Nigerian scholars promoting Sharia law as support for women’s rights News
Nigerian scholars promoting Sharia law as support for women’s rights

[JURIST] Muslim scholars in Nigeria have begun a campaign promoting Sharia [Wikipedia backgrounder] or Islamic law as a tool for actually improving conditions for local women. Ibrahim Naiya Sada, director of the Centre for Islamic Legal Studies at a top Nigerian university, says Sharia can offer greater protection for women if properly applied to promote education and support for the needy. The use of Sharia in the northern part of Nigeria made headlines over the past year when several women were sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. Sada said the Sharia system suffered from many misconceptions, and instead offered a system of social justice. Reuters has more. Women's rights activists have generally opposed any extension of the Sharia system. Just this past week many protested a plan [JURIST report] to use it voluntarily in family law disputes involving Canadian Muslims; that proposal was ultimately rejected by the Ontario premier [JURIST report].