The National Missioner and Chief Imam of the Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Sheik Abdulrahman Ahmad, has explained why some persons may be opposing Sharia in Nigeria.
In an interview with our correspondent, Sheik Abdulrahman blamed “ignorance and prejudice” on the part of those opposing Sharia practice.
According to him, Sharia has been existing over the decades in some parts of the country especially in the North, without any controversy.
“I think people oppose it for two reasons. Either prejudice or ignorance. Ignorance because they don’t know. They don’t know what it entails,” he told The PUNCH in a telephone interview on Monday evening.
“People should not bring sentiment into it. We must bring the facts. First, it must be made known that Muslims are calling for a system that recognises the uniqueness of their situation, that personal matters should be judged according to convictions,” the cleric added.
According to him, shari’a panel has also been operating in Lagos for 20 years.
“We have had shari’a panel in Lagos for almost 20 years now. There is no controversy about it. It’s not anything new in Lagos and it has been operating without any itch or controversy whatsoever. That’s why I said people should not bring any sentiment into it.
“What we must know is that there is a provision in the Nigerian Constitution for Muslims to have shari’a court if they want.
“It is a constitutional matter and the shari’a court as presently constituted applies to what they call Muslim Personal Law, marriage, divorce, inheritance, custody of children, and so on. This is what the shari’a court is about.”
The PUNCH reports that Christian and Muslim leaders on Monday clashed over the planned inauguration of shari’a arbitration panel across the South-Western states of Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo, and Lagos by the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.
This comes as the proponents of the Islamic code said there was no going back on their decision to set up the panel to adjudicate and resolve issues among the South-West Muslim Ummah.
