The judgment has now entrenched rights of women married under the Shariah to share in the inheritance of a husband who had married another woman at the registry.

The commendation was given in a statement credited to the Executive Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola. The statement was issued on Thursday, 12th September, 2024.

The full statement reads:

“A major in the Nigerian Army, late Muhammed Arogun Adeniyi, died as a Muslim on 18th October, 2020 and was buried according to Muslim rights. He was survived by three wives: one Christian and two Muslims. Meanwhile his next of kin, Nike Muhammed, who was the daughter of his Christian wife whom he married at the registry, Evangelist Mrs. Olabisi Muhammed, was paid all her father’s entitlements to the exclusion of the other two wives and their children. Apart from properties, the total amount paid to her was N36 million.

“The aggrieved Muslim wives challenged the matter at the Upper Area Court, Ilorin. Nike’s mother asked to be joined in the suit. Her request was granted. She challenged the jurisdiction of the Islamic court to hear the suit since she was married under the Marriage Act. She insisted that his late husband’s properties belonged to her and her daughter alone to the exclusion of the deceased’s old parents and his other two wives. However, the Upper Area Court dismissed her arguments.

“Nike Muhammed and her mother appealed to the Shariah Court of Appeal of Kwara State where they got a surprising reversal of the lower Shari‘ah Court’s decision. The Shariah Court of Appeal of Kwara State ruled on 3rd August, 2020 that it was the marriage Act law that should be used in determining the method of sharing the late major’s inheritance.

*“This was where the legal luminary came in. The legal bulldozer, Tajudeen Oladoja took up the case and filed an appeal at the Shariah Court of Appeal, Kano, bringing to bear his decades of experience at the bar as a senior learned counsel. The Kano Court of Appeal reversed the Kwara Shari’a Court of Appeal’s decision and upheld the trial Upper Area Court ruling on Islamic inheritance distribution.*

“The unanimous judgment in Appeal No. CA/IL/SH/1/2022 delivered on Friday, 23rd August, 2024 by Justice Muhammed Lawal Shuaibu, Justice Abubakar Muazu Lamido and Justice Ahmad Ramat Muhammad directed the daughter of the late Major Mohammed Arogun Adeniyi, Nike Mohammed and her mother, Evangelist Mrs. Olabisi Mohammed, to surrender all the late Major Muhammed Adeniyi’s belongings, properties, benefits and entitlements for distribution to his heirs in accordance with Islamic Law.

“The sociological implication of this landmark judgement is that only Nike Muhammed and her mother had inherited all the properties of the late Major Muhammed Adeniyi while even the deceased’s aged mother and his two Muslim wives got nothing. They were thus left to suffer in abject poverty until the Kano Shari‘ah Court of Appeal upturned the decision of the lower court of appeal.

Takeaways from the judgement include the following: One, this case has highlighted the humane nature of Islamic Shari’ah. In the registry marriage system, the only wife and her children will inherit everything belonging to the late husband leaving nothing for his old parents. But the Islamic inheritance system will share the man’s properties among all the wives, the children, the old parents (if any), his siblings, etc.

Two, the judgement established beyond any reasonable doubt that there is indeed a dichotomy between native law and Islamic law when the court said, “…there is in fact exists, a legal dichotomy between native laws and Islamic Law which has now been recognized by the 1999 Constitution. In fact, the 1999 Constitution established three distinct legal systems operating concurrently in Nigeria, the English Common Law and statutes enacted by the various tiers of government, the native law and the custom of the people (as long as it meets the repugnancy test) and Islamic Law, which by its very nature is an absolute law.”

“Three, that the marriage of a Muslim man to a Christian woman under the Marriage Act does not imply a renunciation of his faith. The learned judges declared, ‘It is also pertinent to note that there is no argument as to the fact that the deceased who lived and died as a Muslim, was free to marry a Christian woman.

“The judges continued, ‘The fact that he married the 2nd Respondent under the Marriage Act does not mean that he renounced his Islamic faith. Furthermore, the deceased, being a Muslim, was also entitled to marry more than one wife, but not exceeding four wives at a given time, as ordained in the Holy Quran, in Chapter 4, Verse 3 which reads thus:

‘And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those that please you of other women, two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then marry only one or those your right hand possesses. That is more suitable, that you may not be inclined to injustice.

“Adding, ‘Thus, his subsequent marriages under Islamic Law which he had chosen was therefore in consonance with his constitutionally guaranteed right under Section 38 (1) (a) and (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

“‘The fact that the Major married Evangelist (Mrs.) Olabisi Mohammed under the Marriage Act, does not mean he renounced his Islamic faith. In other words, the deceased has not changed the factory setting of his religion as a Muslim merely by contracting the registry marriage with the Evangelist.

“Four, concerning the determination of the applicable law to govern the estate of a Muslim who married a Christian under the Marriage Act, the Court of Appeal held that, ‘The administration of estate of a person who lived and died as a Muslim but married to a Christian under the Marriage Act is governed by Islamic Law. The deceased Major, though married to his first wife, Evangelist (Mrs.) Olabisi Mohammed, under the Marriage Act, was born a Muslim, lived as a Muslim, and died as one.

“Five, on the method of proper interpretation of statute, the court held thus, ‘The learned Kadis of the Sharia Court of Appeal of Kwara State, Ilorin, are oblivious to the fact that Islamic Law is not the same as Customary Law, as it does not belong to any particular tribe. Thus, it is a complete system of universal law, more certain and permanent, and more universal than even the common law.

“These pronouncements are monumentally crucial for the ongoing debate on the legality or otherwise of Islamic marriage vis a vis statutory marriage or marriage conducted at the registry. This judgement has opened a new window in the Islamic legal circle regarding the eligibility of a woman married under the Shari’ah for the properties of her husband even in the face of a subsisting statutory marriage.

“Tajudeen Oladoja SAN has deployed his well-known courtroom oratory and his long experience at the bar to cut a new path and bring succour to Muslim women who have suffered deprivation and neglect from the Nigerian society’s strict adherence to a highly conservative and ruthless colonial legal system.*

“MURIC celebrates this great Muslim SAN for coming out openly to identify with the Shariah legal system and defending it until he secured victory for it. Islamdom will write his name in letters of gold.”

The post MURIC Commends Judgment On Rights Of Women Married Under Shariah Vs Registry appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.

Yes, the powers of the boardroom is plenty power. But what is the power of the boardroom without the power of the bedroom? At best, the power of the boardroom is transient. It is power that can be wrested from your hands in one board meeting. It is power you can be suspended or retired from. Without your entitlements too! But the real influence of the other room is sweet, and long-lasting. Even when a woman gets promoted to the position of a first wife, she only shares that power with the new entrant, she does not have to relinquish it altogether. There would still be things the new wife will not happen on or know just because she knows how to apply her make-up. A woman who has lived with her man for 20 straight years most certainly know where all the buttons are on that body and how to insert the right keys to open the right doors. A new wife, yes, knows how to manipulate current ring-back tunes and his caller tunes because the man was sneaking in at weekends to chop-and-clean-mouth, it is still the licensed owner of the other room who knows how to wake the giant up from the deepest slumber. But let’s not wait too long at that bus stop.

Moving on, every woman must know and use the power of the other room. It is the power you hold tightly, girls. You sit tight on it. It is not democratic power. It is monarchical. You hold on to it until death do you part. Oh yes.

A friend once told me how she used to do extra duty on her husband any time he announced he was going to be working late or going for a management retreat out of town. She would do an all-nighter in the other room. She would coax him up and ensure he gave a good account of himself the night before. Then she would ice the cake with a long-drawn-out dawn work-out in the morning and then let him leave the other room, spent and thoroughly used. She knew ‘bros’ was a strong man but when a man has been thoroughly dealt with at night and in the morning, the ‘conference materials’ will have to do more than struggle to wake the giant up. Right. If you ask me, every wife of every busy man should give their men a good work-out in the other room to ensure the guys have less wild oats to sow. Get some of the juice for yourself. How smart can you claim to be if you clean a gun for hours, load it with bullets, cock it and then you let him go shoot it somewhere else? Babe, you are all the shooting range he needs. Let him practice all he wants in the other room.

Talking about shooting range, too many women voluntarily retire from the other room and still expect to continue to wield influence over ‘oga’. It does not make sense. You are either in the other room or you are outside it. No woman can stay outside that powerful room and remain powerful. That is why I said that this matter is not a democracy. You have no term or tenure. Play your politics right and stay put. Do whatever you need to do. It is a war and all is fair in war. Play fair only when it suits you. When you need to go the extra mile to keep your place and ‘oga’ in the other room, plaster a designer smile on your face and do what you need to do. Just remind yourself of your wedding vows and what the holy books say…

But is the other room the only room of influence? Some say the kitchen is also important. They underscore that with one suspicious saying: the best way to a man’s heart is through the stomach. Seriously? I do not buy that line. Fine, they told us all kinds of things when we were getting married but the things we have all learnt on the job are unquantifiable.  Who drew the map that linked the stomach of a man to his heart? Let us be sincere, that kind of road network is suspect. What kind of geography is that? And if you still doubt that kitchen theory, ask why wives, women employ cooks and house-helps for the kitchen and no woman wants to be helped in the other room. Ah ah, my point exactly. The superior room is the other room. Everybody is welcome in the kitchen. The other room? No.

A lot of work, of course, goes into keeping your space in the other room. Plenty of sweat and long nights. No woman should let all that go to waste, after all, the bible said that we shall eat the fruit of our labour. Whatever cannot be fixed in the other rooms must find solution in the other room. Whatever a babe can’t fix through her man’s stomach, she must fix behind closed doors. Whatever argument a woman can’t win with long logic in the living room, she must take to the other room for final adjudication. You see, it is in that room, only in the other room, that a woman gets to play judge and jury. It is one place where a woman can baptize her husband, pray for him and God watches you both and clap and smile and say, well done, my daughter. See how divinely appointed the other room is!

From the choice of which schools a woman wants the children to attend,  to where she wants him to acquire property and holiday destinations, a little extra work in the other room can lessen the hours spent on arguments. Being extra nice to your man in the other room, if you get my meaning, will make his cantankerous sister less influential. Paying more attention to his sensitive buttons will make him less antagonistic to your Christmas budget. New tricks, new techniques may work better when you want more house keeping allowance than the logic of falling naira and rising dollars.

But I must warn that the other room is a room of strategy that must be used strategically. It is a room you can enjoy every day but the powers therein must be deployed strategically and with tons of wisdom otherwise the advantage will be lost. If the power in this room is not handled smartly and intelligently, it may be misinterpreted as blackmail.  A man must not be deprived of what he paid for, even if he paid in instalments. You cannot withhold from him his entitlements. Just rev it up, keep it warm and some times, serve it so hot he begins to speak a foreign language.

Whatever you do, never ever forget that the other room is the most superior room and that only smart women know how to deploy the power therein.

The post The Juicy Power Of The Other Room By Funke Egbemode  appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.

Shamseddin shared the story on his social media platforms of how he and his wife as a young couple relocated abroad seeking for a better life and how life became uneasy, that force them to return back home.

He wrote:

”The relocation story you don’t get told.

This was us several years back as a young couple looking for better life abroad. The dream was good, the intentions were good and we had enough to start. We just didn’t have enough information of how challenging it would get.

We started life in a single room within a shared flat where we even got told when we could use the washing machine or turn on the heater (even in winter).

The jobs were demeaning and always tiring but the poor exchange rate of my home currency gave a false sense of deception that one was earning good but the reality was different. Even with both our incomes, it was difficult to live averagely. Note: we were way better than others here!

At least we were together but extreme work rota meant we barely got to spend time together, marriage strained. Now imagine many had their spouses back home and their marriages went through worse.

Always at the mercy of the home office that was always changing immigration policies, one never truly felt settled. In the end, we returned back home and quietly started over, together.

Decades on, everything we sought abroad got handed to us back home! AlhamduliLlaah.

Now imagine many still stuck, illegally living, unable to work for standard rates, unable to even rent a place in their name, unable to open an account, unable to have peace of mind and always apprehensive of law enforcement, unable to grow yet unable to return home!

What’s the point? Relocating will test you and your marriage in different ways. Please be sure before you copy anyone and sell all you have to move. However, if you find yourself stuck, have a good exit plan even if it means coming back home to start over.

Many people and marriages are breaking due to the pressure unplanned. Don’t go this route, do your findings well, your home depends on it.”

The post Relocation Story You Don’t Get Told, Nigerian Couple Advises Nigerians appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.

A lot of marriages are breaking down because they met each other in a no man’s land. They did not really love each other when they came together. They married under pressure.

It goes like this. You got to the UK or any foreign country and you are lost or almost lost. You are confused and you have no money, no accommodation or friends. You are so desperate.

You eventually got a job at a warehouse, at a care company, a supermarket, a cleaning job, a security job or a bouncer at a club. Am I talking down on some jobs? Not at all. I was once a cleaner, a burger fryer and a London Underground station cleaner.

You know that job is below you because you know you have so much prospects in life. You are here as an overstayer, here for work or for your 1st degree or a Master’s Degree.

You met this guy or a lady who appeared friendly and who you talk to regularly. Suddenly, you became close. To make matters dicy, he or she is a British citizen or settled in the UK. You have a part of your mind thinking of a permanent stay through him or her.

The person became your adviser. The person gives or lend you money when you are broke. He or she gives you a lift from time to time. It is cold and winter is no man’s friend. Before you know it, you are already living together and you become pregnant. Before you know it, the lady has become your wife. Before you know it, you have a child or children.

After a while, your life started changing. You sha completed your education and got a good job. The warehouse guy or lady no longer fits your profile. You need an upgrade. Your eye has opened and the desperation is gone. You have now seen better fine babes and better looking men. Wahala! Wahala! Wahala! Meaning, Trouble, Trouble, Trouble!

Your problem was, you were in Gilgal, you got to Jericho (warehouse) but the destination was Jordan, but, you settled in Jericho. You settled down with someone you did not really love. You now have children and you have never been happy. Your mood is always low.

You are always fighting but you cannot say the root cause of the regular problems. It was because you got hooked to your partner out of desperation. The situation here in the UK can be funny. Divorce is not far from you.

Don’t marry out of desperation. Your temporary challenges will soon go away. Marry someone that you truly love so that you can have a happy marriage.

What brought this into my mind sef? Happy new week.

Dele Olawanle is my name. I think, write and speak to make lives better. If you have been inspired, follow me and let us grow together.

The post Beware of Where You Pick Your Life Partner From appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.

Basketmouth celebrated Elsie’s 44th birthday anniversary around September but failed to celebrate their annual wedding anniversary which usually comes up in November.

Basketmouth wrote on his Twitter page: “As much as it pains me to bring my personal life to the public space, this is an unavoidable situation.

“After much deliberations, my wife and I have made the difficult decision to end our marriage.

“As we move forward separately, we will continue to work together to give our beautiful children all the care, love, guidance and support they need.

“We humbly ask that you respect our privacy as we navigate through these times. Thank you,” he said.

The post After 12 years, Veteran Comedian, Basketmouth, Wife End Marriage appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.

In a an audio shared on social media, Banda said that he and his wife have been married for 13 years and have three children.

He added that during their marriage, he managed to build two houses, one for the wife and another for her mother at the wife’s home village.

According to Banda, his wife started a relationship with another man and she recently left their house.

At some point, Banda tried to communicate with the women but her phone was answered by the new man.

This angered Banda and he decided to demolish the houses which he built for the woman and her mother at her village.

The post Video: Man Demolishes House Built For Wife After She Dumped Him For Another Man appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.

The new Islamic marriage law which accordingly (pursuant to Rule 1 of the Practice Direction) takes effect from the 9th day of December, 2020. This Practice Direction shall, save to the extent and may otherwise be directed by the Honourable, the Grand Kadi, apply to Islamic Marriage Registry matters. See Rule 2 of the Practice Direction.

Also, the objective of the establishment of the Islamic Marriage Registry is to regulate matters under the Islamic Marriage Registry. See Rule 3 of the Practice Direction. Also, all the certificate of Islamic Marriage shall be issued by the Islamic Marriage Registry under the Department of Area Court. See Rule 4 of the Practice Direction. And for the purpose of the application for certificate of Islamic marriage, forms I and II under the Practice Direction shall be issued upon necessary prescribed fee having been paid by the applicant with evidence of payment produced to the Registry. See Rules: 5-11 of the Practice Direction. Furthermore, it is important to note that the Practice Direction is made pursuant to and in exercise of the powers conferred on the Honourable, the Grand Kadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal, FCT-Abuja, by virtue of section 264 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), section 24 of the Sharia Court of Appeal Act, Cap. 550, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990 and by virtue of other powers enabling His Lordship in that behalf. This paper view this development as a great achievement of the Honourable, the Grand Kadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal, FC-Abuja, which requires immediate emulation by all other States of the Federation having the Sharia Court of Appeal and those States that have not created a Sharia Court of Appeal for the State, hence, this paper submits that the establishment of the Islamic Marriage Registry for the FCT-Abuja is not only a welcome development in Islamic family law matters in FCT-Abuja (and Nigeria as a nation) but also a precedent for other States of the Federation to follow.

Couples can now apply at the FCT-Sharia Court of Appeal, Abuja, for ‘Marriage Certificate’ as the process is less stressful and time-saving.

The certificate when issued, has both local (i.e. Nigerian) and international recognition.

With just #5000 certificate fee and 500 affidavit fee and 2 passport photographs of each bride and the groom, couples can obtain the application forms, fill and submit.

The marriage registry is at the FCT- Sharia Court of Appeal Headquarters, Gudu, FCT- Abuja.

The post Islamic Marriage Registry Now In FCT- Abuja appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.

Hear Chioma: ‘’It has been uncomfortable living with my mother-in-law. She insists I do my husband’s laundry which I never did even while we were dating and in our first few years of marriage. My husband’s laundry has always been done by dry-cleaners. Beyond this, I feel policed in my own house; like I am working on egg shells. I do not know how to talk to my husband about it. Please I will appreciate your advice on how to deal with this problem. I will be reading comments.’’

Social media could end marriage as we know it. It has become the stranger in the bed of matrimony. It is the third wheel on which some spouses unload their marital problems, but which most times complicates them. A husband goes on a philippic on social media on how women are unfaithful because he suspects his partner is cheating, and a wife flies ‘the men are scum’ trope because she suspects her spouse has a side chick – to the entertainment of strangers who do not give a hoot.

I recall the case of a certain man who went on a social media joyride, revealing lewd details of his wife. The marriage ended in divorce.

I think marital differences become irreconcilable when social media is invited to bed. The internet never forgets. Really, we live in a society where marriage counsellors are mostly pastors without training and who lack competence to advise anyone on marriage. Biblical prescriptions often counselled by pastors – of ‘’wife submit to your husband and husband love your wife’’ – are flawed and vacant of real-life solutions.

So, most people turn to social media to vent about their marital challenges and seek answers from strangers – without vicarious experience. But every marriage experience is unique. As faces are different, so are the problems. It is not one size-fits-all. The prescriptions for marriage A could be lethal for marriage B. I believe every marriage must work out its own salvation, and in the event peace becomes the Holy Grail in the union, there is the exit door which is as wide as the entry door. Marriage should not be a life sentence with hard labour. But fundamentally, salvaging it should be primary.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND MARRIAGE STATISTICS

Here is what Perspectives of Troy Counselling Centre, a counselling and mental health centre in the US, says on social media and marriage statistics.

‘’A recent study from Boston University revealed that non-social network users were 11.4% happier in their marriages than couples who frequently used social media. Heavy users were 32% more likely to contemplate leaving their spouse. The study also suggested a possible correlation between the number of Facebook users in a state and the divorce rates for the area. States with a higher increase of Facebook users showed similar increase in divorce rates.

Another study in Great Britain showed that close to 25% of married couples argued at least once a week because of social media use, and 17% fought daily over something they found about their spouse online. 20% of respondents reported that they fought with their spouses on Facebook, and nearly half said they secretly logged into their spouse’s accounts.’’

As a matter of fact, social media removes from a union exclusivity – a key ingredient for a congenial relationship — when spouses elect to communicate their problems to amused aliens online instead of thrashing out issues with their partners. I read on Twitter on Saturday of a certain lady who was regaling her followers with details of incidents in her marriage to which she admitted her husband was absolutely unaware of. Communication is the lifeblood of marriage. But when primary communication is relocated outside a relationship, the union becomes eviscerated of emotion.

Why should your spouse become aware of your challenge on social media – and it is not that you ever communicated it to him/her in any way before?

I spoke briefly to Marriage Matters International on social media use and marriage, and here is what the counselling centre says: ‘’I would advise couples not air their dirty linen in public, it is very unhealthy; it complicates the situation, rather they should share testimonies to encourage other couples. Couples should seek professional help if they are having challenges in their marriage.’’

Keep your marital business off social media. A wrecking marriage is salvageable with social media uninvited.

Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist.

Twitter @FredrickNwabufo

The post Social Media Could End Marriage As We Know It appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.

The new service comes after authorities in the country issued a stay-at-home order to curb the spread of the virus.

The UAE’s Ministry of Justice on Sunday said the “service in particular aims to preserve the public’s health and safety.”

The post COVID-19: Ministry of Justice Allows Online Weddings Amid Pandemic appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.