Book Review
Oyeronke Olajubu (2006) A review of Umar H. D. Danfulani (2005) The Sharia Issue and ChristianMuslim Relations in Contemporary Nigeria. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 81pp.
This book provides an insight into the diverse intricacies of exchanges and negotiations that
characterizes inter-religious tension in contemporary Nigeria. It is a persuasive read for everyone
interested in the histography of contemporary Nigerian inter-religious relations, especially between
Christians and Muslims. A major strength of the book stems from the vantage position of the author
as an indigene of Northern Nigeria and a resident of a city in Northern Nigeria. Consequently,
adequate exposure is accorded otherwise subsumed agendas which underlay the religious issue that
are publicly displayed.
The book is divided into three sections; whereas section one examines the background
factors to the sharia-inspired religious crisis in Kaduna in2002, section two focuses on the ChristianMuslim responses to the implementation of the sharia. In addition, section three considers thesis
concerning the implementation of sharia in Northern Nigeria. These sections are followed by Notes,
References and the List of papers contained in The Studies on Inter-religious Relations 15, edited by
Ingvar Svanberg and David Westerlund.
Section one of the book presents the dual feature of Kaduna as a historical Muslim
settlement on the one hand and a city with cosmopolitan nature on the other hand. Kaduna is
described as ‘the hot bed of political awareness and power in Northern Nigeria and a capital of the
North’. The immediate events leading to the sharia crisis in Kaduna were enumerated as: the huge
political gains from the sharia issue by governors of Northern States in Nigeria and the series of
seminars and rallies held to examine the possibility of sharia in Nigeria. The book reports the
different reactions to the introduction of sharia in Kaduna. These reactions were for and against the
introduction of the sharia system in Nigeria. Both Muslims and Christians were represented in both
divides of the reactions.
The second section analyzed the responses of Christians and Muslims to the implementation
of sharia in Northern Nigeria. Christian reactions included mass migration, seeking refuge in military
camps and the staging of peaceful rally to the State house in Kaduna. However, the rally was
hijacked and eventually resulted in a violent religious clash leading to killings on both Christian and
Muslim sides for three consecutive days. Many lives and properties were destroyed during this
religious crisis. The tense situation elicited reactions from the Pope and the Federal government. A
clear position by anti-sharia commentators is that it is a manipulation of religion for political ends.
Some posit that the sharia issue is not religious but is an ethnic problem whereby the Hausa-Fulani
want to hold on to political power in Nigeria forever. It is worth noting though that the rule of a
Yoruba person (Olusegun Obasanjo) as the president of Nigeria in the past seven years (1999-2006)
would have attenuated this assumed ambition of the Hausa-Fulani significantly. According to this
book, the opposition of Christians to sharia is based on past experiences of discrimination and
maltreatment against Christians in Northern Nigeria. On the other hand, Muslims support sharia due
to the conviction that it will supply them peace and tranquillity in a crime free society. Muslims also
believe sharia would eradicate unjust economic relationships and uproot moral decadence in the
society.
Section three considers the promises of Governor Yerima Sanni to buy houses and
rehabilitate prostitutes as suggestive of foreign investment by Islamic groups. Again, there is the
thesis that the introduction of sharia is an attempt to return Islam to its pristine state, continue the
reform of Usman Dan Fodio and part of the hidden agenda to Islamize Nigeria. The thesis that
poverty is an instigating factor for the emergence of fanaticism is of profound import for me. I am
persuaded that poverty is a crucial factor in the manipulation of people for political gains in any
society. It is therefore plausible that poverty plays a significant role in the yearnings of Muslims for
the sharia especially as political leaders promise utopian world to the depressed masses through
sharia. It is this same observation that could explain the clinging of Northern politicians in Nigeria to
the sharia issue to ensure acceptability and popularity; this the author aptly describes as ‘making
political capital out of religion’. The book concludes with the observation that ‘-----the sharia issue is
a mere symptom of a more fundamental problem’. The fundamental problem in my opinion would
be the ethnic issue in Nigerian polity.