Muslim Personal Law and the Courts in Lagos State: An Assessment of Muslim Personal Law Application Committee

Lagos State, the commercial capital of Nigeria with a large Muslim population, does not operate Sharia courts but administers Islamic personal law matters through the Muslim Personal Law Application Committee established under state law. This institutional arrangement raises questions about the adequacy of Islamic law application in areas of marriage, divorce, inheritance, and Waqf for Lagos Muslims who prefer to have their disputes adjudicated under Sharia principles. This study assesses the structure, jurisdiction, and effectiveness of the Muslim Personal Law Application Committee in Lagos State. A descriptive methodology is applied to twenty personal law dispute cases handled by the Committee from 2015 to 2022, supplemented by questionnaire surveys of 150 Muslim litigants and interviews with fifteen Committee members and Islamic law practitioners. The study examines the Committee's legal mandate under Lagos State law, the doctrinal standards applied in adjudication, the enforceability of Committee decisions, and litigant satisfaction levels. Existing literature from South West Nigeria identifies the Committee's non-binding advisory nature as a structural limitation that undermines Muslim confidence in its decisions. The Maliki jurisprudence applicable to personal status matters and constitutional provisions on judicial power provide the analytical framework. Findings are expected to reveal low effectiveness due to the advisory nature of Committee decisions. Recommendations address legislative reform conferring binding decision-making authority and establishing clear subject matter jurisdiction for the Committee. Keywords: Muslim Personal Law, Lagos State, Islamic law application, personal status, South West Nigeria.