Osun State - Case of Shariah Law in Osun State

Case of Shariah Law in Osun State

The spread of Islam to Yorubaland was accompanied by the institution of Shari’ah (the Islamic law), and Muslims in the area applied it, alongside the Customary and Common Laws during the pre-colonial period before its abolition by the colonial government. However, very little research has been done in this area. Therefore, this study examined the institution of Shari’ah in Oyo and Osun States of Nigeria with reference to Yoruba Customary Law which had been in existence and the Common Law.

The study revealed that the British colonialists, during the colonial era, used their authority to replace Shari’ah with Common Law through Indirect Rule. It identified that Shari’ah issue is contentious because of general misunderstanding and misconceptions of its origin, tenets and practices. It also discovered that the agitation of the Muslims in the selected states for Shari'ah was based on the premise that both Yoruba Customary and Common Laws did not cover certain provisions under Shari’ah, such as ‘iddah‘ waiting period for a widow’, al-hadanah ‘custody of children’ and mirath ‘inheritance’.