William andrew kopwe the open university of tanzania

4.3.4 Deficiency of Sharī’a Experts in the Country

Administration of Sharī’a needs specialist in Fiq. Sharī’a is an academy which requires specialization. Apart from having many Muslim sheikhs and learned teachers all over the Country, there are very few Islamic jurists who can administer Sharī’a accordingly. This shortcoming affects more of the scientific and professional part of Sharī’a application in the Country. Lack of jurists in the Country was acknowledged by Muslim ‘ålamā interviewed. For them several sheikhs in the Country are not educated in the science of Sharī’a. However, this does not mean that they do not know Islam. The fact that they are sheikhs, already they have a lot of knowledge of Sharī’a. But that is not enough for one to act as a judge in accordance with Islamic law. Anything pertaining to legal issue, being it religious or secular touches justice and rights of people. This needs expertise in Islamic law, which is more than theological education (Azad, 1994).
This researcher’s discussion with BAKWATA executive Committee member showed that, even if the Government reintroduces |§∙ī Court today, it won’t be easy for the Muslim community to immediately implement the law of |§∙ī Court because currently, there are no enough Muslim jurists in the Country. It will take time for the Muslims to educate enough jurists who will be able to adjudicate cases according to Islamic law for the whole Country. He added that Muslims in Tanzania are currently pushing for the reintroduction of |§∙ī Courts, not because they want it to be immediately implemented by the Muslim community, but they want it to be officially recognized. The rest of the processes of educating |§∙ī will be left in the hands of Muslims who know how to handle their affairs.¹⁰³ But some of the Muslim elites do not identify themselves with this view saying that.

We have very few Muslim jurists in the Country. But that does not mean that they are not enough to influence something in the society. No we have got a lot of sheikhs who have been educated in Muslim institutions for example in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and in Pakistan with the faculty of law. We have got jurists who are well trained who can do the job and not that we do not have enough number of jurists. I do remember it goes more than 50 scholars.¹⁰⁴

This scholar agrees that there are few jurists with regard to the number of Muslims in the Country. Though he disagrees with the deficiency, the number of jurist which he estimates is still small because 50 jurists are nothing compared to the number of Muslim in the Country and their geographical distribution all over the Country. A more objective suggestion was given by another scholar that everything must have a starting point. According to him accomplishment of enough numbers of jurists should be a gradual process. He argues that:

Yes, we have a problem of having few Islamic jurists in the Country. But we have to start from somewhere. That is what I tell people that we have a problem of teachers. We should not say lets solve the problem of teachers and then build schools. No, let us build schools then teachers will come later. What I am saying is you have to start from somewhere. So the same applies to Islam. Jurist will come later, we will train them. And the Muslim University of Morogoro is ready to do that job.¹⁰⁵

Muslims should start by using the small number of jurist they have and then move forward to train more jurists who will sufficiently cater for Sharī’a implementation in the Country. Also, it is unfortunate that the existing Sharī’a, which is administered by magistrate Courts, is challenged by the lack of enough knowledge of Islamic law by most of the magistrates. In Tanzania, there are several magistrates who do not have a mastery of Islamic laws. Therefore, many times when it comes to the issue of inheritance, these magistrates send their clients to sheikhs who arrange the inheritance for them. Then they go back to the magistrate for official judgment to be made by the Court.¹⁰⁶ This observation is verified by a magistrate in Tanga who said that the Islamic distribution of inheritance is done by the arbitration board. In this case, BAKWATA plays the role. Thereafter, the distribution is brought to the Court for official verdict.¹⁰⁷ A lecturer of law in the University of Dar es Salaam says that he knows many magistrates who are not well versed in Islamic law. He says since not all of the Islamic laws are written in the books of laws in the Country, sometimes it becomes difficult for one to judge rightly according to Islamic law.¹⁰⁸
The conclusion that Sharī’a implementation is challenged by the legal infrastructure of the Country. Preparations of the jurists in the Country do not give enough room to equip them with Islamic law. Also, the Government has not prepared enough literature of Islamic law for lawyers and magistrates in the Country. That signifies that for effective Sharī’a implementation in the Country, the Government should do a lot of restructuring of legal systems in the Country.

4.3.5 Non-Muslim Naivety of Sharī’a

The greatest obstacle of Sharī’a implementation in the Country is the opposition from non-Muslims in the Country and that is affected by their misunderstanding of Sharī’a. Most of the non-Muslims in the Country have misconceptions about Sharī’a. The version of Sharī’a they have in their mind is that of radicalism and militant Sharī’a. Once Sharī’a is uttered, what comes first to their minds is beheading criminals, chopping hands, flogging of fornicators and other harsh Sharī’a punishment. They do not know that there is a very polite part of Sharī’a, which is practiced by Muslims in their daily private lives. This part of Sharī’a is implemented by Muslim in Tanzania today without even being noticed by other people.
Such kinds of misunderstandings are mostly a result of Western media which has too often instilled stereotypes and distortion of Sharī’a and Islam in general to people in the world, including Tanzanians. Esposito (1991) says that the Western media has presented Islam as a dangerous faith, which oppresses women, goes against Human Rights and violates individual freedom. Islam has been presented with a monolithic reality dubbed ‘Islamic fundamentalism’, a term often signifying militant radicalism and violence.¹⁰⁹ These misunderstanding affects both Muslims’ and non-Muslims’ perceptions and attitude toward Sharī’a.
Non-Muslims think that Sharī’a implementation in Tanzania is turning Tanzania into Islamic Country. Technically, this doubt may be valid, because for Sharī’a to be rightly implemented, the Country has to be Dār al-Islam (Islamic Country) where Sharī’a is enforced by the Government. But people should know that Sharī’a implementation in a practical manner does not necessarily mean turning the Country into Islamic state. There are several countries in the world which apply Sharī’a while they are not Islamic states.
Also, Sharī’a implementation is such a very complex subject. Their implementations vary considerably from context to context. Hence, for the Tanzanian context, Sharī’a implementation does not mean transforming the Country is Islamic state.¹¹⁰ Tanzania is not an Islamic state, yet Sharī’a is applied among Muslims today in their private life. Also, the legal structure of the Country includes Islamic family law. Many people from Muslim and non-Muslim communities are ignorant of Sharī’a. On one hand, there are Muslims who think that they do not practice Sharī’a in Tanzania. But they agree that they practice their religion rightly. By implication this state of affairs is Sharī’a implementation per se because Islam and Sharī’a cannot be separated. On the other hand, Christians do not know that Sharī’a is already implemented in Tanzania since the day when the first Tanzanian converted to Islam. Therefore as long as Muslims are part and parcel of Tanzania, Sharī’a will always be implemented.