Nigeria Implements Sharia In Moderate and Modern Form

Today's New York Times carried a front-page article titled Nigeria Turns From Harsher Side of Islamic Law. It reports that Islamic law, adopted in several northern Nigerian states, has been implemented in a way that creates "a distinctively Nigerian compromise between the dictates of faith and the chaotic realities of modern life...." The federal government has limited the power of the religious police-- the Hisbah. A state official in Kano says, "Our approach is a humane Shariah, not a punitive Shariah." Leaders in various states emphasize Islamic tenets on charity, women’s rights and the duty to keep their environment clean. [Thanks to Matthew Caplan for the leaad.]