Abstract:
Democracy as an administrative system is maintained through party representation and
election in which everybody is duly represented, and through a constitution which is prepared
in the interest of equity, justice and egalitarianism, and through the rule of law which does not
permit any form of preferential or partial treatment and judgement. In Nigeria, democracy
came into real existence on 29 May 1999. Coincidentally, sharia, which is the theocratic legal
system of Islam, was adopted in Zamfara State followed by some other states of the country
almost at the same time. This article is aimed at a critical examination of the socio-religious
implications of the practice of theocracy in the implementation of the provisions of sharia as
state law in the democratic nation, Nigeria. An attempt at interpreting and proffering solutions
to the destabilising effects of the adoption of sharia in contradistinction to the legal system
provided by the democratic constitution of the country is made. This research adopted a
historical approach and was dependent on both primary and secondary sources. The result
indicates that the implications of the ‘adoption and practice of sharia in some states of Nigeria
are manifest in legal duality, religious partiality and social instability.’ This article, therefore,
recommends for the country a very important aspect of political restructuring, namely, that
religion should be separated from politics.
Description:
This research is part of
the research project
‘Hermeneutics and Exegesis’
directed by Prof. Dr Ernest
van Eck, Department of
New Testament and
Related Literature, Faculty
of Theology and Religion,
University of Pretoria.
