ABSTRACT
Abstract Uniquely, in Nigeria Islamic Criminal Law was introduced in the framework of a seeular federal constitution. In 2000 and 200 l, twelve N orthem states adopted legislatian on the badd offences and the lslamic law on hornieide and bodily harm. Reliable statistics on the number of cases tried under the new laws are unavailable. Based on information from the media and human rights organisations, I present roughly 125 criminal cases tried before Nigerian Shari'a courts between 2000 and 2004. This sample shows that Sharfa was particularly enforced in states dominated by the Hausa. In religiously mixed states, the bid to introduce Shari'a became part of the religious groups' competition for hegemony and access to public resources, with violent consequences. The expectations which many Muslims attached to the introduction of Shari'a were inflated. lts impact on the security of Iife and property, the fight against corruption and the promotion of good governance has probably been minimal.
