By Suzan Edeh, Bauchi
Following the America Congress Report to President Donald Trump to repeal Shariah law in Nigeria and the false claims of Genocide against the Christians in Northern part of Nigeria, a former lawmaker in Bauchi State, Hon Aminu Dan Malikin Bauchi has condemned the move, saying that
Nigeria is not experiencing any Christian genocide in any part of the country.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday in Bauchi, Danmaliki said that notable stakeholders within and outside the country have rejected the genocide label, acknowledging that Nigeria faces a complex and tragic security crisis affecting Muslims in large extent and the Christians alike.
He said that it is an open secret that the negative trends which have caused the loss of large numbers of Muslim lives since the insurgency started was perpetrated and funded by the American government as recently revealed by the country’s congress, adding that majority of Muslim villages have been destroyed and bombed, Emirs and0 imams assassinated and Millions displaced, majority of them, Muslims in the North-East and North-West.
“American selective outrage that erases Muslim suffering is not justice. It is a narrative engineering for an undisclosed motive.When people today hear the word “Shariah,” they imagine something foreign, medieval, or extreme, yet the very countries that now criticize Shariah quietly borrowed some of their most celebrated legal institutions from Islamic law many centuries ago”.
“Scholars such as John A. Makdisi have shown convincingly that English common law, the foundation of American, British, and Commonwealth justice systems adopted some of its earliest structures from Islamic jurisprudence.This adoption began through Norman contact with the Muslim world, especially Muslim-ruled Sicily, whose Shariah-based legal and administrative system was centuries ahead of Europe”.
“Nigeria is often treated as if Shariah is a political weapon, but it is clear that Shariah in Nigeria applies only to Muslims, it exists within the Nigerian Constitution and enhances justice, especially in civil matters and does not fringe on the rights of non-Muslims.
“The renewed attack by some Nigerian Christian leaders before the U.S. Congress is driven by Political fear that Shariah empowers Northern Muslims or threatens Christian political influence and Western misunderstanding
In America and Europe that states that Shariah has been turned into a political stereotype, not a legal reality.
“Most critics have never studied Islamic law, and very few know its historical role in shaping the justice systems they now defend.This is why Nigerian voices particularly scholars, jurists, and leaders must correct the narrative”.
“Shariah in Northern Nigeria is not a threat, it is not a foreign invasion, it is not a political weapon, it is a constitutional right of Muslims, a stabilizing force in society, and a legal tradition with documented influence on some of the greatest legal systems in the world, instead of attacking Shariah, Nigerians should appreciate Its proven record of justice, Its willingness to coexist with secular courts, and its historical contribution to global civilization” he said
