Shiny Happy People
Charles Johnson
Thu Oct 2, 2003 at 9:24 pm PDT • Views: 176
A British study says that Nigerians are the happiest people in the world.
But Nigerians also overwhelmingly support the harshest punishments of shari’a law.
KANO, Nigeria - One man stole a goat, another a cow, another two bicycles. Each had a hand cut off by order of Islamic courts.
Nigerian Muslims overwhelmingly support the draconian penalties meted out by Islamic law, or Shariah, which authorities started adopting in the predominantly Muslim north in 1999.
But critics say the sentences are being handed down only to the poor and uneducated in a country where corruption is commonplace, armed robberies are part of the daily newspaper diet, and top officials are regularly accused of embezzling state funds.
“The punishments are supposed to cover everyone, but we’ve seen only the poor, lower echelons of society affected,” said Saudatu Mahdi, director of a Nigerian advocacy group, the Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative. “The accused are ignorant of their rights, ignorant of their avenues of redress.”
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) said it best, in the days before his conversion to Islam and his donation of thousands of dollars to Hamas, when he wrote these words in a cheery little ditty about amputation: “If I ever lose my legs, I won’t have to walk no more.”
Frank says: