The National Amir, Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, Alhaji Muhammad Jameel, has suggested that the Islamic law, best known as Shariah, be applied in prosecuting Muslim public office-holders accused of corruptly enriching themselves.
This, he said, was important in order to fully understand the chastity prescribed by Islam as a religion, for all the faithful. Under Shariah, punishment for stealing is arm amputation.
He said so many corruption cases in the Nigerian courts that remained unresolved were unsettling, adding that under a Shariah law to which every Muslim should be subjected, there were no legal trappings and bottlenecks as currently being witnessed in the regular courts.
“Let them bring all the Muslims under the Sharia, including those accused of embezzling public funds and see if true justice will not be achieved in record time,” he averred.
On the anti-corruption crusade, Jameel said the government was partial and selective “in its so-called fight against corruption.
“Sincerely, whether we like it or not, there are still sacred cows within the context of the fight against corruption in Nigeria, and of course, I would wholeheartedly support the issue of using Shariah Law to fight corruption among Muslim public officers, because in the Shariah legal system, there would not be selective justice.”
Jameel likened the issue of corruption in Nigeria to a case in the days of Prophet Muhammed (SAW), when Fatimah al-Makzuliyah stole. Because she was from a very dignified clan of the Arabs, somebody was delegated to go and talk to him (the Prophet) on why her arm should not be amputated; that the situation would bring down the dignity of her family. In his response to the plea, the Prophet swore by Allah that even if it were Fatimah, his daughter, that stole, her arm would be amputated as well.
“So we can see that if we want to apply Shariah to Muslim public officers, there wouldn’t be sacred cows, because everybody will be given the same kind of treatment,” he admonished.
