By Khedr Abdel Baki, IOL Correspondent
LAGOS, June 28, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Supreme Council for Shari'ah in Nigeria (SCSN) has urged all states applying Islamic Shari'ah to give the thumbs-down to a draft family law on the grounds of containing articles violating the tenets of Islam.
"This law undermines the social system in the country," Sheikh Abdul-Rashid Hadiyatullah, the SCSN deputy chairman, told IslamOnline.net Tuesday, June 28.
He said the SCSN will pursue consultations with the different parties in the country to block the passage of the controversial bill.
The federal government of President Olusegun Obasanjo has sent the draft to the local parliaments of the country's thirty six states for endorsement.
"We have sent delegations to all states applying Shari'ah to convey the SCSN position to the local MPs," said Hadiyatullah.
He maintained that the draft law clashes with the provisions of the Islamic Shari'ah.
"A case in point is the article on equality between men and women regarding inheritance."
Under Islam, in more than 30 cases women take the same inheritance share or more than men take, or women take a share while men do not, while there are only four definite cases in which women receive half of men’s share.
Hadiyatullah also cited another article proposal equal inheritance share to legitimate sons and those born out of wedlock.
According to Shari'ah, a son born out of wedlock inherits only his mother unlike a legitimate son who inherits both his mother and father.
Twelve of Nigeria’s 36 states have gradually applied the provisions of Shari`ah since the return of democracy to the country in 1999, despite the fierce opposition from the federal government.
Customs
However, some of the articles opposed by the SCSN do not run counter to the tenets of Islam.
The SCNS objects to an article punishing a father who blocs his child vaccination with five years in jail, a fine of five thousand dollars or both.
A number of Nigerian scholars have last year triggered a controversy after issuing a fatwa urging citizens not to have their children vaccinated against polio, prompting four predominantly Muslim states to shun the vaccination campaign.
The controversial fatwa was countered by prominent Muslim scholars worldwide, including Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who exhorted the Nigerian scholars to backtrack on such religions edicts.
Under Islam, a Muslim should seek all means to protect him/herself against harms.
Blocked
The predominantly Muslim state of Kanu has already signaled an opposition to the controversial draft family law.
"There is no room to a law which clashes with the Islamic values and traditions in the country," said Kanu parliament speaker Hajj Blarabi Said Abdul Ghani in a statement issued Monday, June 27.
"We are ready to defend the Shari'ah in Kanu which has a heavy Muslim population."
Nigeria’s recent census shows that Muslims make up 55 percent of the country’s 133 million, Christians 40 percent and five percent atheists.
However, other estimates indicated that Muslims make up some 65 percent of the country.