Professor Zubair : “Sharia and Islamic Law lecturers are persecuted in Nigeria”

Written by: Abdullahi Muhammed.. Professor Abdul Qadir Zubair is the first professor of Islamic Law in West Africa, and delivered the first ever Inaugural Lecture from a department of Islamic Law in the whole sub-region. Schooled at the University of Madina, the American University in Cairo and Bayero University in Nigeria, he has published over 14 books, many chapters in books, a plethora of papers and delivered lectures in many national and international workshops and conferences. He is at present the Head of the Department of Islamic Law, Faculty of Law, and University of Ilorin. “Islam Online” met him and he shares his thoughts on some pertinent national questions as they affect Islam and the Muslims.

Can you give us an insight into the general practice of Islam and the influence of the Muslim community in Nigeria?.

We thank Allah who made us Muslims and we pray Him to bless Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Islam came to Nigeria, as some put it, around the 14th century. (According) to some others it was earlier than that. The fact is that Islam has been in the country, from the early days of Islam itself and people have embraced Islam voluntarily without any war. Although some people may be referring to (the period) of Uthman Dan Fodio Caliphate which led to war, that wasn’t the first time Islam came to Nigeria and the war he waged was not majorly against kufr (disbelief) but against bid’ah (innovation in religious practices).

The Muslims have had high influence, but the unfortunate thing is that they do not make use of that influence for the promotion of Islam. You find Muslims in the hierarchy of the government, you’ll see that Muslims among past Nigerian presidents are in large number, but Islam has little to write home about their leadership.

Some people believe that the operation of Sharia in 12 northern states has failed to improve the lots of the populace. What is your view about this?.

I don’t agree with them. Why? Nigeria as an entity is not an Islamic state, though the Muslims are in majority. The failures cannot be attributed to the adoption of Sharia. What we’re having now in the northern states cannot be considered a complete system of Sharia. They adopted Sharia in accordance with the allowances given by the constitution. There are limitations and areas that they cannot go.

They are not implementing all the hudud (corporal punishments) (required by the shuriah). They cannot implement even the financial aspect of Sharia in total – (for example) if a person refuses to pay the zakat, no sanction can be implemented against him. One can decide to give his zakat to anyone he likes. Whether that zakat is adequate or not, nobody can question him. Whether he gives it to the people who are entitled to it or not, nobody can query him, and no law can sanction him.

So all these factors put together, you can see that the failure cannot be on those states that apply the Sharia but on the entire country.

There’s a feeling that mainstream media in Nigeria often discriminate against Muslims. What is your view on this?.

It’s obvious. And I don’t blame the media. Why? If non-Muslims can establish the media to promote themselves, you cannot expect them to be promoting Muslims. It’s the responsibility of the Muslims to have their own media. Since there’s no law saying don’t establish media to promote your idea, I believe Muslims generally and the scholars among them should make sure that they have their own media.

Of course, if it is government media that we all contribute to, then we can ask: ‘why are we not getting our own fair share?’ But most of the media are private media.

How do you think the rising problem of terrorism and crumbling national security can be effectively curtailed in Nigeria?.

Well, there are too much hullabaloo on the issue of terrorism in Nigeria. Everybody who’s a citizen of Nigeria knows that Boko Haram is no more a religious issue. I don’t believe (that) the level of our religious commitment has reached a stage of committing suicide for religious cause. It has completely become a political issue. Political organizations are using it against themselves to score certain goals. There’s no terrorism in Nigeria in the global sense of it. What we have is a group of people fighting each other through the instrument they can lay their hands on and presently, it happens to be Boko Haram. In the past, many instruments have been used like this Niger Delta issue, Arewa people, Oodua and all that.

I believe that it is the political groups that are orchestrating this. So, if they don’t want to use it or don’t like it anymore, it is from them also that the solution will come. They will need to sit down, settle their rancor and come together to terms that will make Nigeria peaceful.

Islamic revivalism is visible in Nigeria and Islamic organizations are on the increase. Is this necessary and how effective do you think the efforts have been?.

Islamic revivalism is a wave in Nigeria and other places in the world which I believe everybody should contribute to. But I don’t believe proliferation of Islamic organizations is the way. Because when everybody is establishing his organization and propagating his own idea and seeing that as an end in itself, then we’re not promoting the unity that Islam that the Qur’an has ordered us to promote. Why can’t we find a federation that will combine all these efforts and make it one?

You have served as a member of the planning and implementation committee for the establishment of three Muslim universities in Nigeria. Do you think these Muslim institutions are faring well in the comity of Nigerian Universities?.

I do believe that they’re trying because in the first instance, they’re new universities. None of them has reached the first decade of establishment. They have challenges but they’re not doing badly, compared to any other new private university. They are well respected especially with the Islamic moral which they make as their basis. They are distinct from other universities and that one is a plus for them.

What challenges did you face as a pioneer of Islamic Law and what have been your contributions to Islamic Law and education in Nigeria?.

The first challenge was teaching in the faculty of law which has to be in line with Common Law. In fact, what affected the judiciary affected the faculties of law teaching Islamic Law too. The Judiciary is under the control of the (proponents of) Common Law. (Conversely) institutions representing them (i.e. proponents of Common Law) like Nigerian Law School, they (advocate the implementation of) Common Law.

But Alhamdulillah, Allah has made us to cross those hurdles and whatever a Common Law man can hold, an Islamic Law man has held it, in terms of posts, in terms of exposition, in terms of responsibilities.

I face the challenge of having to teach Islamic Law to people who are not well versed in Arabic language. Therefore, we had to give the lectures to them in English. This was additional labor to Islamic Law teachers. Secondly, these students are in need of materials, references and since they cannot consult the original sources in Arabic language, we were bound to provide for them in English Language. With all humility, I’ve contributed not less than 12 to 13 textbooks on various subjects of Islamic Law available anywhere in the country.

In your Inaugural Lecture in 1993, you expressed the view that the Sharia is much persecuted and lecturers of Sharia in Nigeria get grossly inadequate support.  Do you think the situation has improved today?.

I don’t think the situation has improved. Like I said, Sharia is constrained to play a small role in our society. Even the Sharia Court of Appeal, they can only deal with issues of personal status. If you consider what we call Sharia, you’ll see Sharia covers every aspect of Muslim life. So if you say only personal status should be covered and this can only be covered for Muslims who want it, it is persecution of the system.

For the lecturers, they’re saying a lecturer must have B.L. (Nigeria Law School) before he can be a lecturer of Islamic Law. That’s a red tape. An Islamic Law lecturer is trained in Islamic Law and then at the top of it, you’re saying he has to go back, to go and take all the courses of Common Law before he can now be allowed to practice and even enroll for Nigerian Law School.

The only change I can say is that we have produced a combination: students who are products of Common Law and Islamic Law. But that cannot take care of Islamic Law because products of this combined program are not well grounded in Islamic Law. Additionally, the environment gives more room to excel under the Common Law than Islamic Law.

Source: islamonline.net

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