Islam, Women and Politics in Nigerian Context

Abstract

Some feminists criticise Islam because of its alleged teachings on women, most especially in the sphere of politics. Muslims, in reaction to  this, have been polarized into three schools. A school stands to maintain the seclusive attitude towards women; another school  subscribe to the feminist propaganda while other seeks to maintain a balanced position that respects Islamic long tradition and culture  and does not ignore contemporary realities and challenges. Against this background, this research is an attempt to examine the true  position of Islam towards participation of women in political activities using Nigeria as a case study. The paper involves both field and  library researches relying on the primary and secondary sources for collecting information. It submits that it is not against clear Islamic  injunctions that women can participate in some identified political processes after fulfilling selected conditions which seem to be  imaginary in contemporary time. It also concludes that the success of the advocacy for increasing upsurge of women contesting for  political positions will be socially and economically detrimental to the interest of Nigerian society.