Islamic Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria
Title
Islamic Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria
Subtitle
Politics, Religion, Judicial Practice
Price
€ 54,95 excl. VAT
ISBN
9789056296551
Format
Paperback
Number of pages
204
Language
English
Publication date
Dimensions
15.6 x 23.4 cm
Category
Law
Table of Contents
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Table of Contents - 6 Acknowledgments - 8 Introduction - 10 Ch1. Judicial Practice in Islamic Criminal Law in Nigeria — A Tentative Overview - 16 Ch2. Divine Law and Local Custom in Northern Nigerian Zina Trials - 56 Ch3. Islamic Law and Muslim Governance in Northern Nigeria: crimes against life, limb and property in sharia judicial practice - 84 Ch4. An Alternative Vision of Sharia Application in Northern Nigeria: Ibrahim Salih’s add offences in the sharia - 120 Ch5. The Fatwa and the Beast: Islamic authority and Muslim unity in northern Nigeria in light of the 2002 Miss World Crisis - 148 Conclusion - 172 Appendix: Identified trials under Islamic criminal law - 174 Bibliography - 192 Summary - 202 Samenvatting - 204

Reviews and Features

"Everyone interested in shari’a law in northern Nigeria should read this book." - Murray Last, Journal of Religion in Africa

Gunnar Weimann

Islamic Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria

Politics, Religion, Judicial Practice

In 2000 and 2001, twelve northern states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria introduced Islamic criminal law as one of a number of measures aiming at “reintroducing the shari‘a.” Immediately after its adoption, defendants were sentenced to death by stoning or to amputation of the hand. Apart from a few well publicised trials, however, the number and nature of cases tried under Islamic criminal law are little known. Based on a sample of trials, the present thesis discusses the introduction of Islamic criminal law and the evolution of judicial practice within the regions historical, cultural, political and religious context. The introduction of Islamic criminal law was initiated by politicians and supported by Muslim reform groups, but its potential effects were soon mitigated on higher judicial levels and aspects of the law were contained by local administrators.
Author

Gunnar Weimann

Gunnar J. Weimann studied translation for Arabic and French at Leipzig University (Germany) and worked in Nigeria from 2002 to 2004 as a diplomat