MUHTASIB (OMBUDSMAN) AND FATWA OFMUFTI IN NIGERIA: AN ANALYSIS OF THE IDEAL APPROACH

Islamic Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes are more of being at the rudimentary stage or practiced unsystematically. It is alarming that processes like Muhtasib (Ombudsman) and Fatwa of Mufti (Expert Determination or Legal or Ruling of an Islamic Scholar) are haphazardly practiced in Nigeria. One will ordinarily expect that in a country like Nigeria with large population of Muslims, the adoption and application of these two processes should be well standardized as obtained in other jurisdictions of the world with relatively the same population with Nigeria. Thus, problem associated with these two processes in Nigeria is brought to the fore and the progress made in Malaysia with respect to Fatwa of Mufti (Legal Ruling) is shown. Likely solution is proffered based on the structured approach obtainable in a jurisdiction like Malaysia as a way to strengthen the application of Islamic ADR processes in Nigeria