By Rabiat Akande The tussle over diya (compensation for unlawful killing) was one over the locus of sovereignty in the colonial state. For colonial officials, the colonial state and, ultimately, … Continue reading Diya and the Legacy of Empire
By Rabiat Akande In 1958, as negotiations over Nigeria’s impending independence from the British Empire were underway, the colonial government invited the muftī of Sudan, Sheikh Mohammed Abul Gasim, to … Continue reading Siyāsa Authority in the Colonial State
By Rabiat Akande There has been an explosion of interest in interrogating the impact and legacies of European colonialism in recent decades. To an extent, this interest reflects a broader … Continue reading Colonialism and Islamic Law
[This post is a sequel to part 1, addressing secularism and Nigeria's colonial legacy] Situated within a broader research project aimed at disentangling the complex struggles over religion-state relations in … Continue reading The Making of a Colonial Islamic Law in Northern Nigeria
"Secularizing Islam: The Colonial Encounter and the Making of a British Islamic Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria, 1903–58" by Rabiat Akande. This article narrates the ways in which siyasa, understood as … Continue reading Recent Scholarship: Akande on British Islamic Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria
