Professor of Law at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Professor Abdulmajeed Alaro, has called for the need for education on Muslims, non Muslims on implementation of Sharia Court.
He stated this on Sunday during the 2025 annual Ramadan lecture of the Muslim Lawyers’ Association of Nigeria (MULAN), Oyo State chapter at the Aare Afe Babalola bar Centre, Ibadan.
Speaking on the theme: ‘Shariah beyond the criminal justice system: clarifying the myths and misconceptions surrounding the application of Shariah Law in Nigeria’, the don noted that the misconception of people is that Shari’ah is all about punishment, but Sharia had been applied as far back in 1086.
Alaro hinted that Shari’a law is capable of addressing the challenges of people and also enhance justice in the society if well implemented.
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He noted that when some people raised a false alarm of predominance of Shariah in the Nigerian Constitution simply because the Islamic law is mentioned ’74 times’ therein, they are either ignorant of the truth, or are deliberately and mischievously misleading Nigerians to cause havoc in the land.
He further revealed that through the instrument of Islamic banking and sukuk in particular, Sharia has provided a viable alternative to the interest-based system in the areas of public project funding saying a total of 124 road projects covering over 5,820 kilometres across the six geopolitical zones has been developed through Sukuk since 2017.
“Like other legal systems, Shari’a has many branches, one of which is the criminal justice system.
“However, Shari’a is not all about capital punishment or amputation of hands as wrongly perceived by some people in Nigeria, despite the fact that Shari’a proudly has a robust and effective criminal justice system; the focus of which is deterrent and not the punishment.
“Apart from the criminal justice system, Shari’a has other branches of laws including public and private laws, business and commercial laws, municipal and international laws as well as substantive and procedural laws.
“In specifics, Shariah has laws relating to family relationship otherwise known as Personal Law, laws of financial transactions such as law of contract, commercial law, company law, property law, banking law and insurance law.
“Against this backdrop, the ideal situation is for every State of the federation to establish courts that could competently address matters that concern Muslims, such as matters relating to marriage, divorce, gift, waqf, inheritance, imamship and other civil matters that touch on Muslims lives, and to the exclusion of persons of other faiths.
“I am quite aware of peculiarity of Southern States and the extra-layers of trick against application of Shari’ah, yet, I strongly believe that where Muslims in the region are united in their demands and presentations, the government will see reason to establish the Sharia courts to ensure that the fundamental right of Muslims to practise their religion is preserved and guaranteed.”
In his recommendation, he urged MULAN, MURIC and other Muslim associations to make it a duty to educate Muslims and non-Muslims about Shari’a and what it stands for while the Imams of several mosques should also be engaged in this educational and intellectual campaign.
In his remarks, the MULAN Chairman, Alhaji Ismailia Akorede Saka, said the oppositions to the implementation of Sharia in Yorubaland are mostly borne out of ignorance of what Sharia actually entails.
Saka disclosed that the issue of the clamour for the implementation of Sharia Law and the establishment of Shariah Courts for Yoruba Muslims dates back to the colonial period.
“Unfortunately, the calls of the Muslim Ummah have been ignored by successive governments in South West Nigeria despite ceaseless and relentless agitations.“
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