DATE=4/26/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=SHARIA / COMPARISON
NUMBER=5-46196
BYLINE=WILLIAM EAGLE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
NOT VOICED:
INTRO: Islamic law - and its role in a pluralistic
democracy - is a continuing focus of controversy in
Nigeria. Supporters of Islamic law, or Sharia, say
it's an essential part of their faith that should be
recognized by the government. But critics say some of
the Sharia's punishments -- like amputation and
flogging -- are not humane. Though Nigeria has gotten
the most attention, it is not the only country in
Africa that uses Sharia in its legal system. From
Washington, reporter William Eagle looks at how
Muslims in some other African countries are handling
the issue.
TEXT: In northern Nigeria, religion and politics have
come together in the debate over Sharia. For many
Muslims, adherence to Islamic law is not a matter of
personal choice - it's a divine code of conduct
mandated for all of society.
Abdulatif Adegbite [pron. ahb-del-AH'-teef ah-DEG'-
bee-the] is the secretary general of the Nigerian
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. He spoke from
Abeokuta, Ogun State.
/// ADEGBITE ACT ///
Our religion does not allow us not to apply
Sharia. It is part and parcel of Islam. You
can not have freedom of religion without
observing Sharia. I do not see why [opponents]
should dogmatically insist we have no right to
apply Sharia to ourselves.
/// END ACT ///
Some Muslims in East Africa agree, including Chief
Nassir Mohammed Nahdy. Chief Nahdy, who lives in
Mombassa, is the chief Islamic judge, or Khadi, in
Kenya
In Kenya, Sharia courts can rule on domestic issues -
like marriage, inheritance, and custody - but not on
criminal ones. Chief Nahdy and others want to change
that. They want the country to adopt the criminal
code of Sharia - along with its provisions for
flogging, whipping, and amputating the limbs of
criminals.
/// NAHDY ACT ///
I think if [Sharia law] is applied at this time,
it would stop most of these crimes. Do you see
why there are so many crimes? Because [non-
Islamic] punishments are not sufficient to deter
criminals. Although people say amputation of
hands is barbaric, this is not true. It stops
people from stealing; if that was applied there
would be no crime at all.
/// END ACT ///
That is why Chief Nahdy wants Sharia law extended to
criminal matters.
In neighboring Tanzania, the civil codes of Sharia are
also in force. But unlike in Kenya, they're applied
by state courts, and not Islamic ones. Individual
judges - regardless of their religion - use customary
(traditional) or Western or Islamic family law,
depending on the religious background of the accused.
But some Muslims in Tanzania want their own courts.
Hamid Nassoro is a Muslim lawyer and a lecturer at the
University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania.
/// NASSORO ACT ///
Muslims would like to have their own courts, or
courts presided over by Muslims. It does not
make sense to have Islamic law applied by [a
non-Muslim judge] who does not understand
Islamic law. Now, that has been the crux of
the problem raging at the moment; if we can find
a way out of that problem. then we will be
making a big step forward toward maintaining
harmony, which is quite important.
/// END ACT ///
Like Nigeria, Tanzania is about equally divided
between Muslims and Christians. But unlike Nigeria,
Mr. Nassoro says there is rarely any religious tension
between the two groups. /// OPT /// He says
occasionally a politician may try to use religion to
appeal to voters during elections - but he says people
usually see such politicians as opportunists. /// END
OPT ///
/// NASSORO ACT ///
The main difference is whereas in Nigeria you
have certain geographical areas with Muslims and
others by Christians, in Tanzania you will never
find a town or city with just one religion only
- with the exception of Zanzibar. In all other
towns you have Christians and Muslims living
side by side for some period of time with no
problem. So you do NOT have specific areas
where Muslims have established [themselves].
/// END ACT///
/// OPT /// History may provide another reason why
efforts to promote Sharia in Tanzania lack the emotion
and volatility of such efforts Nigeria.
/// OPT /// Tanzania's founding father, Julius
Nyerere, was Catholic. But he built a secular state
where religion and ethnicity were downplayed in favor
of national identity. Education was emphasized for
everyone - and today, Muslims are magistrates and
parliamentarians helping make the laws that guide the
nation. // END OPT ///
Some Tanzanians say that you don't have to follow
Sharia to be a good Muslim.
Mr. Hassan Abdullah Mitawi is an official with the
Ministry of Information, Culture, Tourism and Youth.
/// MITAWI ACT ///
As a Muslim, I believe in the religion, but as a
human being as far as the social, cultural
aspect is concerned, I do not believe there is
need to enact Sharia law in Tanzania - because
it has Muslims and Christians. Even the
Constitution does not include Sharia law. The
Constitution says that everyone is allowed to
believe in any religion, but the country is not
a religious country.
Christians and Muslims have a common culture and
they understand each other; it is hard to hear
someone ask someone else what is your religion
or your tribe? There is nothing like that - it
is very unique.
/// END ACT ///
/// OPT /// Mr. Mitawi says amputations, floggings and
other penal punishments in Sharia's criminal code are
outdated and have no role in developing the country:
/// END OPT ///
/// OPT: MITAWI ACT ///
Agitating for Sharia does not have anything to
do with being a good Muslim. A good Muslim goes
to prayer five times a day and cares about
others. Not only to follow Sharia. You can be
a good Muslim without following Sharia.
/// END ACT /// /// END OPT ///
Aside from northern Sudan and northern Nigeria, the
harsh criminal codes of Sharia are not used in sub-
Saharan Africa. But many Muslims in other parts of
Africa have comfortably integrated Sharia's family
code and secular law.
In the Gambia, Muslims can appeal Islamic law
decisions on family matters to the country's Supreme
Court - which includes Muslims magistrates. In
Senegal, there are women Muslim judges who preside
over family law, inheritance and property cases.
A Gambian scholar says in Senegal and the Gambia, the
accommodation between Islamic and Western ideas of
justice contrasts with that of Nigeria - where Islam
has more of a tradition of jihad, or holy war.
Professor Lamine Sanneh of Yale University says the
Muslim sect that most influenced Senegal and the
Gambia were called Jakhankes [pron. JAHN'kehs]. He
says they renounced warfare as a means of spreading
religion. They also pushed for the separation of
religion and state long before the French colonizers.
/// SANNEH ACT ///
They refused to enroll in jihad or take
political office. So they created a clerical
republic where they separated church and state.
And the advent of the secular state was able to
draw upon this tradition of accommodation or
"peaceful Islam." They really controlled
education not only in Senegal but across West
Africa. They disseminated their teachings
through education.there was a branch that
settled in the 1500s in Kano, Nigeria, but that
was overwhelmed by the jihad of Uthman Dan
Fodio.
/// END ACT ///
At least one sub-Saharan country is having trouble
reconciling even Sharia's family law with its secular
constitution - South Africa.
It recognizes the family codes of Sharia - provided
they do not violate the constitution's Gender Equity
clause and Bill of Rights. That may be easier said
than done.
Farid Esack is a Muslim theologian in Cape Town, and
commissioner for gender equality for the South African
State.
/// OPT /// He says constitutional commissions have
been called to integrate Sharia family law and secular
law. /// END OPT ///
/// OPT: ESACK ACT ///
Very few of these attempts bear fruit. Because
how do you deal with Sharia law and the question
of inheritance, and children born out of
wedlock, and the unilateral right of men to
declare divorce? . How do you promulgate this in
a society committed to non sexism, or where
identities are blurred? Where Muslims could be
half committed, where the same family has
Muslims and non-Muslims?
So what happens is these committees get set up
for some form of Sharia law - [like] Muslim
personal law: inheritance, marriage, divorce and
lineage. At the end of the day, nothing comes
from it because of the inevitable clashes
between this and our constitution.
/// END ACT /// /// END ACT ///
The Muslim theologian says the Koran - and Sharia -
were created for the social conditions of 7th century
Saudi Arabia. At that time, he says the concept of
justice - such as an eye for an eye - was progressive.
It was an alternative to acts of revenge that could
consume entire families. Dr. Esack says the principle
of Islam - progress - must go forward with the times,
and with the changes in politics, society, and
culture.
/// ESACK ACT ///
[The Koran] was revealed over 23 years at a
particular time and particular [place]; God
wanted to make sense to any community; God had
to talk to that community in its own experience.
If we are true to the Koran, we have to discern
that message in terms of our own experience
[today] - which includes pluralism, democracy,
gender justice, a struggle against homophobia,
and a struggle where it is not [considered]
humane to rape rapists and murder murderers [as
punishment]. So we have to see how God speaks
to us today - through that same Koran - in terms
of our new realities and our deeper
understanding of what it means to be human in
the 21st century.
/// END ACT ///
Dr. Esack says, until the third century of Islam, the
Koran and Sharia were not considered to be divine. In
his opinion, Islam stands for the absolute sacredness
of God, not the sacredness of religion or of Sharia.
He believes Muslims should make a distinction between
the objectives of Islamic law and the letter of the
law. And he says it is the objectives of the law -
its underlying principles - that must be met. (SIGNED)
NEB/WE/KL
1
6
26-Apr-2000 13:48 PM EDT (26-Apr-2000 1748 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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