Author(s): Musa Usman Abubakar

In 2020 Journal VoL. 5

By UNIMAID JICOL

AbstractThis article examined the phenomenon of rape in the Northernpart of Nigeria, particularly in the eleven states with anentrenched Islamic legal regime with a view to profferingsolution within the Islamic law, for the latter to serve more as asword than a shield for rapists. It evaluated the current regime andfound that it is very influenced by the position of Ibn al-Qāsimsuch that rape is perceived as a variant of zina, thereby requiringfrom the victim a very high standard of proof. Using doctrinalresearch methodology, the article found that the adoption of thisview has made impossible for the Sharia court to convict asuspected rapist on the strength of evidence of four reliablewitnesses. It further found that a paradigmatic shift is possibleparticularly, as during the formative period of Islam, rape wasconsidered an independent offence of violence against womenwith flexible means of proof. It therefore behoves the States inthe Northern part of Nigeria to consider amending their respectiveSharia penal codes to properly contain or combat the menace ofrape.  Rethinking the Offence of Rape as Violence Against Women Under IslamicLaw: A Paradigm Shift