIES INVOLVED, THAT
WAS BOTH EQUITABLE AND FAIR.


11. ASKED FOR AN EXAMPLE OF PROBLEMS COMMON TO SHARIA
COURTS, ONE INTERLOCUTOR SMILED AND RELATED A STORY
WHICH HE SAID ILLUSTRATED THE SYSTEM'S "HUMAN
IMPERFECTIONS." AGAINST HER FAMILY'S ADVICE, HE SAID, A
WOMAN MARRIED A MAN WHO HAD A DIFFICULT PERSONALITY.
INITIALLY THINGS WENT WELL AND THE MAN INSTALLED HER IN
A NEWLY-BUILT HOUSE. WHEN RELATIONS DETERIORATED,
HOWEVER, HE TRIED TO REPOSSESS THE HOUSE, BUT WAS TAKEN
TO COURT BY THE WOMAN WHO CLAIMED THAT HE HAD PREVIOUSLY
RELINQUISHED OWNERSHIP TO HER. UNABLE TO RESOLVE THE
CASE IN ONE DAY, THE JUDGE ORDERED THE WOMAN TO RETURN
THE NEXT DAY TO SWEAR TO THE TRUTH OF HER STORY ON THE
QURAN. THAT EVENING, WISHING TO FIND A WAY TO SETTLE
MATTERS AMICABLY, HER FAMILY APPROACHED THE JUDGE AND
FOR A "CONSIDERATION" OF ONE HUNDRED NAIRA OBTAINED HIS
CONSENT TO PLACE NEWSPAPERS IN THE BINDINGS IN WHICH THE
QURAN IS CUSTOMARILY WRAPPED. THE NEXT DAY, THE WOMAN
DULY--AND UNWITTINGLY--SWORE ON THE WRAPPED NEWSPAPERS,
WITH THE RESULT THAT EVERYONE WAS SATIFIED: THE WOMAN
BECAUSE SHE COULD KEEP THE HOUSE; THE MAN BECAUSE HE WAS
CONVINCED THAT HER PERJURY ON THE HOLY BOOK WOULD BRING
DIVINE RETRIBUTION UPON HER; THE FAMILY BECAUSE THEY
GUARANTEED THAT THE WOMAN HAD NOT FORESWORN HERSELF; AND
THE JUDGE BECAUSE HE WAS ONE HUNDRED NAIRA RICHER.


COMMENT
--------------


12. STORIES LIKE THE ONE ABOVE--WHICH IN FACT SOUND
RATHER LIKE FABLES--ARE UNLIKELY TO PERSUADE THE
UNCONVINCED OF THE EFFICACY OF THE SHARIA COURTS.
NEVERTHELESS, THEY ARE SYMPTOMATIC OF THE DEPTH OF
COMMITMENT WHICH THE SYSTEM IS CAPABLE OF EVOKING IN THE
NORTH. IMPLICIT IN THEIR ANALYSES AND ANECDOTES IS THE
BELIEF THAT SHARIA IS INTRINSIC TO ISLAMIC LIFE IN
NORTHERN NIGERIA--A PATTERN OF LIFE WHICH THEY HOLD TO
BE AS LEGITIMATE AS ANY OTHER AND WHICH THEY WISH TO SEE
EVOLVE ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN PRECEPTS, NOT THOSE OF
OUTSIDERS.


13. THEIR VIEWS ARE ALL THE MORE STRONGLY HELD BECAUSE
NORTHERN MUSLIMS SEE THEIR WAY OF LIFE AS UNDER THREAT.
IN CONTRAST TO THE ALLEGATIONS OF SOUTHERNERS THAT THE
NORTH IS INTENT ON THE "ISLAMICIZATION" OF NIGERIA,
NORTHERN MUSLIMS FEEL THAT IT IS THEY AND THEIR BELIEFS
THAT ARE UNDER ATTACK, NOT SIMPLY FROM CHRISTIANS, BUT
FROM THE PRESSURE OF A MODERN, WESTERN MATERIALISM WHOSE
VALUES ARE INIMICAL TO THEIR OWN. WHILE THEY SEEM
UNSURE AS TO HOW TO ACCOMMODATE CHANGE WITHIN THAT VALUE
SYSTEM, THEY CLEARLY-INTEND TO DEFEND THOSE VALUES WITH
ALL MEANS AT THEIR DISPOSAL.


14. THE DILEMMA WHICH THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE THUS FACES
IS HOW TO RECONCILE SUCH FERVENT CONVICTIONS WITH THOSE
HELD WITH EQUAL ARDOR BY CHRISTIANS--WHO, AS ZAHRADEEN
RIGHTLY STATES, SUPPORT SUCH CONCEPTS AS CHURCH-STATE
SEPARATION AS STRONGLY AS MUSLIMS ABJURE IT. ASKED HOW
HE WOULD RESOLVE SUCH OPPOSED VIEWPOINTS, ZAHRADEEN
PROPOSED A COMPROMISE, BASED ON ESTABLISHING TWO
PARALLEL COURT SYSTEMS: IN THIS WAY, HE CLAIMED, EVERY
NIGERIAN CITIZEN COULD CHOOSE THE SYSTEM HE PREFERRED.
CHRISTIANS, HOWEVER, ARE LIKELY TO SEE THIS LESS AS A
COMPROMISE THAN AS AN ATTEMPT TO EXTEND SHARIA'S
JURISDICTION, SO AS TO ENCOMPASS CHRISTIAN POPULATIONS
UNDER ITS AUTHORITY. (FYI: PRESENTED WITH THIS
INTERPRETATION, ZAHRADEEN CONCEDED THAT SOME CHRISTIANS
MIGHT INDEED SEE HIS PROPOSAL SO; POLOFF HAD THE
IMPRESSION THAT HE ESPOUSED IT LESS FROM CONVICTION THAN
AS A BARGAINING CHIP WITH SOUTHERNERS. END FYI.)


15. SHARIA THUS SEEMS TO HAVE ENTERED AN EMOTIONAL AND
SYMBOLIC DIMENSION THAT TRANSCENDS THE LEGAL
IMPLICATIONS, AND EVEN THE.POLITICAL PARAMETERS, OF THE
DEBATE ITSELF. THOUGH INDIVIDUALS ON EACH SIDE APPEAR
TO TAKE A HARDLINE IN AN EFFORT TO SECURE A BETTER
BARGAINING POSITION, NEITHER CAMP REALLY FEELS THAT IT
CAN CONCEDE ON THE ISSUE WITHOUT DOING INJURY TO ITS
FUNDAMENTAL INTERESTS OR SUFFERING A MAJOR LOSS OF
FACE. EACH SIDE CAN SEE REASON IN ITS OWN CASE, BUT
ONLY MALEVOLENCE IN THAT OF THE OPPOSITION. GIVEN THE
PRESENT EMOTIONAL IMPASSE, IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN WHETHER
THE MILITARY AUTHORITIES CAN REACH A DECISION ON
INCLUDING--OR NOT INCLUDING--SHARIA IN THE CONSTITUTION
OF THE THIRD REPUBLIC WHICH CAN LOWER THE PASSIONS WHICH
THIS ISSUE HAS AROUSED. END COMMENT.


LYMAN