December 1, 2007
WHAT MENTALLY BALANCED PERSON DIDN'T EXPECT IT?:
In Nigeria, the quest for a 'humane Shariah' (Lydia Polgreen, November 30, 2007, NY Times)
The Islamic revolution that seemed so destined to transform northern Nigeria in recent years appears to have come and gone — or at least gone in a direction few here would have expected.When Muslim-dominated states like Kano adopted Islamic law after the fall of military rule in 1999, radical clerics from the Arabian peninsula arrived in droves to preach a draconian brand of fundamentalism, and newly empowered religious judges handed down tough punishments like amputation for theft. Kano became a center of anti-American sentiment in one of the most reliably pro-American countries in Africa.
But since then, much of the furor has died down, and the practice of Islamic law, or Shariah, which had gone on for centuries in the private sphere before becoming enshrined in public law, has settled into a distinctively Nigerian compromise between the dictates of faith and the chaotic realities of modern life in an impoverished, developing nation.
"Shariah needs to be practical," said Bala Abdullahi, a civil servant here. "We are a developing country, so there is a kind of moderation between the ideas of the West and traditional Islamic values. We try to weigh it so there is no contradiction."
Amusing that the Times reveals it has about the same hysterical view of Islam as the neocons. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 1, 2007 8:27 AM
It's those "radical clerics from the Arabian peninsula" that need to be dealt with.
Posted by: Brandon at December 1, 2007 3:00 PMThis is the Nigeria where Christians continue to be murdered and persecuted by Muslims.
Oh, THAT mild, practical shari'a.
Posted by: molon labe at December 1, 2007 10:19 PMAs opposed to the Afghanistan where Muslims continue to be murdered by the Crusaders? Universalism has consequences.
Posted by: oj at December 2, 2007 8:52 AMThe recent case in Saudi Arabia of the rape victim who was sentenced to extreme punishment should instruct everyone. The "court" did not even care that her male escort was a distant relative who was driving her home because she could not drive herself.
Any "law" based on the disparate, inchoate, and progressively abrogated text of the Koran is going to be disparate, inchoate, and utterly capricious. Combined with the worst features of tribal culture in places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Arabia, we see oppression of women, oppression and exploitation of foreigners, and hastily arranged political and social punishments under the merest patina of law.
For example, are honor killings (as practiced in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and England) an aberration, or part and parcel of Sharia?
In Nigeria, this moderation is probably occurring because Arab outsiders cannot impose their fanatacism on a large black population without a whole lot more force than they are capable of. However, in Sudan (at least in the north), things are different. While it may have been a bit comical, the thousands who marched in Khartoum this week, calling for the British teacher to be executed, tells us all we need to know about the seriousness of Sharia.
Posted by: jim hamlen at December 2, 2007 11:50 AMShe was an adultress.
Posted by: oj at December 2, 2007 1:45 PMNot from the stories I have read. You know this how?
As I understand it, her uncle asked this man to drive her home. Being a distant relative, they thought it would be OK. Of course, because the case has been publicized in the West, the punishment is being ratcheted up. Why?
Such defensiveness and rabid reaction says all we need to know about the righteousness (the moral power) of Sharia.
Posted by: jim hamlen at December 2, 2007 2:19 PMBecause she said she was:
www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22817957-1702,00.html
Posted by: oj at December 2, 2007 4:33 PM