Part of review forum on “Entangled Domains: Empire, Law and Religion in Northern Nigeria.”
Entangled Domains: Empire, Law, and Religion in Northern Nigeria by legal historian Rabiat Akande offers a nuanced exploration of the intersection of colonialism, religion, and law in northern Nigeria, starting with the formal British colonization and “guarantee of noninterference in Islam” in 1903. The book’s central argument is that British colonial rule in the region led to the creation of a distinctive hybrid system, blending Islamic law and governance, rooted in the remnants of the north’s caliphate institutions, with secular governance. This fusion not only shaped the colonial administration but also had a lasting impact on global debates surrounding religious freedom, particularly with respect to conversion and proselytization, as articulated in Article 18 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Akande explores the British use of colonies, particularly India, as experimental grounds for governance, with a focus on managing religious difference as part of a liberal imperial project in northern Nigeria. She asserts that “Empire was entangled with religion from the outset.” Initially, the British worked with Protestant Christian missionary groups opposed to the slave trade, who sought to establish a foothold in the colony to advance their conversion efforts. However, the colonial administration later “separated itself from the missionary enterprise” due to the government’s claimed secular nature, transitioning to indirect rule and relying on Muslim elites, such as emirs. Despite this shift, the colonial state remained grounded in Protestant Christian civilizing practices, integrating Islamic law with Western legal thought and practice, even as these frameworks often clashed with the missionaries’ vision. This tension ultimately resulted in a hybrid system of governance that retained Christian underpinnings while adapting to local realities “by declaring religious autonomy for colonial subjects.”
Akande challenges the conventional view of secularism as a strict separation between religion and state, arguing that colonial secularism in northern Nigeria was closely intertwined with remnants of the precolonial Islamic caliphate. The British reinforced religious hierarchies by categorizing the population into Muslims and non-Muslims, with favored Muslim elites governing on the state’s behalf, while Muslim critics of the colonial arrangement and Muslim minorities and non-Muslims were marginalized. Regions were classified into three types: Type I, Muslim-majority areas; Type II, mixed-faith regions with Muslim leaders under emirs; and Type III, predominantly pagan areas where missionaries operated with minimal state interference. In response to accusations of Muslim favoritism, the colonial state maintained its commitment to impartiality, neutrality, and religious liberty, presenting select Muslim leaders as “secular chiefs” or authorities. This challenges the assumptions of colonial-era historians, particularly those based in Britain, whose writings suggest that the state reinforced precolonial theocracies rather than managing them within a secular framework as the state itself claimed.
In Part I, Akande offers a comprehensive analysis of how colonial secularism transformed Islamic institutions and the governance of Shariʿa in northern Nigeria. Through an examination of court cases, missionary records, and administrative documents, she traces the expansion of the precolonial doctrine of siyasa (discretionary powers of rulers), which helped shape an idealized Muslim subject. As Nigeria approached independence, the relationship between secularism and religion became more complex. Those among the Muslim elites, initially aligned with British secularism, shifted to demand the reintroduction of Sharia law. In contrast, Christian leaders, who had previously criticized secularism, began supporting it as a counter to Muslim dominance in northern Nigeria. Akande’s analysis underscores how these evolving religious and political dynamics influenced the national identity of postcolonial Nigeria.
Moreover, Akande shows in detail how Islamic legal structures in postcolonial Nigeria respond to state power and colonial legacies, using the 1977 debate over the failed Sharia Court of Appeal to highlight challenges in integrating Islamic law within a secular system. She examines the diversity of interpretations within Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh) and the opposition to the court, which argued that an appellate system would contradict Islamic law by allowing challenges to divine decisions. Critics included both non-Muslim groups advocating for religious freedom and some Muslim delegates from southern Nigeria.
Proponents of the court, however, argued that the appeal process was essential to Islamic law, especially after the 1958 reforms that diminished the emirs’ judicial power and introduced a Penal Code. They viewed the appellate system as a necessary check on human error in interpreting Sharia. Yet, this position was paradoxical, as it sought to revive a colonial-era court system aimed at reducing the diversity of Islamic legal interpretations. Akande notes that the debate was also part of a larger constitutional struggle, where Muslim groups sought victory and greater representation in postcolonial governance, revealing significant divisions, but also a diversity of interpretation within Nigeria’s Muslim population regarding Islamic law.
Akande’s book makes a significant contribution to African, postcolonial, legal, and religious studies, providing a thorough analysis of these dynamics through a range of historical and legal primary sources. It sparks important discussions about the role of religion in law, particularly in countries with large Muslim and Christian populations. The book could further explore how Islamic law engages with modernity in northern Nigeria, drawing on scholars like José Casanova to examine religion’s growing influence in global politics despite secular claims. Additionally, a more direct reference to the literature on Islamic reformism and the impact of such movements on debates over law and governance in the late colonial and postcolonial periods would enhance the analysis. Overall, Entangled Domains offers profound insights into the relationship between empire, law, and religion in northern Nigeria, contributing to global conversations on secularism, pluralism, and religious freedom. It also invites reflection on how Nigeria’s experience with how the colonial state transformed local religious institutions and systems of governance can inform broader discussions on state-religion relations in contemporary times.
