The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) held its first conference on “Shari’ah and Democracy” at the Sheraton Conference Center in Abuja, Nigeria from July 7 through July 9, 2004. Over 300 people attended the opening session, chaired by Nigerian Chief Justice Muhammad Lawal Uwais. The special Guest of Honor was the Vice-President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakr, represented by Dr. A. D. Yahaya. In addition, the Governors of Kano State, and Zamfara State also delivered keynote addresses. Several other prominent guests were in attendance during the opening session, including several prominent Qadis (judges) and a good number of academicians and civil servants.
Professor S. U. Abdullahi, Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria gave the welcoming address on behalf of the Centre for Islamic Legal Studies, CSID’s local Nigerian partner for the conference. Dr. Radwan Masmoudi, President of CSID, then welcomed the guests and spoke about the need to reflect critically on Nigeria’s experience with Shari’ah. He called for open discussion and for intellectual examination of Shari’ah practices in Nigeria.
In his welcoming remarks to the gathering, Chief Justice Muhammad Lawal Uwais summarized the purpose of the three-day event: “This conference is concerned with the implementation of Shari’ah in a democracy, and in particular, in Nigeria. Without a doubt, Nigeria is a democracy. Although there are countries like Indonesia and Malaysia that are democratic, most Muslim countries do not practice democracy. So Nigeria presents an interesting story. Shari’ah has been in Nigeria for many years, even before colonialism. With the coming of democracy in 1999 and the declaration of Shari’ah, a lot of interest has been shown on the implementation of Shari’ah. Some of this attention has been positive and a lot has been negative. This conference will examine the difficulties of this implementation.”
In his address, the Governor of Bauchi State raised a set of intriguing questions: “In the light of globalization, how do we determine the limits within which we will implement Shari’ah so that non-Muslims are also accommodated for? How do we evaluate the changes in Shari’ah without losing our distinct identity as Muslims? What practical steps can we take? Shari’ah does not only apply to the weak and poor, while we turn a blind eye to the rich and the powerful. How can we create a spiritual policeman or a spiritual judge?”
