US embassy cable - 04ABUJA221

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000221 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/PD AAMIRTHANAYAGAM AND AF/W 
LAGOS FOR PAS, POL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, SCUL, KDEM, OIIP, NI 
SUBJECT: REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 
ON SHARIA IN NIGERIA, JANUARY 15 - 17, 2004 
 
1. SUMMARY:  Nigeria's introduction of Sharia 
criminal law in 12 northern states beginning in 
1999 remains a contentious issue in Nigeria. 
Consequently, Nigeria has experienced sporadic 
social and religious tensions - occasionally 
erupting in violence -- which have continued to 
impact negatively on Christians-Muslim relations. 
The January Jos Sharia conference, organized by 
the Universities of Jos (Nigeria) and Bayreuth 
(Germany) was funded by the Volkswagon Foundation 
and brought together Nigerian and international 
academics to explore the issue from a comparative 
legal and religious standpoint.  Efforts before, 
during, and after the conference by Muslim 
hardliners to discredit what was an open academic 
exchange of viewpoints between a whole spectrum of 
Muslim Nigerians, Christians, and international 
experts underscores the need to continue such 
apolitical dialogue if moderate voices in Nigeria 
are to be encouraged.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Sharia in Nigeria:  Still a Flashpoint 
-------------------------------------- 
 
2. Since the 1999/2000 implementation of Sharia in 
northern Nigeria, meaningful dialogue has been lacking 
between Sharia's proponents and critics, and broad 
segments of civil society. Given its large population, 
Nigeria accommodates more Christians and Muslims than 
any African state.  In recognition of the importance of 
Sharia to Nigeria's stability, Volkswagen Foundation 
provided financial support to the University of Jos to 
host an International Conference on "Comparative 
Perspectives on Sharia in Nigeria," January 15 - 17, 
2004.   With funds provided by the Volkswagen 
Foundation, the conference was the culmination of a 
yearlong research project by scholars of the two 
institutions on "The Sharia Debate and the Shaping of 
Muslim and Christian Identities in Northern Nigeria." 
The conference attracted presenters and commentators 
versed in issues related to constitutional law and 
religion from the United States, Germany, the 
Netherlands, and Nigeria.  The EU, U.S., and German 
Missions were represented at the event as audience 
members.  Sharia advisory and implementation committees 
from the 12 northern Sharia States, Christian leaders, 
civil society organizations, judges, journalists and 
representatives of the military and the police also 
participated actively in the conference.  PAS Abuja 
facilitated the participation of Professor Cole Durham 
from Brigham Young University International Center for 
Law and Religious Studies, Provo, Utah, in the 
conference.  The conference was well attended with an 
average daily attendance of 600 - 700 people. 
 
3.  Although the U.S. Mission only helped recruit a speaker 
for the conference, some Muslim participants and at least 
one daily newspaper alleged USG sponsorship of the event. 
Two faculty members at the University of Jos, who helped 
organize the event and are U.S. citizens, were described as 
"anti-Sharia and agents of western civilization."  Following 
the conference, one of the Kano State Sharia Implementation 
Committee members who observed the Jos meeting posted an 
article on the popular Nigerian website, www.gamji.com, 
stating that the U.S. Government had sponsored the 
conference.  Post subsequently posted a correction 
clarifying the issue of U.S. sponsorship. 
 
4.  The Jos Sharia conference was intended to create a 
genuine dialogue between Nigerian Christians and Muslims on 
the Sharia debate by bringing in comparative perspectives 
from experiences in other countries.  Despite this 
intention, the dialogue often degenerated into a 
confrontation between the West and the Muslim world.  In his 
paper titled "The West and the Rest: Reflections on the 
Intercultural Dialogue About Sharia," Mr. Sanusi Lamido 
Sanusi, a prominent Lagos-based Muslim leader, argued that 
the problem with Western criticisms of Sharia was that such 
criticisms have always "failed to take into account the 
wider global context of the perceived confrontation between 
the West and the Muslim world."  He added that the dominance 
of the United States as a superpower and its ideologically- 
inspired promotion of globalization has led to a perception 
by Muslims that every criticism of the Muslim world by the 
West is "American inspired."  Commenting further, Mr. Lamido 
stressed the notion that "Muslims detest America because 
America detests Islam and Muslims." 
 
5.  Perhaps the most controversial paper presented during 
the conference was by a Sudanese-born American citizen, 
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, a Professor of law at Emory Law 
School in Atlanta, Georgia.  In his paper entitled "The 
Future of Shari'ah," An-Na'im categorically condemned the 
process of the implementation of Sharia by Nigeria's 12 
northern states.  Professor An-Na'im argued that there is no 
historical precedent for a so-called "Islamic State" in 
Islamic history, a statement that generated great discontent 
among many Muslim audience members.  Commenting again on the 
Sharia debate in Nigeria, An-Na'im advised Nigerians Muslims 
to learn from the Sudanese experience with regard to 
enforcement of Sharia as a state policy.  According to 
Professor An-Na'im, "the Islamic legitimacy of the state has 
always been a cause of conflict and civil war since the 
death of Prophet Mohammed in 632 AD."  An-Na'im, therefore, 
cautioned Sharia protagonists in Nigeria to be cautious in 
their demands to avoid a civil war in their country.  These 
comments deeply angered many of the Muslim participants at 
the conference.  Sheikh Ibrahim Umar Kabo, Chairman, Sharia 
Advisory and Implementation Committee for Kano State, 
responded to An-Na'im's paper.  He spoke in Arabic for about 
ten minutes after which he led a walkout, and more than half 
of the Muslim participants left the hall without allowing An- 
Na'im to respond. 
 
5.  Muslims moderates who stayed until the end of An-Na'im's 
presentation condemned the action of Sheikh Kabo.  Sheikh 
Kabo's attitude, they said, was rude and totally devoid of 
the usual Muslim brotherhood.  In his comments, Sheikh Kabo 
is said to have described An-Na'im as an "atheist and agent 
of Western values."  After his presentation, An-Na'im 
received death threats and had to be taken to a secure place 
by the conference organizers.  Professor An-Na'im was 
scheduled to deliver a public lecture at end of the 
conference on the Sharia debate in Nigeria at Bayero 
University in Kano.  His widely publicized lecture was 
cancelled due to security concerns based on the views An- 
Na'im had expressed at the Jos conference. 
 
6.  All the international paper presenters and 
commentators at the conference stressed the need for 
state neutrality in matters of religion and underscored 
the value of cooperation and accommodation by religious 
groups within a state.  In her paper entitled 
"Rethinking the Role of Religion in the Public Sphere: 
Local and Global Perspectives," Professor Rosalind 
Hackett of the Department of Religious Studies, the 
University of Tennessee, said that the development of 
civil values of tolerance, cooperation and civility can 
easily be subordinated to the logic of the market, or 
the pressures of religious and political 
fundamentalism.  She therefore advised Nigerians either 
as members of "majoritarian or minoritarian" groups to 
ensure that the call for more public expressions of 
religion is conducted in the most equitable way 
possible. 
 
7.  Professor Ruud Peter's presentation on "The 
Enforcement of God's Law: The Sharia in the Present 
World of Islam" attracted critical comments from both 
Christians and Muslims.  Some Christians questioned his 
use of the word "God" and demanded to know if he was 
referring to "God the Father, the Son or the Holy 
Spirit."  Muslim critics said that outsiders have no 
business and are not equally competent to determine for 
them what Islam and the Sharia are.  Other questions 
were raised such as: "Is the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict religious, political, or both?"  "Why is the 
United States behind Israel in the conflict?"  `Why is 
the U.S. against Islam and Muslim?"  In his own paper, 
Cole Durham, School of Law, Brigham Young University, 
stressed the need for cooperation and accommodation 
among different religious groups in pluralistic 
societies including Nigeria. 
 
8.  Other international paper presenters at the 
conference included John Reitz, Professor of 
International and Comparative Law, University of Iowa; 
Professor Abdulkader Tayob, International Institute for 
the Study of Islam in Modern World, University of 
Nijmegen; and Gerrie ter Haar, Professor of Religion, 
Human Rights and Social Studies, The Hague.  In his 
paper entitled "Freedom of Religion and its 
Limitations: Judicial Standards for Deciding Particular 
Cases" Professor Reitz provided strong arguments on how 
adherents of various religions in the United States 
have always invoked their rights to the "free exercise" 
of religion as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.  In 
his contribution, Professor Tayob said that the main 
protagonists of Sharia in Nigeria are a "new class of 
Muslim youth groups, Imams and intellectuals who aim to 
invest the civil religion of Nigeria with Islamic 
symbols."  In her assessment of the Sharia debate in 
Nigeria, Professor Haar said, "Without reducing the 
degree of social and economic inequality in the world, 
showing willingness to share the world's resources, 
there will always be a breeding ground for extremism, 
whether religious or secular in its orientation." 
 
9.  The only paper that did not generate any 
controversy was Dr. Danny McCain's keynote address. 
Dr. McCain's road map for religious harmony in Nigeria 
well received by the Christian and Muslim participants. 
McCain challenged Christian and Muslim leaders to come 
together and mutually work out the best way for Muslims 
to observe the tenets of Sharia without infringing upon 
Christian rights.  This, he said, should be done in "a 
spirit of peace and harmony and not suspicion and 
anger."  Optimistic about Nigeria, Professor McCain 
said that "Sharia is not the death knell" for the 
country.  Therefore, to get beyond the Sharia 
controversy, Nigerians need not just talk but must 
actively cooperate in different ways to move their 
country forward.  Unfortunately, the second keynote 
speaker, Hajia Saudatu Shehu Mahdi, a Muslim female 
activist, was vilified.  Her Muslim colleagues accused 
her of expressing her views on Sharia under the 
influence of "fabricated" Western women's rights 
values." 
 
U.S. References 
--------------- 
 
10.  Given the sensitivity of the Sharia debate in 
Nigeria, security concerns nearly marred the hosting of 
the conference.  Christians and Muslims perceived the 
purpose of the event differently.  The Christians 
thought that the event was pro-Sharia while their 
Muslim counterparts viewed it as anti-Sharia.  That the 
conference proceedings ended peacefully was a major 
achievement.  The conference succeeded in opening the 
minds of Nigerians regarding the complexities of the 
Sharia debate in their country.  References to the 
United States and USG foreign policy as it affects the 
Muslim world crept into the dialogue and added nothing 
to the conference other than to seemingly enhance one's 
Islamic credentials.  Unfortunately, Some Nigerian 
Muslims believe that gratuitous swipes at the U.S. are 
mandatory to establish oneself as a good Muslim, and 
were a common fixture during the conference.  Moreover, 
the general feeling of Muslims at the conference was 
that while international academics and non-governmental 
organizations have important comparative contributions 
to make on the Sharia debate, the United States and its 
Western allies should stay out of the Sharia 
controversy in Nigeria. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
11.  The conference provided a useful opportunity for 
U.S. scholars and other Western participants to share 
their expertise on matters of law and religion and open 
the minds of the Nigerian audience to how this debate 
can be viewed intellectually, rather than simply at the 
emotional and domestic Nigerian political levels.  It 
afforded international experts the opportunity to 
explain how the lack of a designated state religion has 
facilitated continued harmonious relationships among 
religious groups in the United States and Europe.  The 
international scholars also stressed the need for state 
accommodation on matters of religion and the need for 
all religions to respect and protect the rights and 
feelings of the minorities. 
 
12.  The Jos Conference underscored how poorly schooled 
in Islam many of Nigeria's Sharia proponents really 
are, and how easily they can be overshadowed by experts 
within and outside of Nigeria.  Nigerian Muslim 
hardliners, unable to discredit the conference and many 
of the arguments presented on an intellectual basis, 
resorted to labeling any speaker or presenter at odds 
with their viewpoints as "pro-Western," "un-Islamic" or 
"tools of the U.S. or the West."  They claimed U.S. 
sponsorship of the conference in order to diminish 
interest in the conference proceedings among Nigerian 
Muslims.  Such tactics illustrate the need for similar 
dialogues and opportunities for Nigerian Muslims to 
debate and learn more about their place in the Islamic 
world - and to learn more about Islam from respected 
scholars outside Nigeria rather than ceding the stage 
exclusively to hardliners within Nigeria.  END COMMENT. 
 
ANYASO