The adoption of Islamic law, or Sharia, by 11 northern Nigerian states has inflamed religious tensions and caused increasing difficulties for church workers and members in those areas, according to Joseph Ola, president of the Adventist Church in Nigeria.

While affirming that “Seventh-day Adventists are law-abiding citizens,” Ola points out that “Sharia is affecting us in many ways.”  Not only is preaching restricted in some areas, he says, but the lifestyle and freedom of movement of Christians are impacted as well.

“We are restricted to certain ways of life,” he says. “You cannot even ride in the same taxi with women, you must dress like a Muslim, and no hotels are allowed [to operate].”

“Our stand as Adventists is that this law must be removed” so that freedom of movement can be restored, says Ola.

Religious and ethnic tension often runs high in states where Sharia is in force, Ola adds, citing an incident last month where an Adventist pastor was threatened by members of an ethnic faction.

Opponents of Sharia point to Nigeria’s constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion and prohibits the establishment of a state religion. Advocates of Islamic law, however, say that Sharia does not replace the secular civil legal system, but operates as a parallel system with jurisdiction over only those who profess Islam.

“I request that you tell the world church that we need their prayers,” Ola told Adventist News Network. 

“The issue is very sensitive but we are not afraid to speak against it,” he says. Ola reports that church leaders have voted to send representatives to the national parliament to speak about the hardships created by Sharia. While there, the representatives will also address the difficulty raised by the practice of scheduling elections on Saturdays, the day Adventists observe as Sabbath.

In its 2000 Report on International Religious Freedom, the United States State Department catalogues the difficulties faced by non-Muslims under Sharia, including the use of zoning regulations to stop the establishment of churches, and bans on public evangelism and proselytism in some regions. The report also notes the corresponding rise in sectarian conflict in areas where Sharia is introduced.

In Bauchi State, 10 people were reportedly killed late June in religious clashes. Four Christian churches were set ablaze earlier this month in Jigawa State after the publication of a book by a Christian writer that was declared blasphemous to Islam.

In February 2000, two Adventist Church members were among the 1,500 killed during riots sparked by the introduction of Sharia in Kaduna, another northern Nigerian state.

Nigeria, a West African country located between Benin and Cameroon, is Africa’s most populous nation; of its 123 million citizens, an estimated 50 percent are Muslim, and 40 percent are Christian. There are some 150,000 Adventist Church members in Nigeria worshipping in more than 1,000 congregations.