: Nigerian Woman Acquitted But Local Courts Won’t Quit

A Muslim appeals court has acquitted the first Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stoning for sex out of wedlock. The decision had been anticipated for some time, as it would set the tone for future legal accommodations between the Muslim majority and Christian minority. Which is exactly what happened: Some of Nigeria’s 36 states have defied the government’s ruling, vowing to continue implementing sharia law (12 states currently do). Although President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian, said he wouldn’t stop Nigerian states from implementing Sharia, Nigeria’s justice minister, Kanu Agabi, noted that “any law that is applied only to people on the basis that they are Muslims is discriminatory.”

Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com.  He is based in London, England.