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LESSON:
SHARIA
Critical Analysis
By Lara Maupin, formerly a social studies teacher and student
government adviser at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
in Alexandria, Va.
Subject
Areas: This lesson is especially relevant in a comparative government,
world cultures, or world religions class but may be used in any social
studies class in which current events are examined.
Time:
This lesson is intended to take 1 - 2 class periods.
Overview:
In the past few years several key cases, including the 2003 case of a
Nigerian woman convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning,
sparked interest in and criticism of Sharia, or Islamic law. In this lesson,
your high school students will examine Sharia in the context of cultural
and religious beliefs in Muslim societies and worldwide.
Objectives:
Students
will:
- Identify
key terms associated with fundamental Islamic beliefs and Islamic law.
- Compare
and contrast Sharia with the American legal system and other systems
worldwide.
Materials:
Students will need copies of the handouts and articles cited below
or computers with Internet access. No special textbooks or materials are
required although sources containing information about Islam and legal
systems worldwide may certainly be useful.
Correlations
to National Standards
Procedure:
1. Background
Provide your students with some background information on Nigeria and
Sharia, as well as the 2003 case of Amina Lawal. You may also wish to
have your students read Oil and Politics in Nigeria: Sharia Law. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/africa/nigeria/sharia.html
Nigeria
is Africa's most populous nation - one-fifth of all Africans are Nigerian
- and a leading African nation. Nigeria is also the world's sixth largest
oil producer, although the majority of Nigerians remain poor. This disparity
has been the cause of recent deadly clashes.
For most
of the 40 years since Nigeria gained independence from Britain, the
country has been ruled by its military. In the summer of 1998 military
leaders agreed to an election. In 1999, General Olusegun Obasanjo won
the presidential election. In 2003, he was reelected in the first civilian-run
election in Nigeria in over 20 years. In 2007, Obasanjo reached his
constitutional term limit and will pass the presidency on to the next
elected leader.
Muslims
account for one-fifth of the world's population. Half of all Nigerians
are Muslims and thus Nigeria has the largest concentration of Muslims
in Africa. Sharia, the Muslim code for living, was practiced in Nigeria
for centuries until the arrival of the British in the early 1900s. In
2000, Muslim-Christian violence was sparked by the reintroduction of
Sharia in several Northern states. Although Nigerian Christians (40
percent of the total population) are not subject to Sharia, clashes
between Christians and Muslims in recent years have left thousands dead.
Sharia
varies widely in how it is implemented in Muslim societies. As criminal
law, it is in practice in only a few predominantly Muslim countries
such as Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. In Nigeria, its use in criminal
cases is considered by some to be a violation of the constitution.
Amina Lawal,
a 31 year old divorced Nigerian woman, was sentenced in March 2002 by
a Sharia court to death by stoning for committing adultery. The case
became a high profile one and a test of the reintroduction of Sharia
in 12 predominantly Muslim states in northern Nigeria. She appealed
and on September 25 the court ruled to overturn her conviction.
Other significant
examples of Sharia law's implementation are the Abdul Rahman case in
Afghanistan and the Mirza Tahir Hussain case in Pakistan.
Afghan
Abdul Rahman was arrested in February 2006 for converting to Christianity.
Formerly a Muslim, Rahman was charged with rejecting Islam but his case
was dismissed in March of 2006, after human rights groups and international
organizations protested, supposedly because of problems with the prosecutors'
evidence. He could have faced the death penalty if convicted.
Mirza Tahir
Hussain, a citizen of Great Britain, was convicted in 1989 of murdering
a taxi driver in Pakistan, but was cleared in 1996 by a secular court.
He was then retried and found guilty in an Islamic one, the Federal
Sharia Court, and was sentenced to death. He spent a total of 18 years
on death row and was released on November 17, 2006 after international
outcry and a plea for clemency by Prince Charles.
2. Article
Analysis
Have your students read and discuss the following NewsHour Extra story
on Lawal's case [Nigerian
Court Frees Woman Sentenced Under Sharia Law]. Use the following questions
to spark discussion.
- What surprised
you about this case and its outcome?
- What do
you think about the charges against Amina Lawal and the outcome of her
case?
- Why might
people in the predominantly Muslim northern states of Nigeria wish to
be governed by Sharia?
3. Key
Terms
Provide your students with the following EXCERPTS
from Frontline interviews with Akbar Muhammad and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf
and the HANDOUT (a TEACHER
KEY is also provided) of key terms. Ask them to identify the terms
by reading the interviews. Students may also use their NewsHour Extra
articles and the case of Amina Lawal and "Sharia in Nigeria"
backgrounder as well as any other sources on Islam you have available.
When students have finished, discuss the terms and their importance. Next,
ask students to consider the harsh punishments that can be given out according
to Sharia (such as cutting off the hand of a thief) and ask them to respond
analytically to the following quotes from the interviews.
- "You
cannot judge a whole body of law by one instance of criminal law."
- "Much
of what we see when we hear of events that apply Sharia law, what we
see in Nigeria, for instance ... is a desire by the people to see their
system of laws be more equitable."
- "Islamic
law is not one thing. It's not monolithic, as American law is not monolithic,
as Western law is not monolithic."
4. Compare/contrast
Have your students select one of the following issues to consider and
write about for homework. Students then meet in small groups of students
who selected the same topics to discuss and share their responses. Students
may then add final reflections on their papers and turn them in to you.
NOTE: You
may extend this assignment by asking your students to do additional research
prior to writing their responses or after meeting in small groups for
discussion. What other examples from legal systems worldwide can they
find to bolster their arguments? For example, you may wish to have your
students look more closely at variations in the interpretation and implementation
of U.S. law and Sharia as well as other systems of law that value communal
order over individual freedoms (e.g. Hong Kong).
a. Legal
Interpretation
Legal systems or codes, such as the U.S. Constitution and Sharia law,
often vary widely in how they are interpreted and implemented. This
makes it difficult to draw conclusions about legal systems from just
the written codes themselves or from how they are implemented in one
place. One must know more about how the systems are used and interpreted.
Consider:
- The
Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads as follows: "A
well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be
infringed." Yet, Americans remain divided over the issue of gun
control because of varied interpretations of this law. Many other
examples of varied interpretations of U.S. laws exist.
- Criminal
offenses are just one part of Sharia, a code for living. If followed,
Muslims claim there will be no poverty or crime in their societies.
While most Muslims attempt to adhere to Sharia as a way of living,
the harshest punishments for certain criminal offenses are carried
out in relatively few Muslim societies, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran.
In other countries such as Pakistan with Sharia law, it is applied
selectively. In predominantly Muslim countries that have secular governments,
it has largely been abandoned as a legal system.
- "Islam
is a very flexible system. ... Thus in certain areas of the Sharia,
one country may differ from another country. One community may differ
from another community, even in the same country. ... But that is
not strange. Why should it be? Divorce law in various states of the
United States differ. The acceptance of homosexuality, legal acceptance
of, permission, etc. differ from one state to the other." -
Professor Akbar Muhammad
What can
you conclude about Sharia and how it compares to the system of law you
may be most familiar with, the American system, in terms of flexibility,
interpretation, and implementation? How should moral and legal codes
be interpreted?
b. Severe
Penalties
Many legal systems allow for severe penalties such as death, bodily
injury, or life in prison. Sharia contains the penalties of amputation
for theft, flogging for crimes such as alcohol consumption and sex before
marriage, and death by stoning for adultery. Officials in Northern Nigeria
support the use of harsh Sharia punishments, even while President Obasanjo
has called the punishments discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional.
Compare and contrast what you know about the most severe penalties allowable
under Sharia and the most severe penalty allowed under U.S. Law, the
death penalty. Consider:
- In the
United States, 38 states allow the death penalty for crimes such as
murder and treason.
- The
most common methods by which people are put to death in the United
States are lethal injection and electrocution.
- Over
300 convicted criminals have been put to death in Texas since 1976,
whereas some states that allow the death penalty have not actually
put anyone to death in years.
- Western
European nations have abolished the death penalty and the U.N. Commission
on Human Rights has called for a moratorium on all executions.
- Approximately
two-thirds of Americans support use of the death penalty.
What can
you conclude? What do you think should be allowable forms of punishment
for the most severe crimes? Why? Are harsh punishments, such as amputations
and death ever justified? Explain. Who should determine what the most
serious crimes are and how frequently the most severe punishments should
be used?
c. Security
vs. Freedom
Experts on Nigeria and Islamic law claim that Nigerian Muslims have
supported the reintroduction of Sharia out of a desire for order, safety,
and security. Compare this to what many Americans felt after the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the swift passage of the USA Patriot
Act to combat terrorism. Consider:
- One
month after 9/11, Congress passed the USA Patriot Act which gives
officials greater powers in order to track and fight terrorism. Officials
may now more easily access private communications between individuals
as well as medical, financial and educational records.
- President
Bush is asking Congress to expand the powers provided in the Patriot
Act even further. The administration wants officials to be able to
bypass a judge in order to obtain subpoenas in time-sensitive terrorism
cases, deny bail to terrorism suspects, and open up the federal death
penalty in terrorism cases. Critics, such as the ACLU, claim that
the Bush administration is using a national tragedy to take away fundamental
rights. Others complain that the act is being used against suspected
criminals, not just suspected terrorists.
- Increased
security at airports has been largely accepted as necessary by the
American public, although it has led to inconveniences for passengers
and has been an additional burden on the struggling airline industry.
- "Much
of what we see when we hear of events that apply Sharia law, what
we see in Nigeria, for instance, or even Pakistan, is a desire by
much of the population to see the general principles of justice followed…
. It is a desire by people to see their system of laws be more equitable.
It is a call for correction of the overall system of social justice,
of economic justice, which the Quran calls for; and the example the
prophet calls for." - Imam Feisal Abdul Raul
What can
you conclude about the circumstances under which people favor security
and safety over freedom? When should individual freedoms (including
freedom from harsh punishments as well as intrusions into one's privacy)
be protected, regardless of the costs to society?
Sources
Law, and
Practice
http:/www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/muslims/themes/beliefs.html
The New Nigeria
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/Africa/july-dec00/Nigeria_8-28.html
Portraits
of Ordinary Muslims: Nigeria
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/Muslims/portraits/nigeria.html
Oil and Politics
in Nigeria: Sharia Law
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/africa/nigeria/sharia.html
Death Penalty
Information Center
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/
Patriot Act
Continues to Spark Debate
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec03/patriotact_9-17.html
Domestic
Security: The Homefront and the War on Terrorism
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/terrorism/homeland/index.html
National Standards:
NCSS Thematic
Strands:
- Culture
- Individuals,
Groups, and Institutions
- Power,
Authority, and Governance
- Global
Connections
- Civic
Ideals and Practices
Author
Lara Maupin has a master’s in secondary social studies education from
George Washington University and a bachelor’s in anthropology and philosophy
from Mount Holyoke College.
To find
out more about opportunities to contribute to this site, contact Leah
Clapman at extra@newshour.org.
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