An Original Examination of the Theory of Islamic State Authority (Wilayat al-Dawla) and Its Application to Nigerian Multi-Level Governance

The Islamic jurisprudential theory of Wilayat al-Dawla (state authority and its delegation) provides the doctrinal foundation for understanding the scope and limits of governmental authority in Islamic political law, yet its systematic application to the specific multi-level governance architecture of Nigeria's federal system, where Islamic authority claims operate at both state and local government levels alongside federal constitutional authority, has not been theoretically undertaken. This study develops an original examination of Wilayat al-Dawla theory and its application to Nigerian multi-level governance. A theoretical and applied doctrinal methodology is applied. The theoretical phase constructs a comprehensive account of Wilayat al-Dawla from classical sources (Al-Mawardi's Al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya, Ibn Taymiyya's Al-Siyasa al-Shar'iyya, and contemporary scholars including Ali Jarisha and Taha Jabir al-Alwani), generating an original typology of Islamic authority levels: Wilaya Amma (general authority of the state), Wilaya Khassa (specialised delegated authority), and Wilaya Mahaliyya (local governance authority). The applied phase maps this typology onto Nigeria's federal, state, and local government levels, analysing sixty constitutional and Sharia legislative provisions on governance authority from 1999 to 2023. The study further examines the Sultan of Sokoto's religious authority (Wilayat al-Diniyya) as a non-state Islamic authority that intersects with formal governmental levels. The original contribution is a Theory of Islamic Multi-Level Governance Compatibility that explains how Wilayat al-Dawla principles can coherently operate within a federal constitutional framework. Keywords: Wilayat al-Dawla, Islamic state authority, Nigerian federalism, multi-level governance, constitutional law.