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Kenya Deports A Radical Islamist Cleric
Jamaican Born Man With History of Inciting Hatred
Police officers in Nairobi on Friday clashed with rock-throwing mobs who were angry about the government’s decision to deport a radical Islamist cleric. The police fired tear gas and unleashed attack dogs on hundreds of demonstrators. Witnesses said at least three people were killed. Kenyan officials recently arrested the Jamaican-born cleric, Abdullah al-Faisal, who has served jail time in Britain for inciting hatred, and are trying to deport him.
Radical elements with history of inciting hatred and violence are becoming more common among various islamic groups. Their base of support is eroding in most communities. Abdullah Al Faisal would suffer simialr fate as many would be terrorist, who are either apprehended or remove to areas where there ability to incite terror are less likely.
President Obama's Religious Beliefs
Religion And Politics
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January, 2010 - God in the Obama Era begins and ends with chapters on Obama for relevance and interest, but the integral part of the book is actually a history of successive presidencies. Understanding that nations which ignore their past live in a narrow time period, discounting the fact that what has gone before tells us much about what is going on now and what will happen in the future. Historically, religion as both a positive and negative force has influenced economics, international statecraft, as well as individual and social ethics. This brings up the question of where Barack Obama is taking this country politically, religiously, economically and ethically. Comparing our current president with past presidents, from Washington through Bush, Nielsen wonders what they would say to each other as contemporaries. Since the election of 2008 turned out to be a watershed contest, looking to crucial decisions of policy change on the war in Iraq, the international economy, global warming, social security and immigration, it is the main intention of the author to help bring objectivity and perspective to the much-debated issues.
This brilliantly enlightening book offers guidance to evaluate what an ambitious new leader has done, and may do, in the longer setting of the history of his office. At the beginning of each chapter the author uses a narrative and chronological approach to show both the similarities and the differences between our current president and one of his predecessors, then asks a number of hypothetical what if questions of many past great leaders in an attempt to see how history could have been dramatically changed by their answers. Visit his informative website at: www.presidentsreligionandethics.com
Niels C. Nielsen, Jr. is the J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Philosophy and Religious Thought emeritus at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He is well-recognized for his earlier book, The Religion of Jimmy Carter, also translated into German. The author's daughter is the only non-native faculty member of her department at the University of Vienna, where she is intensely involved in explaining the Obama phenomenon to her students who have a varied interest in the transition from Bush II to a very different sort of presidency. Nielsen's Religions of the World is a widely used college and university textbook.
Thousands Celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem
The Birth Place of Jesus Christ
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Thousands of Palestinian Christians and pilgrims from all over the world, have celebrated Christmas Day in Jesus' traditional birthplace, their prayers joined by wishes from the Vatican for peace in the region. Worshippers from the region and around the world packed the local church built near the grotto the traditional site of Jesus' birth. "It feels like a giant family gathering," said Jonathan Croy, a 24-year-old musician from Birmingham, Alabama, who was visiting Bethlehem for the first time. "The message of Jesus peace in the heart, joy and love for each other," papal nuncio Antonio Franco said as he entered the Church of the Nativity complex. "It's possible."
Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian militants in the area have fallen off sharply from previous years, though towering concrete slabs that form a section of Israel's West Bank separation barrier were a reminder of hostilities that persist. The reminder is a clear reason shoppers and tourist have not yet returned in large numbers. Most visitors only entered the city briefly, and many businesses are unable to gain from the tourist boom that the seasons normally brings.
Omar Al-Bashir No Show in Turkey's Islamic Conference
Concerned He Might Be Arrested
Indicted President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, by the International Criminal Court (ICC), did not show up for the Islamic summit in Istanbul as Turkish government who welcomed his attendance but could not give assurance of the political fugutive's escape from international authorities arrest Warrant.
Sudan's state-run Suna news agency said "new developments" had required Al-Bashir's presence in Sudan.
The Sudanese leader was in Egypt on Sunday, taking part in a China-Africa summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. But Suna said he was returning to Khartoum to "find a solution" to a dispute between his ruling National Congress Party and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. But Turkey, which is seeking EU membership, had come under pressure from Brussels to drop Al-Bashir from the guest list.
Swine Flu and The Hajj Travels
How To Stay Safe From Infection
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Swine Flu and The Hajj Trips
How To Stay Safe From Infection
On your flight from Everywhere, to Saudi, look out for anyone hacking up a lung. Take the advice of Dr. Gerberding, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had a few strategies
1. Point the air vent in the ceiling away from yourself.
2. Turn your body away from others, especially those you suspect may be sick
3. When you really think you are at risk, get an attendant to offer a mask.
On airplanes, you're most likely to catch an illness from the people sitting in your row and in the row behind you, according to researchers at Purdue University, who developed an animation showing how germs move around an airplane. A longer trip to the Hajj puts you more at risk of contracting any such infection. "The bad news is if you're in that strike zone, you're at risk," Gerberding said. "If someone sitting right near you has the flu, there's a pretty good chance you'll get it. Flu is very transmissible."
The good news is, if you're not right in that strike zone, you're probably at low risk,". Whenever you're out in public, you can catch a germ from anyone within about six feet of you; that's how far some germs can travel.
4. Think about a busy escalator handrail, steps, door knobs.
"You and millions of others have touched it,". "And they could be sneezing, wiping their nose, coughing in their hands, and then they touch the handrail." After you touch something like a handrail, make a conscious effort not to touch your eyes, nose or mouth, and use hand sanitizer as soon as you can.
5. Intended and unintended Hand Shakes, avoid when possible.
Stay safe, travel wisely and take all necessary precautions.
From Boko Haram To Maitatsine
Religious Riots and Its Damages
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Between the Maitatsine religious riots of 1980 and the latest Boko Haram, there have been more than 20 cases of ethno-religious conflagration resulting in more than 10,000 deaths and the destruction of properties worth billions of Naira. “I was a bigot, a fanatic and an ignoramus of man fighting tirelessly, maiming and actually sending the innocent to the great beyond prematurely, all in the name of religion. Mohammed Abdul-Azeez, a one time Maitatsine henchman, uttered those words at the then Foursquare Church in Yaba, Lagos, after he had renounced membership of the Islamic sect that first caused mayhem in Kano in December 1980.
Abdul-Azeez’s repentance came nine years after the incident in October 1989. Even at that time, the ravages of the Maitatsine riots in Kano, which later spread to Yola, Maiduguri, Bauchi and Gombe in that order, was still fresh in the minds of Nigerians. The riots caused huge losses, in human and material terms. No less than six thousand lives were lost during the mayhem. The very first violence in Kano shocked many Nigerians to their marrow. In that crisis alone, 4,177 lives were lost. The Kano incident stands out for being the first religious crisis that took a huge toll on human lives and property.
Sultan of Sokoto and President of Christians Associations Leads Religious Freedom Event in USA
By Femi Ajayi
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ZUMUNTA IS USING NIGERIA'S DIVERSITY TO STRENGTHEN ITS UNITY
AT ITS JULY 2008 ANNUAL ''CONVENTION OF THE CENTURY'', LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
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Nigeria is a nation of many countries lumped together by the Colonial Master without much consideration of its multiplicity. The only consideration then was to meet up for Great Britain deficiencies in Europe, to colonize Nigeria.
After Nigeria independence (1960) the country is still struggling to understand the dynamics of using its differences as sources of strength. Where will Nigeria be in the year 2010 when it clocks 50?
Due to the thoughtlessness of most past Nigerian leaders, mostly of Military orientation; Zumunta Association USA, Inc., is branding a new direction for Nigerian leaders, creating an enabling environment for Nigerians to claim citizenship of any State of their choice. Unfortunately, most of the past leaders have used ethnicity and religion for their own selfish ends at the expense of very poor majority Nigerians. Zumunta believes that an average Nigerian must be able to be anything he or she wants to be in any parts of Nigeria, without hiding his/her identity or faith to make a living in Nigeria.
On July 25 through 27, 2008, at the Los Angeles International Airport Marriot Hotel, Zumunta will be playing host to a powerful gathering of Nigerians from all walks of life at its 15th Annual International Convention of ZUMUNTA to create a road map in reducing the ethnic and religious tensions in the country. According to its Public Relations Officer, Mesi Ada Usiade, the theme of this year's ZUMUNTA convention is; 'Prevention of Communal and Religious conflicts in Nigeria', while revisiting its previous and the most recent theme, 'Preventing HIV/AIDS and Malaria in Northern Nigeria'.
Realizing the slippery terrain of religion and ethnic divide in Nigeria, the Sultan of Sokoto and the leader of Muslims in Nigeria, His Eminence Alhaji Mohammad Sa'adu Abubakar III, CFR Mni, has decided to join Zumunta Association at its 2008 convention on ways to foster the unity among Nigerians. In addition, Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja, and President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the umbrella association of all Christians in Nigeria, would be joining Zumunta in Los Angeles, California on the issue of Conflict Management and Resolution in Nigeria. The Sultan and Arch Bishop would be on the same forum, in a Town hall meeting style, to pave ways for finding some lasting solutions to religious and ethnic divide in Nigeria.
In addition, Zumunta is assembling a truly outstanding team of speakers and presenters for 'the Convention of the Century', according to Halilu Haruna, one of the organizers, and the National Zumunta Treasurer. It is not going to be a loud-mouthed venture for a formidable group like Zumunta to start the engine of unifying Nigeria in spite its diversity, especially religion, which has been a source of disunity among Nigerians.
Going down the history lane of Nigeria, religion has been used by most Nigerian past leaders to partition the country along ethnic and religious blocks. Because of the prominence of religion as a political instrument, successive governments in Nigeria involved themselves neck-deep in religious matters. However, religion has become an inalienable factor in the new Nigerian politics, being used to stamp the ruler's authority and acceptability. In effect, the ruling elite have used religious sentiments to polarize the people and created unnecessary and unhealthy tension.
My knowledge of religion tells me that it is the hardest subject in the world to approach objectively. By its nature, it dwells and thrives on emotion. Moreover, where emotion holds sway, reason is held captive. Thus religion argument is like the man in the anecdote. It goes round and round in circles, endless, inconclusive, and frustrating. It is about time Nigerians nail the coffin of religious riots especially in the North, and regionalization policies and see Nigerians as Nigerians wherever State they make their living in Nigeria.
As mentioned earlier, religion is a slippery terrain, more slippery than a banana peel. However, the path of wisdom is to avoid the terrain. The pages of history books testify to the unending rivalry or problems created by religion in this century all over the world. Whenever a community is governed by the absolute tenets of religion, at the expense of other faithful within the community, progress could be adversely affected. Some pocket-sized States in Nigeria still hide under religion as a barometer for public service.
As pointed out, if Nigeria is to grow socially, politically, and economically, the politicization of religion must cease. Government should desist from actions and policies, which directly or indirectly violate the Constitutional secularity of Nigeria. Each has the right to exist and it is my desire that believers of all faiths should live together in harmony.
We certainly cannot add religious divisions to the ethnic differences, which threaten Nigerian unity. There is nothing more humidifying than watching devotees' batter themselves into submission in the name of the only true God. I allude to the fact that the ethics of each religion demand love, peace, justice, and tolerance of other people and religions.
The erstwhile traditional Nigerian philosophy of life was characteristically tolerant and accommodating. Felicitations and celebrations during religious holidays, such as Christmas and the Id-el-Kabir, cut across religious lines. People of different religions have lived and worked together for years in offices, as tenants in houses, and have even intermarried. However, this trend has changed as people feel insecure in places other than their homeland, which might be due to religious intolerance, ethnicity, and politicking. Zumunta Association is urging Nigerians to return to their religious and ethnic tolerance level of the past.
Among the delegates to the Zumunta 15th Annual convention are about 23 members of the Arewa Consultative Forum, under the Chairmanship of Maj. Gen. I.B.M. Haruna. Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jengir, the leader of Jama'atu Izalatil Bid'ah Wa Ikamatis Sunnah, is leading a powerful 7-member delegation to attend Religious Conflicts and HIV/Aids and Malaria prevention. He had been leading the most formidable Islamic organization in Nigeria with massive followers that have now extended to most parts of West Africa, Sudan and some parts of Egypt.
Also expected at the Zumunta 2008 convention are a host of Governors, Ministers, State Health Commissioners and the First Lady of Nigeria, Her Excellency, Mrs. Turai Yar'Adua. Eminent Nigerian and international scholars will also be on hand to proffer solutions to the AIDS and Malaria epidemic in Nigeria.
Some highlights of the convention include:
A conference on 'Preventing HIV/AIDS and Malaria in Northern Nigeria' on Saturday July 26th by 10:00 a.m. to be addressed by eminent Nigerian and International scholars specializing in the field of HIV/AIDS and Malaria research.
A town Hall meeting on 'Prevention of Communal and religious conflicts in Nigeria' on Saturday July 26th by 3:00 p.m. to be jointly Chaired by the Sultan of Sokoto, who is also the leader of Muslims in Nigeria and the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja who is also the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria. An Executive Dinner Banquet and Gala Night by 9:00 p.m. on Saturday July 26th at the Grand ball Room of the LAX Marriott featuring an exquisite dinner, cultural displays from different parts of Nigeria and a fund raiser for ZUMUNTA projects in Nigeria
Issuance and Renewal of Nigerian passports to all Nigerian Citizens from Wednesday July 23rd to Sunday July 27th by Staff of the Nigerian Embassy from Washington DC
Various caucus meetings between the Sultan and the Archbishop with Leaders of thought from various Nigerian groups residing abroad Sunday morning on July 27th.
Exclusive Business Dinner/Investment Networking Forum for American and Nigerian business men and women with the attending Ministers and Governors from Nigeria. This business dinner will hold on the Night of Sunday July 27th
This year's convention will also include an outstanding career fair. According to Zumunta President, Salisu Abdullahi, among the expected convention sponsors are the Western Union, UBA, Diamond, Fidelity, and GT, Platumun Habib Banks. Others are First Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Stock Exchange, City Space International Residential Company, and Legacy Realties.
Zumunta Association USA Inc., came into life in 1991 in New York, as a tax exempt 501 (C), progressive, fast growing, non profit, and non political organization in the United States of America. Zumunta mission is to 'develop Northern Nigeria technologically, socially and economically; to cater for our members; preserve the rich and diverse culture of Nigeria and to improve the image of the country in the global arena.'
ZUMUNTA is a Hausa word for Fellowship, and it is the umbrella association of nineteen States in Northern Nigeria in America just like the World Igbo Congress and Egbe Omo Yoruba, apex organizations representing Igbos and Yorubas abroad respectfully.
One of its programs is a Scholarship award for Northern Nigerian Students in the Nigerian Universities for their entire Degree program in the areas of Technology, and Science. Zumunta pays each student tuition fees for the duration of their degree programs which began in 1997. Zumunta has contributed, in one way or the other, to some social challenges in Nigeria as a whole. Among such was the donation of 160 pieces of Computers, several printers, books and other gadgets to Northern Nigerian Universities in September 1996.
Zumunta association has been led by prominent Nigerians and they continue the legacy of the Association. Such leaders are Dr. Mohammed Ladan, its immediate past President, Dr. Ezekiel Macham, who would work round the clock for the success of the Association, without looking back. Others are Dr. Ibrahim Khaleel, who I worked with for two terms as Zumunta National Secretary; Engineer Abdullahi Sule, a Director at the Dangote Group of Companies, and my very own, Alhaji Aliyu Mustapha of VOA. Zumunta is most grateful to the founder of the Association, of late memory, Dr. Musa Kallam
Its current cabinet includes Mallam Salisu Abdullahi, President, Dr. Femi Ajayi, VP, Dr. Ogbu Agburu, Secretary General, Halilu Haruna, Treasurer, Financial Secretary, Maryam Egberi. Mesi Ada Usiade its PRO, Deborah Bwayili and Mimi Smith as Legal Advisors I and II respectively. Musa Salihu is the Social/Cultural Officer, Eng. Mathias Luka Agbu and Hassan Salami as Auditor I and II respectively, Rakiya Khaleel, the National Youth Coordinator; Dr. Mohammed Ladan is the Ex Officio member, while Salisu A. Abdullahi is the Webmaster. Abdulmumin Bello Mohammed serves as the Zumunta Nigerian Coordinator.
Zumunta President urges 'every Nigerian residing abroad most especially, should mark these dates and come out en masse to support ZUMUNTA in its quest to institute a New Dawn of ethnic and religious harmony in Nigeria and also to ask the Sultan and the Archbishop topical questions on this all important issue during the town hall meeting to be held at the LAX Marriot hotel on Saturday July 26, 2008'.
For more information on the 'Convention of the Century', log on to www.zumunta.org.
The Hotel Information is:
LAX AIRPORT MARRIOTT
5855 West Century Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90045 USA
Phone: 1-310-641-5700 Toll-free: 1-800-228-9290
The only choice for Zumunta members now is to come together to advance their causes, the causes of their people in the United States and back home in Nigeria. They need to come together to knit a cultural net and develop cultural activities to teach their children an appreciation and empathy for their heritage.
Through its annual convention, Zumunta Association USA is launching a huge challenge for all Nigerians, wherever they may reside, to set aside their ethnic or religious differences and come together for a better tomorrow. Once the country is united, the issue of economic empowerment will be a child play and resolving some natural challenges in terms of malaria and HIV/AIDS would be minimized and all hands must be on deck to checkmate all conflict-ridden programs in Nigeria.
See you in Los Angeles July 25 through 27, 2008.
All smiles as Muslims unite for peace
Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad and the imminent release of a Dutch documentary critical of Islam are just part of the evidence that Islamophobia is on the rise, according to the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) at its summit this week in Senegal's capital, Dakar.
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The OIC says a campaign of defamation and denigration is one of the greatest challenges facing the Muslim world today. "Ignorance about Islam and also calculated animosity with deep historic roots on the part of a minority in the West as well as our inability to disseminate the true values of Islam are the reasons for this increasing wave of Islamophobia," Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the Muslim grouping, told the delegates before calling for robust political engagement with the West to tackle it.
There were more than 20 heads of state attending, but obviously no invitation letter was sent to George Bush.The US president is viewed by many here with scorn, largely because US foreign policies are judged in much of the Muslim world as being anti-Islamic.President Bush says the US is misunderstood and so he has appointed the Pakistan-born Sada Cumber, a Muslim businessman from Texas, as the first US special envoy to the Islamic organisation.
His mission?
"My role is to share the common core values of America. The pure ethics of America does not allow any of us to have anything but deep respect for all religions, including Islam."So the perception [that the US government is anti-Islam] is probably a misconception," the Pakistan-born envoy told the BBC, adding that he had been widely welcomed at the summit.
Stars and stripes
Building bridges will be a tough job for Mr Cumber who will represent US interests on controversial subjects like Iraq. But the man, who believes he was chosen because in the business world he has a track record of quick success, says he brings a positive message from Mr Bush.
"He's personally told me that he is prepared to engage with every one of the Muslim leaders to make sure we have freedom, stability and prosperity in all regions and he's committed."When I point out that he has perhaps deliberately chosen not to pin a stars-and-stripes badge to his lapel or to wear stars-and-stripes socks to the world's largest summit of Muslim leaders, Mr Cumba has a surprising response."First thing this morning I was wearing my Texan boots on which is a huge logo: 'Texas Wide Open For Business'"."I see you are not wearing them now," I point out. "I was on my feet so much I had to take them off and put on some more comfortable shoes."But does he not think Texan boots in an Islamic Conference could cause a bit of a stir. "Absolutely not. People get a kick out of it. People look at them and say, 'Wow these boots are good.'
"Americans are always welcome, you know that."
Hamid Sirajjudin from Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Mr Cumber's presence is welcome."If it can open avenues for dialogue and for consultation then it is a positive move," he suggests, noting that it is up to the OIC to decide who should be invited.The Iranian ambassador to the OIC, Mostafa Bonjuredi, is not so welcoming.He says the US is neither a permanent member nor an observer and so should stay away from the summit altogether.
Bridges apart
Inside the conference centre it was no surprise that Israel was lambasted with calls from the Muslim body for the perpetrators of what it called "Israel's heinous crimes in the Middle East" to be put on trial before an international court. The 57 member countries may be united by their faith but they at times seem a world apart with few bridges linking them.
Take this seven-second interaction between a delegate from Saudi Arabia and a Mozambican journalist: "Mozambique - is that an island? Oh, it's not. Anyway it was very nice to meet you."
Economically the differences are stark.
Divide up the annual income of oil-rich Kuwait and you get $24,000 per person.But you would have to perform miracles and stay alive for more than 100 years to accumulate that kind of money in Sierra Leone, where the national annual income is just $220 per head.The Islamic conference says it wants to change that and a fund has been set up with a target of raising $10bn to fight poverty, notably in Africa.So far $2.6bn has been pledged with a billion coming from Saudi Arabia alone.Senegal has used generous grants from the Islamic fund to give the capital, Dakar, a facelift including major road-building projects. But there have been concerns over accountability for the grants.
Spending binge
The budget for the projects is around $250m and in charge has been the president's son, Karim Wade, who was also a chief organiser of this conference. The man, who some believe is being manoeuvred into succeeding his father, dismisses the suggestion that the Senegalese people living in abject poverty are not seeing any reward from the spending binge.
"We have created more than 10,000 jobs to build and operate the infrastructure and investment flow will definitely create job opportunities for the people and will help us to achieve a higher growth rate for our economy," he told me.
Peace building is also a stated OIC goal and host Abdoulaye Wade eventually dragged the leaders of Sudan and Chad together to sign a peace deal which, if implemented, could help alleviate the suffering in Sudan's Darfur region.
They may share the same religion but when President Omar al-Bashir and his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby have put pen to paper in the past, the conflicts across the common border have only escalated.They even prayed together at Mecca during a previous deal and so few analysts expect this pact to be any different.For a man keen to push himself forward as a continental heavyweight, President Wade got what he wanted: a grand summit and a peace deal.But analysts suggests the octogenarian leader does not wield the kind of influence he thinks he has and we wait to see if the Dakar deal has any impact or if it will just go down as another worthless signing ceremony.There was enough red carpet here in Dakar to cover a small island.As it is rolled up, a huge 1,200-cabin cruise ship, hired to house the delegates, will head from Dakar's port to the Mediterranean.Stowing away could be a temptation for the vast number of West Africans trying to reach Europe.
Nigeria governor denies cult link
The governor of a south east Nigerian state has denied being involved in a secret ritual that was filmed and uploaded onto the internet.
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Theodore Orji of Abia state told the BBC the film was a fake.The film features a man who strongly resembles the governor, crouching in front of a shrine in shackles dressed only in his Y-fronts.The shrine is believed to be one in Anambra state that has been linked to scores of murders.The 31-second clip was uploaded onto the internet by saharareporters.com, a group of Nigerian "citizen journalists". Another man standing behind the one in Y-fronts brandishes a chicken and an egg.It is not clear what exactly is going on in the clip, which has no sound, but it seems the man resembling the governor is forced to symbolically lay an egg.
'Christian'
Many Nigerians hold on to their traditional beliefs in addition to being Muslim or Christian.But Mr Orji told the BBC's Network Africa programme he was not a member of a secret cult."I am a Christian by birth, my father owns a church. I cannot go to my father's church and be a member of a cult," he said. "You can do anything with a computer these days," he added.
He said the accusations were part of a plot to run him out of politics.Mr Orji won his election in Abia state with 82% of the vote, but he was in jail at the time.He was accused of complicity with his boss, former governor Orji Kalu, who is now facing corruption charges.Last month an election tribunal overturned Mr Orji's election, saying he had not resigned his post as required before the poll.But he remains governor pending an appeal."They are trying to heap all the crimes of the world upon my head," Mr Orji said.
'Human sacrifice'
In 2004, 33 bodies were discovered at a shrine in Okija, Anambra state.Many were missing body parts, hands heads and genitals, believed to have been used in rituals.30 men were arrested, but nobody was tried.The police said they suspected the victims had been murdered, but the arrested men said the bodies had been brought to the shrine by their families.They claimed the men had died in accidents, killed by spirits after breaking agreements made at the shrine.Mr Orji told the BBC shrines were common all over Nigeria"It is where people go to settle scores and land disputes," he said.It is not the first time a politician has been filmed in this way.In 2003 Anambra governor Chris Ngige was filmed participating in a shrine ritual.He did not deny the charges and said he had gone along with the ritual because he was being blackmailed, but had no intention of sticking to the deal.
Nigeria Turns From Harsher Side of Islamic Law
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KANO, Nigeria — Just last year, the morality police roamed these streets in dusky blue uniforms and black berets, brandishing cudgels at prayer shirkers and dragging fornicators into Islamic courts to face sentences like death by public stoning.
But these days, the fearsome police officers, known as the Hisbah, are little more than glorified crossing guards. They have largely been confined to their barracks and assigned anodyne tasks like directing traffic and helping fans to their seats at soccer games.
The Islamic revolution that seemed so destined to transform northern Nigeria in recent years appears to have come and gone — or at least gone in a direction few here would have expected.
When Muslim-dominated states like Kano adopted Islamic law after the fall of military rule in 1999, radical clerics from the Arabian peninsula arrived in droves to preach a draconian brand of fundamentalism, and newly empowered religious judges handed down tough punishments like amputation for theft. Kano became a center of anti-American sentiment in one of the most reliably pro-American countries in Africa.
But since then, much of the furor has died down, and the practice of Islamic law, or Shariah, which had gone on for centuries in the private sphere before becoming enshrined in public law, has settled into a distinctively Nigerian compromise between the dictates of faith and the chaotic realities of modern life in an impoverished, developing nation.
“Shariah needs to be practical,” said Bala Abdullahi, a civil servant here. “We are a developing country, so there is a kind of moderation between the ideas of the West and traditional Islamic values. We try to weigh it so there is no contradiction.”
The federal government cracked down on the Hisbah last year, enforcing a national ban on religious and ethnic militias, and the secular, federally controlled police force has little interest in enforcing the harshest strictures of Shariah. Violence between Muslims and Christians has also begun to subside in the north.
But even before then, the feared mutilations and death sentences almost never materialized. Public floggings are quite common, and in Zamfara, the first state to adopt Shariah as the basis of its criminal code, at least one man had his hand amputated in 2000 for stealing a cow, but other sentences of mutilation have rarely been carried out.
And despite several internationally known adultery sentences of death by stoning in a public square — including that of Amina Lawal, a woman from Katsina State who gave birth to a child out of wedlock that a Shariah court in 2002 took as evidence of the crime — not one stoning sentence has been carried out. Ms. Lawal’s conviction was overturned the following year, and she is now active in local politics, living freely with her daughter Wasila in her hometown.
The change has little to do with religious attitudes — northern Nigeria remains one of the most pious Muslim regions in Africa, as it has been since the camel caravans across the Sahara first brought Islam here centuries ago. In Kano, the main city of Kano State, thousands of men spill out in neat rows onto the city’s main boulevards on Friday afternoon, an overflow of devotion for the week’s most important prayer, and virtually all Muslim women are veiled.
The shift reflects the fact that religious law did not transform society. Indeed, some of the most ardent Shariah-promoting politicians now find themselves under investigation for embezzling millions of dollars. Many early proponents of Shariah feel duped by politicians who rode its popular wave but failed to live by its tenets, enriching themselves and neglecting to improve the lives of ordinary people.
“Politicians started seeing Shariah as a gateway to political power,” said Abba Adam Koki, a conservative cleric here who has criticized the local government’s application of Shariah. “But they were insincere. We have been disappointed and never got what we had hoped.”
Facing backlash from citizens and criticism from human rights groups at home and abroad, state governments that had swiftly enacted Shariah and embraced its harshest tenets are now shifting the emphasis from the punishments and prohibitions to a softer approach that emphasizes other tenets of Muslim law, like charity, women’s rights and the duty of Muslims to keep their environment clean.
“Shariah is not only about the cutting off of wrists,” said Muzammil Sani Hanga, a member of Kano State’s Shariah Commission and a legal expert who helped draft the state’s Islamic code. “It is a complete way of life.”
New programs have sprung up to encourage parents to send their daughters to hybrid public elementary schools that offer traditional Islamic education along with math and reading, in keeping with Islamic principles that call for the education of girls. In many of these classrooms, girls outnumber boys, and the United States Agency for International Development is so impressed with the potential of these programs that one third of the schools it supports across Nigeria are integrated Islamic and secular, according to officials at the agency.
State officials are using Islamic exhortations on cleanliness to encourage recycling of the plastic bags that choke landfills and gutters. One governor, citing the Islamic duty to care for the indigent, recently instituted a monthly stipend for disabled beggars.
“Our approach is a humane Shariah, not a punitive Shariah,” said Bala A. Muhammad, director of a state program in Kano called A Daidaita Sahu. The name, a Hausa commandment, means “straighten your rows,” a reference to the razor-sharp lines formed by Muslims as they line up to pray and a metaphor for the orderliness required in everyday life by the Koran.
Hundreds of yellow motorized rickshaws purchased by the state government make it easier for women, who had been barred from taking motorcycle taxis, to get around.
“As a Muslim woman I want to be modest,” said one commuter, Amina Abubakar, as she stepped daintily into the back seat of a rickshaw and pulled its privacy curtain closed. “This is more comfortable, and the safety is better.”
To be sure, conservative elements hold sway in some areas. In October, a Shariah court in Kaduna upheld the ban of a satirical play by the human rights activist Shehu Sani about a corrupt politician who uses Shariah to manipulate his constituents.
But the shift may also be helping to ease tensions between Muslims and Christians in a country where sectarian conflicts, often stoked by politicians to stir up support, have killed thousands over the past decade.
“The thing has caused a lot of harm,” said the Rev. Foster O. Ekeleme, a Methodist bishop in Kano who leads a flock of mostly Ibo tribespeople from southeastern Nigeria. “There was burning of Christian churches. Christians were killed. So many people were displaced. But now, the tempo is cooling down.”
Mr. Ekeleme had just been visited by a senior adviser of the Kano State governor, an Ibo Catholic, Chris Azuka, who was appointed to try to improve interfaith relations in the state.
“The idea of Shariah is to promote social justice, not create religious conflict,” Mr. Azuka said. “Shariah is not about violence.”
Northern Muslims and southern Christians have long coexisted uneasily across what is now modern Nigeria. Two centuries ago, the Hausa rulers of the north waged a jihad to convert southerners to Islam, and while they only reached the middle of the country, the aftershocks of the period can be felt to this day.
More recently, the Hausa elite have dominated the military, while southern Christians, like the Yoruba and the Ibo, have dominated commercial and intellectual life. According to international human rights organizations, 11,000 to 15,000 people have been killed in sectarian and ethnic conflicts in Nigeria since the return of democracy in 1999.
In Jigawa State, religious violence exploded in September 2006, amid political tensions before elections in 2007. A Muslim woman claimed that a Christian one had insulted the Prophet Muhammad, and mobs of Muslim youths descended on Christian churches in the state capital, Dutse, burning several to the ground.
The mob arrived at the Assemblies of God church, where the pastor’s wife, Nadi Dangana, said she barely escaped over the wall before the youths broke down the gate.
“We escaped with our lives, but all our property is gone,” she said.
The church was left in ashes, its altar and crosses charred stumps. A makeshift sanctuary without walls stands in its place. Blackened bits of salvaged corrugated roofing keep out the rain.
But these days tensions have cooled, said Garba Shehu, a former Muslim from Dutse who converted to evangelical Christianity. When the governor signed the law creating a stipend for beggars, he invited three Christian clergy members to pray alongside three Muslim clerics.
“We thank God we don’t see the same tensions as before,” Mr. Shehu said. “We are free to practice our faith without fear.”
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