Sharia Implementation in Northern Nigeria 1999-2006: a source-book

摘要

The quest by Nigeria's politically dominant northern Muslim community for an appropriate accommodation for Sharia (Islamic) law within the constitutional architecture and judicature of the Nigerian state has been a flashpoint of ethno-religious strife in this deeply divided multinational country since its independence from Britain in 1960. The issue attained new incendiary heights after Nigeria's return to civilian rule in 1999, when twelve Muslim majority states of the old Northern Region, beginning with Zamfara, extended Sharia from mainly personal status issues into the domain of the criminal justice system. Aside from igniting lethal sectarian violence, the extension has spawned an unprecedented debate regarding the constitutionality, political viability and social sustainability of Sharia implementation in northern Nigeria.