Shariah

By Tijani  Hassan Abdulkarim

This may sound a bit controversial, but I’ve not seen a profession that promotes evil in the open like the legal profession. With the wig on, lawyers stand before the judge in defence of evildoers and plotters with a mandate of seeking their acquittal, using superior cunning arguments by looking for loopholes in the legal system and twisting the law for the sole purpose of earning monetary reward from their clients.

Doing the above is, of course, attributed to their training. I presume the training lawyers receive in the law school before being called to bar involves teaching them how to play down on their inherent personal conscience directly or otherwise. This leaves me pondering over the degree of good conscience left in the legal practitioners. Don’t get it twisted; many morally sound lawyers are equally in the profession across different chambers within the country.

Unfortunately, close discerning will reveal how the profession thrives best in deceit and feasting on the miscalculations of the appellant seeking justice before a competent court of jurisdiction.

Please permit me to cite two recent instances: one of a criminal offence and the other of a Shariah case, all in Kano State, Nigeria. We will need to pay close ear to discern how lawyers in the defence team are attempting to remodel the course of justice by dragging the cases to secure the release of the accused on all grounds.

It is no longer news that  Sheikh Abdul-Jabbar Nasiru Kabara, the controversial Kano preacher, has been charged to court by the state government for offence bordering on blasphemy according to Islamic law. However, knowing full well the gravity of the (expected) outcome of the judgement, lawyers got in to ensure the acquittal of the accused despite the volume of evidence against him.

Upon discovering the hidden antics of the lawyers who have promised to defend and clear him of all charges, Abdul-Jabbar rescinded their counsel, protesting that they were insincere to their pledge of seeking justice on his behalf. His vituperation was that the lawyers were capitalising on his ordeal to enrich their chambers through the series of legal bottlenecks they’re cracking. The infamous Sheikh opted to stand in self-defence. All this drama unfolded after his defence team’s complete assurance of being victorious at the commencement of the hearing. Though, the possibility is highly impossible.

The second scenario from the same Kano is connected to the late five-year-old Haneefa, whose teacher Abdulmalik Tanko kidnapped and murdered in cold blood. Again, the details are everywhere on the web. Therefore, it is no longer news that the culprit openly confessed on camera and before the whole public of conniving with his accomplices to commit the crime and even went further to seek the forgiveness of the mourning parents.

Fortunately unfortunate, when the case came up for mention before the court, the same accused pleaded not guilty to the charges of kidnapping, culpable homicide, and murder read against him. Guess who advised him to claim innocence after the entire nation and the international community condemned his evil action? The lawyers – his defence counsel.

I am sure it is now visible to you to connect the obvious dots between the law profession, self-centeredness, injustice, deceit and outright evil against society. It is further appalling to see that most of these legal minds who wore the mask of innocence always go with the slogan of protecting the accused from being deprived of their human rights. This beg the question of what now happens to the fundamental human rights of the victims who have been deprived of their right to life by these evildoers?

Moreover, what is the fate of the society and its members who have been thrown into a theatre of evil because evildoers have the guarantee of going free by the antics of lawyers who are trained in using the constitution for the good of themselves; nay the society.

My submission is not an over-generalisation. There are good lawyers, and the opposite ones are also in abundance. However, the current reality will require the good to rise to the defence of the common good to save the society from the evil of their colleagues. To do that, our justice system needs to be remodelled to guarantee quick justice delivery. Remember, justice delayed is justice denied.

Post Scriptum: Without prejudice, this is my sincere sentiment on the practices of lawyers who are bent on defiling the legal profession in Nigeria and the world over. This will not interrupt the fact that I admire the job and aspire to study and practice as a legal luminary, but it has to be for good.

Tijani  Hassan Abdulkarim is a graduate of Mass Communication from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

By Usama Abdullahi

Nothing could be scarier than seeing some people sympathising with the ruthless murderer of little Haneefa Abubakar. Anyone who does that does it out of unflinching apathy toward human’s life. Liu Jan, a Chinese billionaire businessman, was convicted of murder and executed in February 2015 simply because he ran a mafia-style gang. Likewise, one of his siblings and some other three associates were executed. 

If this could happen in a well-evolved, progressive and most populous country on earth, I wonder why it wouldn’t happen here in Nigeria. Does it mean Nigerians are the most softhearted people in the whole wide world? Of course, no. If issues of sympathy arise, I bet many Nigerians would bury themselves in shame because they are wont of barbarism.

Our hypocrisy knows no boundary and is second to none. It’s deep-rooted, and we seem not ready to change for the better. Innocent poor people are cruelly barbecued as chickens and kidnapped daily, yet the (un)repentant criminals are warmly received and mollycoddled. Their barbaric actions are overlooked. Unfortunately, those wounded and displaced to new unfavourable suburbs are left unaided.

It’s a grave sin to glorify or pardon criminals whenever they fake repentance. This is why our country breeds a generation of stubborn criminals and why insecurity thrives. Actually, we do no justice by neglecting the fact that those criminals are worthless and deserve to be tortured to death just as they did to our brothers and sisters.

We escalate the precarious situations of our dear nation by being soft on criminals. No doubt that laws in this country are imposed upon the labouring classes or less privileged ones. If the needy steal to feed their bereaved or starved families, they are burned to ashes when caught by mobs who are thieves themselves. Those disadvantaged are primarily refugees and victims of bad governance. I’m not trying to justify their crimes either. No, I am not. 

But who do you think should be burned to ashes unhesitatingly? Yes, the real unsparing and often politically sponsored criminals, I suppose. It’s true that the so-called sympathisers neither mourn the slain nor denounce the slayers. On the contrary, they are quick to condone and gloat over innocent people’s death. One who sympathises with a criminal is either crueller or no different than the criminal himself.

By excusing barbarism, we are trying to eliminate these two words, “deterrence” and “justice”, from our constitution. If criminals are not punished accordingly, there’s no “deterrence”; many people will probably carry out their unlawful activities without fear. And if justice can’t be done too, then this society is lawless. Until Haneefa’s murderer, Abdulmalik, faces the death penalty, I will never forgive our judicial system.

Usama Abdullahi wrote from Abuja, Nigeria. He can be reached at usamagayyi@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Abdurrahman

The death of two foremost Islamic scholars, Professor Hussein Akande Abdul Kareem and Dr. Ahmad Datti, has been announced. Professor Abdul Kareem died in Lagos on Sunday, December, 26, 2021, while Dr. Ahmad Datti died in Kano on Thursday December, 30, 2021. An Islamic human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has described them as two giant scholarly figures.  

MURIC’s reaction was contained in a statement issued by its director and founder, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Thursday, 30th December, 2021.

MURIC said: “Islamdom in Nigeria has been hit by the loss of two great scholarly figures who died within four days of each other. Professor Hussein Abdul Kareem died in Lagos on Sunday, 26th December, 2021 while Dr. Ahmad Datti died in Kano on Thursday 30th December, 2021.

“Professor Hussein was a former president of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN). He was one of the founding fathers of the Islamic Welfare Foundation (IWF), the Islamic Study Group (ISGON) and many others Islamic organisations. He was a great motivator, a team player and a transparently honest man. He was a profound ascetic who shunned worldly luxuries.  

“A professor of biochemistry, he taught and researched in several local and overseas universities including the University of Khartoum, Sudan, University of Maiduguri and the Lagos State University. He retired voluntarily in 2006 and became a full time Islamic worker. He was nominated by the International Biography Centre, Cambridge, England as the International Man of the Millenium Award in 1999. Professor Hussein died at the age of 85. He has since been buried in Badagry, Lagos State.

“Dr. Ahmad Datti was an energetic Islamic activist of no small measure. A trained medical doctor, he was the president of the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria (SCSN). The deceased played a prominent role in the spread of Shariah in the Northern states of the country from 1999 onwards.

“A pragmatic Muslim leader, Dr. Datti encouraged Muslims to join politics in order to bring the teachings of Islam on probity, accountability and good governance to bear on politics and Muslim politicians. He practiced what he taught by becoming an aspirant of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the early 90s.

“He became a household name particularly in the whole northern Nigeria. He also participated in the activities of several Islamic organisations and he was the chairman, Board of Trustees of the Usman bin Affan Islamic Trust, Gadon Kaya, Kano. He died after a protracted illness at the age of 83. He was buried at the Tarauni Cemetery, Kano. Dr. Datti has left a vacuum that will be difficult to fill.

“The death of these two giant Islamic scholars has left MURIC in deep grief. We are devastated. We pray that Almighty Allah will overlook their trespasses and repose their souls in Al-Jannah Firdaus. We also pray that Allah will give their families the fortitude needed to bear the losses.

“As we commiserate with the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, MSSN, ISGON and the Lagos Muslim Community on the death of Professor Hussein Abdul Kareem, we equally condole with the governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, MURIC Kano Chapter and the good people of Kano, over the demise of Dr. Datti Ahmad.”