Washington, DC — The Nigerian Justice Minister, Kanu Agabi, has addressed a letter to the governors of Nigeria's Muslim states warning them not to allow "zeal for justice and transparency to undermine the fundamental law of the nation which is the constitution." The letter came ahead of a March 25 court ruling in Sokoto State on an appeal lodged by Safiya Husseini, sentenced to death by stoning for adultery last year. Earlier this week, 130 women parliamentarians, representing 130 countries, adopted a motion in Rabat, Morocco, calling for an amnesty for Safiya Husseini and condemning the death penalty against her. Moroccan parliamentarian Badiaa Skalli, who presided over the session, told allAfrica.com, the motion may have contributed to convincing the Nigerian government to act.
Who came up with the idea of circulating the motion?
A number of women parliamentarians circulated it in solidarity with Safiya Husseini who faces a sentence we consider as unjust and not conforming to international treaties on human rights. The motion was adopted without debate, even by the attending Nigerian MP who said that it would support the will expressed in Nigeria itself to defend Safiya Husseini.
Did you, as parliamentarians, object to the sentence of death per se or to the stoning?
No, we objected to the death sentence per se. Stoning is a separate matter which we did not deal with. Frankly, as Muslim women, at the parliamentary conference and throughout the Muslim world, we think that this kind of behaviour has nothing to with Islam. There are very strict and precise conditions for dealing with the issue of adultery in Islam. For example, you have to have witnesses who can confirm the crime did take place. Adultery is punishable in Islam but not in the uncivilised manner in which Safiya was sentenced to die.
To what extent do you think your motion may have influenced the Nigerian government?
The motion may have played a complementary role in the campaign against Safiya's death sentence. But our decision lent support to work done primarily within Nigeria itself.
Given the sensitive period Islam's relations with the West are going through at the moment, how do you assess the impact of Safiya's case on those relations and how worried are you that strong Western condemnation could have a reverse effect on this and future cases?
Frankly, I think that Muslim societies are facing up to a great challenge at the moment. This challenge has existed for centuries but it is even greater today. We have to rid ourselves of the negative aspects attributed to Islam within our own societies because they harm us as Islamic nations and they hurt our relations with the West and with other countries in Asia and the rest of the developping world. Confusing tradition with religion is not right. We do accept that it is sometimes difficult to change people's mentalities, but we have to do better because the future of our own societies is at stake.
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There has been a lot of strong criticism for Safiya Husseini's stoning sentence from many different quarters, including the European Union. Are you aware of any reactions from organisations that speak for the muslim world such as the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the World Muslim League and other forums?
I think that one of the problems we, as Muslim women, face is that unfortunately, organisations that represent the muslim world do not give us even a small opportunity, let alone a great one, to express our views and contribute to the decision-making process. We still do not have enough opportunities to express our solidarity with others through those organisations. As far as I know, there has been no initiative in this respect, publicised enough throughout the muslim world. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell from the press coverage in my own country, none of the organisations that are supposed to represent the muslim world have spoken about Safiya Husseini's case. Our hope would be restored if we heard that those organisations started to pay attention to such matters, which I admit, are not the gravest challenges facing the muslim world today. after all, Safiya Husseini's case is an isolated incident at this point in time. But even when it comes to issues of vital interest to the future of our societies, our women and children, those organisations do not deal with the problems facing us as Islamic societies.
