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’.

Read more about this topic:  Osun State

Famous quotes containing the words case of, case, law and/or state:

    “He was then in his fifty-fourth year, when even in the case of poets reason and passion begin to discuss a peace treaty and usually conclude it not very long afterwards.”
    —G.C. (Georg Christoph)

    “I say you must not win an unjust case by oaths.”
    —Aeschylus (525–456 B.C.)

    “They are free, but not entirely free. For Law is despot over them, and they fear him much more than your men fear you.”
    —Herodotus (c. 484–424 B.C.)

    “We hear the Secretary of State boasting of his brinkmanship—the art of bringing us to the edge of the abyss.”
    —Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965)