Women in the country as in many other societies in the world often end up holding the short end of the stick in all matters. Their rights are often ignored and habitually trampled upon. Many past efforts to correct the situation have been largely unsuccessful. But as TAIWO OLAWALE writes, a meeting which was held in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital last week seems to hold some ray of hope for women's rights in Nigeria.

For some women, marriage and family life are necessary evils which they endure for reasons other than their happiness. Aisha lived this kind of hell for about ten years before she was rescued. In the first place, she married her husband because her parents told her to. She did not love him. Though he was a good man who took care of her, she could hardly tolerate him. Gradually, her sadness turned to depression as time went on. Even though she loved her children, she could hardly take care of them because her mind was not exactly sound.

She turned to her family but nobody understood how she could be unhappy when she was married to a good man and had beautiful children. She was afraid she would become ostracised if she tried to leave her husband. So, she continued to live this sad life because of what society would think of her until she suffered a nervous breakdown. Her medical condition finally led to divorce. Now, she is trying to pick the pieces of her life.

Aisha became a victim in the first place because she was forced into marriage. Then she suffered so greatly because of entrenched traditional believes and practices. Her story is the story of many other women who suffer greatly in families with only slight variations. A lot has been said about changing these practices which make women suffer so much, but little is being done to actually ensure they get the better life they deserve. Last week however, women like Aisha and many more who are suffering in silence got a ray of hope that things may yet get better at a gathering in Dutse.

It was a gathering of who is who in conventional and Shari'a laws in Northern Nigeria. Present were the Chief Judges of Jigawa and Katsina States. Also present was the Grand Khadi of Jigawa State as well as the Chairman of Kano State's Shari'a Commission and Justices of Shari'ah Courts of Appeal. There were also professors of law and other experts in all areas of law. The gathering was indeed a rare one. Rarer however was the reason for the gathering inside the comfortable main auditorium of the Jigawa State owned three star hotel.

The learned gentlemen, high ranking government officials and other stakeholders were in Dutse to discuss women and the Islamic Family Law (IFL). In the first place, it is not often that the issue of how women are treated takes centre stage. It is even rarer to see the calibre of people that converged on Dutse that Thursday morning to discuss issues concerning the well being of women. The seriousness was unprecedented.

But there they were. The meeting was organised by Women's Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) founded in 1999 by Justice Fatima Abubakar, former First Lady and wife of General Abdulsalami Abubakar. The meeting was called to validate some of the research findings on the Islamic Family Law system.

According to Hajiya Saudatu Mahdi, secretary general of WRAPA, the Islamic Family Law project is one of those currently being undertaken by the organisation in line with its overall objective of "addressing some of the political, cultural and socio-economic problems faced by women in Nigeria." She explained in her opening remarks that the IFL project was specifically aimed at excising "harmful cultural practices which have over the years become embedded in (our) Islamic Family Laws."

On the scope of the project, she noted that it covers seven of the twelve Shari'ah implementing states in the country. These states, she said, are Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States. She stressed that at the end of the day, the project aims at "documenting Islamic Family Law and at the same time, attempt to remove or correct and reform those traditional practices within (the) family laws that due to changes in time and circumstances, are impeding the enjoyment and full realisation of rights of women as provided for by Shari'ah."

Now, that seemed like a tough one. It almost sounded like challenging the status quo. In the auditorium that morning, men outnumbered women by a ratio of almost ten to one. Hoping to achieve anything therefore sounded like a tall order. But it was not to be so. Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State set the tone for what was to be the overriding opinion at the meeting when he declared that the society must review the way women are treated if there must be meaningful growth and development.

Represented by his Deputy, Alhaji Ahmed Mahmud, the governor said since the beginning of time, "women have been partners to men and have contributed meaningfully to the development of society." He noted however that it is unfortunate that in Nigeria and many other societies around the world, "retrogressive cultural factors and practices have entrenched a system of discrimination against women; a system which accommodates the violation of their rights, and a system which causes untold hardships and deprivations on women."

He then declared that his government fully supports change which would lead the society back to the right path by ensuring women had the better life which they deserve. He said, "Islam proclaims, guarantees and protects the rights of women. Allah's injunctions on Muslims to respect women and their rights appear in many chapters of the Holy Qur'an. The government of Jigawa State is willing to partner with WRAPA in areas that will bring changes in these regards in order to improve the living conditions of women in Nigeria."

The meeting started on this promising note. Right from the beginning of the technical session to the end, the central theme was the need to change practices which are harmful to women's rights. Na'iya Sada, Professor of Shari'ah Law in Ahmadu Bello University, Kano State anchored the technical session.

He started by stressing that Islam has always been evolutionary noting that due to this evolutionary nature, there is the inbuilt principle of Istihad which allows scholars to reform laws over time to meet changes in society. He however stressed that such reforms must always conform to the provisions of the Qur'an and traditions of the Prophet of Islam.

As already noted by Lamido, he also stressed that Islam has always protected women submitting that it is cultural and traditional practices that have led to denial of some of the rights guaranteed by Shari'ah. "Change is very possible," he argued. "Islam has always been evolutionary. This is why there is the principle of Istihad which means ability of scholars over time to reform laws in response to societal changes in accordance with provisions of Shari'ah."

Now, what are some of these issues which directly affect women's rights? How has society been using the issues against women and what are the ways out? These were some of the issues examined by the researchers and brought forward for discussion and validation at the meeting. And, as the name of the project itself suggests, all the issues have one thing or the other to do with marriage and the rights of women before, during and at the collapse of this great institution.

Perhaps, the most fundamental of the issues is ijbar (arranged marriage). Here, the problem is that many parents or guardians prefer to choose for their female ward or child than allow her to make her own choice thereby making her a victim instead of a spouse right from the beginning. And, according to the project baseline survey and dialogue visits in the project states, there was a consensus that "the practice of ijbar in the project states has caused a lot of problems for the girl-victims and the society." The technical session had a lively debate on this issue and it was quite enlightening.

At the end of the day, the consensus was that ijbar should be discouraged and marriages should be conducted with the consent of both parties. This became the first resolution of the meeting and it was recorded that "Ijbar brings very negative consequences on parties involved and should be checked. Scholars agreed that marriages should be conducted with the consent of all the parties going into it." If this fundamental issue is addressed, most other problems which arise due to lack of love and respect would be minimised.

Then, the issue of divorce was discussed. First, it was noted that divorce cases were on the rise in the seven project states with a "high level of arbitrariness on the part of husbands. The research findings indicated that a significant number of divorce cases were conducted out of court and ignorance, poverty as well as fear of intimidation prevent women from seeking justice in courts. When women decide to seek justice, it was found that they suffer great injustice because they lack access to legal representation.

The meeting frowned at some of the problems which lead to and bedevil the divorce process in the project states. There was agreement that lack of strict compliance to the provisions of Shari'ah was responsible for the high rate of divorce and problems associated with the process. It was agreed that only the fear of God and adherence to the principles of Shari'ah can reduce the problems associated with divorce.

Arbitration was also proffered as a way out. Here, the meeting agreed and it was recorded that "Muslims should be encouraged through sermons to embrace and practice the provisions of hakamain as spelt out by the Holy Qur'an to encourage arbitration and resolution of disagreements that could culminate in divorce between spouses."

Khul (divorce initiated by the wife) was given special mention. Here, attention was on the tendency of some husbands to make impossible demands on wives seeking divorce simply to make the women suffer because they asked for divorce. The need to remain kind to such women as directed by Allah was stressed and the communiqué suggested that "compensation awarded to husbands whose wives desire divorce is limited to the sadaq paid by the husband. Where the husband has paid sadaq which was far above the normal, the judge should use his discretion to decide on what is reasonable and affordable for the wife to pay."

On post-divorce matters, the meeting agreed that custody of children should be with the mother except there are overriding reasons to decide otherwise. It suggested that the father should pay "a minimum of N2,000.00 per child monthly for maintenance, provide accommodation for the mother and children and provide clothing to the children at least three times a year."

The meeting further recommended legislations on maintenance of the family by the head so that many of the issues which lead to abuse are properly taken care of.