In Africa, politics often wears religious disguise

Muslim women in Zamfara must ride in special taxis when traveling without their husbands

From CNN Correspondent Jim Clancy

GUSAU, Nigeria (CNN) -- In Africa, where Christianity and Islam have always had a strained co-existence, the question of late is whether conflict on the continent has more to do with political manipulation than with religious differences.

In Zanzibar, for instance, violence that accompanied elections was blamed on ethnic and religious tensions. A member of the opposition, however, says neither was to blame.

"It is purely political," said Seif Sharif Hamad, a presidential candidate and leader of the Civic United Front Party. "In Zanzibar, you find that my party enjoys the support of all the ethnic groups ... as well as in Tanzania as a whole. So there's no question of ethnicity; there's no question of religion."

In Nigeria, Sharia, or Islamic law, has become a flash point in a nation that has seen its fair share of religious and ethnic violence.

Nine states in Nigeria's north have adopted the strict legal code, which stipulates that thieves have hands amputated, adulterers be stoned to death and consumers of alcohol be caned publicly.

Nigeria's federal government contends Sharia law is pure politics. It has avoided direct intervention, however, because some contend a confrontation would lead to more, not less, political manipulation of religion.

A little more than a year ago Sharia first officially went into effect in Zamfara, an overwhelmingly Muslim state in northern Nigeria.

While Muslim leaders say Christians would not be bound by Sharia, the introduction of what is effectively a state religion has terrified many.

Young men in Zamfara who earn a living by ferrying passengers on their motorbikes say it has resulted in beatings and arrests. Beer vendors have packed up and left rather than fight Zamfara's alcohol ban.

"We are not allowed to build churches," says David Ishaya, a Christian evangelist. Any time one is built, he says, authorities tear it down.

Zamfara officials say Sharia has been an effective deterrent to crime. They say outsiders have slandered their state, accusing it of mass arrests and persecution of Christians.

"They've been telling lies," says Al Haji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, deputy governor of Zamfara. "They have been proved wrong several times, but they keep on telling lies."

Many Christians contend Sharia law hasn't reduced crime and states that have imposed are trying to mask political motives behind an insincere religious gesture. Some ask why Muslim politicians didn't impose the law during four decades of almost-continuous rule by Muslim leaders but only have done so after the election of Nigeria's first-ever Christian president.

In Zamfara, meanwhile, canings, amputations and other punishments are being meted out sparingly in Northern Nigeria. Some say the state fears bad publicity could cost it image and investment.

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