Why Sharia panels are generating controversy in South-West

There is an uneasy calm in the South-West geopolitical zone over the plan to set up Sharia panels in states within the region, Daily Trust can report. The matter became more intense on Wednesday last week when Ekiti State hosted the first Sharia panel sitting at Ekiti Central Mosque, Ado Ekiti with three Khadis forming […]

There is an uneasy calm in the South-West geopolitical zone over the plan to set up Sharia panels in states within the region, Daily Trust can report.

The matter became more intense on Wednesday last week when Ekiti State hosted the first Sharia panel sitting at Ekiti Central Mosque, Ado Ekiti with three Khadis forming the panel.

The Khadis were Imam Abdullahi Abdul-Mutolib, Imam Abdulraheem Junaid-Bamigbola and Dr Ibrahim Aminullahi-Ogunrinde.

Some Yoruba nation activists and agitators have kicked against the panel in Ekiti and those of other states in the South West, saying the subregion would not accept any Sharia panel.

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Genesis

The issue over the Sharia panel in the South-West started with the proposal by the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN) in Oyo State to establish a Sharia panel in the town to adjudicate and sit on matters relating to Muslims.

This, however, triggered controversy raising fears in the state over the alleged “true intention” of the proponents of the Sharia panel.

Daily Trust further reports that the proposition for a Sharia panel has largely been fuelled by misinformation and social media comments, with people misconstruing it as another full-blown institutionalisation of Sharia, which involves applying Islamic law in the adjudication of criminal matters domiciled in the Criminal Code that applies in Southern Nigeria.

However, findings by our correspondent showed that Sharia panels have existed for years in the South-West states but not as pronounced as in the North.

The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Lawal Pedro, recently declared that the state already has a law in place that provides for the establishment of Sharia Court.

He was speaking during a discussion on ‘Will and Inheritance’, saying, “It’s nothing strange to us. We already have a law and we are already implementing one. It is just to enhance and increase what we have been doing in respect of Sharia,” he added.

Already, Sharia panels exist in several places in the southwest including Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo adjudicating matters of marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance, among Muslims.

However, the new push in Oyo State to set up a panel in Oyo town, which has now been put on hold was what has raised tension in the south-west town, fuelled by social media brickbats and lack of understanding of the true intention of the proponents of the panel.

According to the proponents, the idea of having a Sharia panel to serve the Muslim community is borne out of the need to protect the interest of the Muslims only in having their matters bothering on marriage, divorce, and inheritance, among others settled in accordance with the dictates of the Qur’an and Sunnah (tradition of the Prophet, pbuh).

However, the opposition is fuelled by what the opponents called the application of the Sharia law as applicable in some Northern states which, they claim involves cutting off of fingers of thieves, stoning adulterers to death and other extreme applications of Sharia law.

They argued that the South-West states which have a mix of Christians, Muslims and traditionalists cannot accommodate Sharia courts or panels.

 

From Oyo to Ekiti

While the inauguration of the panel in Oyo has been put on hold, albeit temporarily, the panel was inaugurated in Ekiti with three Khadis holding an inaugural sitting last week in Ado Ekiti Central Mosque.

However, controversy emerged when the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, on Saturday ordered the dissolution of the panel while summoning the Chief Imam of Ado Ekiti, Shaykh Jamiu Kewulere, who is also the President of the League of Imams and Alfas in the South West, Edo and Delta states to his palace.

The monarch argued that while the chief imam explained that the panel/committee was set up internally to settle civil disputes among the Muslims, the mood of the nation did not allow it.

“I told them that there is no need for the committee and they should dissolve the committee henceforth.

“The panel stands dissolved. If we should allow such committees, the Christians too will want to set up committees in their various churches, the traditional worshippers too and before you know it, it will lead to crises,” he said.

 

Muslims kick against disbandment

Islamic groups, however, have kicked against the disbandment of the panel by the Ewi, saying the dissolution violates their freedom of religion as guaranteed in Section 38 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

The organisations which kicked against the order for disbandment include the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC); Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Ekiti Council; and Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) Ekiti State Area Unit. They said the panel set up was only an arbitration panel which would adjudicate on civil matters.

MURIC described Adejugbe’s order as a violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Prof. Ishaq Akintola, MURIC Executive Director, on Sunday, in a statement said Oba Adejugbe’s order is draconian, illegal, illegitimate, unlawful and unconstitutional thus #NoToDissolutionOfShariah Panel.

“MURIC strongly condemns this approach. The Ewi’s order is an affront to Section 38(i)&(ii) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which guarantees freedom of religion.

“It is therefore illegal, illegitimate, unlawful and unconstitutional. It is draconian, unknown to democratic norms and alien to global best practices,” Akintola said.

The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs explained that what was set up not as a Shariah court but as an arbitration panel to mediate among willing Muslims in Ekiti State, saying only the government has the power to establish Shariah courts.

The council, in a statement by its President, Alhaji (Dr) Hammed Afolabi Bakare and Public Relations Officer, Sheik Ahmad Yusuf, rejected the “purported cancellation” of the panel, adding, “We shall continue to practice our religion within the ambit of the law.”

MSSN on its part stated that the decision, “Is seen as a clear indication of animosity towards Islam and Muslims in Ekiti State.”

Engr. Jimoh Owonifari Kareem, Amir MSSN, Ekiti State Area Unit, clarified that the panel was “Designed solely to resolve disputes among willing Muslims in accordance with Islamic principles.

“The panellists aim to interpret Allah’s injunctions and provide guidance based on Shari’a principles. Any claims that this panel adversely affects the state are, in our view, a subtle expression of animosity towards Islam and Muslims,” he said.

Speaking with our correspondent, the national spokesman of the Nigeria Muslims for Equity and Good Governance (NIMEGG) in the South West, Mallam Abu Abdullah, stated that the Sharia panels being established are mainly for Muslims.

He said opposition to Sharia reflects the level of hatred for the Muslims in Yorubaland, adding, “As far as we are concerned, we have not seen any serious Yoruba representing groups apart from those groups formed purposely by non-Muslims against Islam and the Muslims.”

A Professor of Islamic Studies, Badmus Lanre Yusuf, urged those kicking against Sharia in the South-West to allow Muslims to practice their religion without hindrance.

He said, “When Muslims want to organise their marriage ceremony, it is for Muslims and Muslims only. Non-Muslims are not compelled to do their wedding, naming ceremonies or burial ceremonies in accordance with the Sharia.”

Prof. Abideen Olaiya, Secretary of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, in a chat with Daily Trust, described the opposition to Sharia panel in the South-West as Islamophobic, saying having a Sharia panel is also an alternative dispute resolution mechanism which nobody can deny the Muslims.

 

Why we are against it – Yoruba activists

Yoruba nation agitators who opposed the push for Sharia in the South West said it “Cannot improve the economic, political, social and cultural deficit in Yorubaland.” They argued that Sharia states are currently “theatres of war, strife, killings and kidnapping driven by crisis of faith while the Sharia states also have the highest rate of instability in Nigeria.”