Sharia law Vs. Nigeria Constitution
Nigeria as a secular nation is hardly true given Sharia Law exists alongside Nigeria law.
Earlier this week 8 men and one woman were sentenced to death for insinuating Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse, a Senegalese Islamic leader was bigger than Prophet Mohammad.
According to the news, these guys pleaded guilty to these offence and if no appeal they will be killed.
Sharia court do not have lawyers or jury involved, trials involved the judge, plaintiffs and the defender.
Now a bit off topic – why do people vandalise?
“The venue was burnt to the ground by an angry mob and the nine were arrested”- BBC
Many threaten violence if the nine were released. I think the twisted guys burning properties down in a state where handouts is common should have been arrested – they are the ones deserved to be behind bars for destroying public properties.
Oh well, given this is the first time anyone has been convicted of blasphemy in Nigeria, we’ll just have to wait to see how this goes.
Folakemi 
What a Shame in an AMALGAM!!!
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Prince Adenle, long time no hear!
Shame indeed but we wait and see if this will ever materialised.
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I am in favour of Sharia Law, just as I am in favour of Gay/Lesbian rights. I am not a Muslim & I am not gay, but I believe every individual has the right to decide how best they choose to worship God & how, not just with who, they choose to have sex.
Sharia is an essential pillar of Islam & an individual submits to sharia by simply saying he or she is a Muslim, period. The Nigerian judiciary system makes provisions for every Muslim to dump his faith at anytime and spare his life, if he so desires. But they can always die as diligent Muslims, it is their right. We also have customary courts in Nigeria & they rely mainly on unwritten tradition practices & norms to pass judgments. At any time, folks can seek redress at the federal appeal courts that follow the conventional Nigerian law (mainly western styled laws). So in essence we just have the one ultimate law in Nigeria. It is a fair system for a multi-cultural nation with conflicting religious followings.
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I suppose that is one way to see it – their religion, their choice. I think this is perhaps they way OBJ saw the whole Sharia Law in 1999 and allowed it to be legalised.
Customary courts relying on oral traditions as a guide means ruling is purely subjective so someone could hand another man death sentence just because they looked funny.
The point on Nigeria making provisions for citizens to drop their faith is all that is wrong with Nigeria – it needs to step out of religion entirely instead replace Muslim/Christian etc with citizens. That will make it all easy to swallow.
So much wastage in the name of serving God and yet we wonder where all the money went.
Unlike you Yas 🙂 I think Sharia Law should be scrapped as it is often create more headache for everyone, and if they must continue, let if be funded privately – let’s see how long that would last.
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Hmmmm Private funding sounds good…. but that presents the same problem of uniformity. I just think that for persons like you who consider religion as utter rubbish, such stuff feels silly. But then you have to remember that those who adhere to religious dictate have rights too. I thing it is the very same thing with LGBT rights…. they like it, it affects just them, they want it, let them have it. Simple. The rest just learn to live with it.
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I don’t think religion is utter rubbish – It is a social institution that offers individuals sense of belongings with everyone aiming for similar outcome – afterlife paradise where all is beautiful. Hope.
The way religion has been used to further hold Nigerians in captivity is Utter Rubbish.
The idea that a religion body should have autonomy on important issues such as CP is what gets us in the mess of Boko Haram. Now BH becomes everyone’s headache.
See Yas, the real problem is that it does not stop there…see what Christianity is like today.
Well on LGBT rights – I think American Social Reform = Nigeria Headaches.
On a serious note – Gay rights is completely different o. Now if anyone claims to be within LGBT group and thought he has authority to kill another person for any reason, then we can compare.
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Let me bluntly put it this way….Religion is life & death to lots of folks, it is not about being logical. If you get that, then you will fully grasp what we are up against.
Hence extreme Religious communities don’t see themselves as ‘social institutions’ & the consider it as their objective to not only ‘offers individuals a sense of belonging’ but also punish those they consider unholy. We don’t all aim ‘for similar outcome’ for each other. Yes, we might seperately desire the best of the afterlife in paradise, but not for our rivals. You know that religion is used to hold people everywhere, not just Nigerians, in captivity. And that is the whole idea, it is in all the holy books. If that is utter Rubbish, then the rubbish was be sanctioned by God. Don’t let watered down interpretations confuse you. We are all expected to submit without question to our faiths’ dictates.
So if it is the clear dictate of a religion that its institutions have the autonomy to carry out Capital Punisment, then what right has anyone to deny them their religious right, as long as no individual is compelled to submit themselves to these laws or these religion. That is where I have my ONLY beef with Islam; The lack of freedom for muslims to change faith arbitirary.
Boko Haram is not an offshoot of Nigeria’s sharia laws, far from it! Boko Haram abi? What of ISIL, Al Queada, Taliban, Al Shabab etc. Are they Nigerian creations? Sorry to say it but Islam and Muslims are confused between laudable western ideals loved my a majority of them & the archiarc dictates of their faith, truly original ones. The liberality of the Christian faith makes it easier for christians to adapt to modern changes. But that is not the case in Islam. That my dear FO is the real problem.
I maintain that the best example comparable to this extreme religious dictates is the extreme sexual freedom of the west in LGBT rights. I believe the American reforms is a test ground for how far the free world will go to allow or limit freedom. It makes interesting viewing. I can’t wait for the animal rights folks to start requesting for sexual rights cross animals & Humans, allowing for sexual intercourse across all consenting adult mammals. You think I am nuts? About 15yrs ago, I thought one of my pastors was nut too when he predicted men marry each other in 30 yrs. Just half way later its happening & I think it is legally fair even though I think it is damn right craziness.
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I don’t think you’re nuts, far from it…
Sharia Law in the majority of northern states makes BH a piece of cake getting followers, in 2012, noises we heard from BH leader was for Nigeria to implement SL.
Our ancestors agreeing to all sorts of rules in their time did what they thought is best under the circumstances, this generation too has responsibility to reason and make adjustment in our lives the way that fits the progressive world we live in.
Nigeria is definitely not the only country suffering under the spell of religion but we don’t have to continue that way, do we?
Can it get any crazier than this – kill someone for saying the ‘wrong words’? Under no circumstances should the government allow any religion to kill openly in the name go God.
In terms of LGBT – I think your pastor probably read something about origin of homosexuality which dated back to the beginning of time and was shocked by the newly found knowledge. Same-sex relationships have been around longer than 15yrs, they were only prevented from getting legal stamp but nothing stopped couples from living together.
For me there’s no correlation between Sharia Law and LGBT rights – two separate social issues
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I’m surprised you don’t see the relationship btw the western world legalizing LGBT & Muslims world legalizing Sharia law? Personal choices being legalized & practiced in certain cycles. It is only fair.
Bottom line is, if the so called civilized world truly advocates allowing EVERYONE. regardless of orientation, creed and leanings, to practice their believes, then it shouldn’t be doctor to agree with western values solely. The last time I checked, US laws still kill people as well, even for treasonal acts of revealing state secret.
I don’t know how much you know about Islam… But truly Sharia and its infamous CP is enshrined in the religion. It can not be seived off. Period! You have no idea how popular it is amongst the same supposedly liberal Muslims. The major cause of the rise in extremism in Islam today is the watering down of Muslim values to fit western ones. We can’t deny them their religious rights because it doesn’t agree with our sympathies and standards.
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No I don’t see any correlation between LGBT and Islamic CP. LGBT
Great example re CP for treason in the States, you see, the punishment is applied to protect the interest of all the citizens.
Western world say UK for example advocates freedom of religion but the govt will interfere when the freedom means depriving others of theirs i.e case of a Nigerian female evangelist in the UK a few years ago who was known for torturing children on the pretence they had witchcraft. The UK govt deported Helen Ukpabio back to Nigeria on the basis that she inflicts pains on others.
Freedom of religion needs government regulation, otherwise it will al get out of hand.
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FO…Just like it is the case in the Uk, so it is in 9ja….”punishment is applied to protect the interest of ALL the citizens.” No one will kill the Kano sharia sentenced people IF they seek redress in a federal court of appeal. That is why it is called COMMON LAW.. we all have it in common in case of conflicts of our ‘tripod’ of laws. They CHOSE to be judged under sharia law & that is Islamic law. Simple!!
The scale might not be the same but this has been proven time & time again in marital conflicts, where a Xtrian lady marries a Muslim chap in a common court marriage. If he marries a second wife under Islamic rites, the court grants the lady her rights under common law.
This is the basis of Nigerian law & believe me it is the only way it can work here, with our dogged adherence to our orientations & traditional backgrounds.
Everyone to his own, as long as the innocent are not hurt.
Freedom of religion means you’re free to practice YOUR religion without government regulating it for you. It is your choice…
Again I maitain! JUST LIKE LGBT RIGHTS. Personal choices must be respected by law. You do it for one, you do it for all. If you don’t, then you don’t. No picking & choosing because we like some & don’t like some is being bias. It is all about personal choices.
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You are right Yas, I believe if we look closely Nigeria has more laws meant to protect the citizens than the UK – implementation of it is something completely different.
The example of marriage divorce is another good one, maybe if they didn’t waste so much money defending God, enough would be left behind to educate the population of the danger of early marriages.
If Muslims are allowed to apportion CP, then what’s stopping all of our numerous religions to impose CP?
You and the LGBT rights – Well, in Nigeria LGBT is illegal so don’t see the comparison and Muslims in Western countries where LGBT rights is supported don’t have CP for blasphemy. Muslims that killed under Honour Killings in the west usually get life imprisonment – this has helped curb the belief.
No religion should be allowed to take anyones life. Not simple but it will set a very important tone. Why can’t we draw lessons from other events? Now CP for blasphemy, tomorrow hunting for “Charlie Hebdo?”
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I must say that it is regretable that LGBT is officially illegal in Nigeria, only pushing it further underground. I am confident that will change one day. At one time we all thought CP under sharia will not happen in Nigeria, now it has come to be.
Okay…. at this juncture I must confess that our little debate here has made me rewrite two stories in my new book on the English. So thanks for the insights.
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High five! And we didn’t even have to pull each others’ teeth like our ‘lawmakers’ during debates 🙂 Let’s pray w’ll all live to see this transformation in our dear nation – going to be a long ride…
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VERY LONG ONE INDEED! But the joy is in the fact is these present generations will not always be the actors. Younger generations will take over in the decades to come & their views will surely differ.
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What Nigeria has is a terrible compromise. With the implementation of Sharia Law Nigeria is now in the same category as Afghanistan and Pakistan. At least in the West those countries have terrible human rights records and are not known as good examples of democracy or ordered societies.
I can’t support some shadowy court meeting in secret, handing out the death sentence, because some people allegedly said something offensive. I’ve heard people say that Nigeria has ‘soft’ form of Sharia, this is news to me. People have had limbs amputated, some have had a narrow escape from being stoned, one lady, Amina Lawal was even offered asylum in Brazil, she declined. Now we have secret courts giving out death sentences like candy. This is not mild by any measure.
Turkey is a progressive Muslim state, but has not adopted Sharia Law, they were Muslim long before anyone in Nigeria even knew what Islam was. The founding father of Turkey Kamal Ataturk abolished it in 1924, I guess he knew what was best for Turkey. One does wonder why Nigeria had to take things to this extent.
The way things stand now, non-Muslims are content to see Muslims kill one another, if a non-Muslim should fall foul of Sharia, they have to flee the country and seek asylum – like the journalist (Isioma Daniel) for ‘This Day’ magazine, when she said something that offended Muslims. Is this an acceptable state of affairs? This is what Nigeria has become. Religion is now being misused for political ends, which is definitely the case in Pakistan.
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Good point re the non-Muslims. Until Nigeria could get its acts together and make sure everyone obey the law of the land, it will be chaos. Non-Muslims have their own monsters too, they are above the law of the land.
One way Nigeria could set the tone is by withdrawing all the religious sponsorships, put them all into educating the citizens and incorporating constitution into the school curriculum, that will do it.
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I agree with your reply to Yas, but just as I think it near impossible for any Muslim leader or prominent person to call for the abolishment of Sharia (they are more likely to be assassinated first). Forget about any Christian calling for such a thing, it is politically suicidal.
It will be equally difficult for Nigeria to officially step away from religion as people have embraced religion very strongly on a superficial level. Whole industries are based on distracting the people with religion, and the followers of various faiths form a large chunk of society.
How to unlock Nigeria from this path is a mystery.
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True, we are in a pickle with religion.
One way is Nigeria to implement fair justice system – trust will gradually return.
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Hi Fola, it is difficult to understand how Sharia Law can override Nigerian Law. The Nigerian Law is the law of the land. It is constituted by the Nigerian government. Sharia is Islamic and dictates to the Muslim faithful. A sentence of death is a capital punishment and that should remain the dictates of Nigerian Law.
Leslie
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Thank you Leslie.
And in Nigeria, blasphemy is not a capital offence. We are supposed to be one country under federal legislature governing with the same laws, how a state within the country has the power to impose capital punishment is beyond any reason.
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I would agree with that.
Leslie
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