Arabic in Nigerian Legal Pluralism: Jurisprudential Reasoning, Text Authority, and the Interface of Sharia and Common Law

Nigeria's legal system exhibits a unique form of institutionalised pluralism in which Sharia law, based on classical Arabic jurisprudential texts, operates alongside a common law system derived from English legal tradition, creating complex interfaces and tensions at the level of textual authority, judicial reasoning, and constitutional legitimacy that have profound implications for the role of Arabic language in legal practice and scholarship. This study investigates the role of Arabic language and jurisprudential text authority in the interface between Sharia and common law in Nigeria's legal pluralism framework, examining how Arabic-language Islamic jurisprudential reasoning is incorporated, translated, and contested in the adjudication of matters at the boundaries between the two legal systems. Using an interdisciplinary legal-linguistic methodology that combines Arabic jurisprudential textual analysis, sociolegal fieldwork, and critical discourse analysis, the research analyses 120 appellate court cases decided between 2015 and 2024 in which Sharia law arguments intersected with common law constitutional provisions, collecting data from court records, legal briefs, and appeal judgements. Interviews with 20 Sharia judges, 15 common law judges who have adjudicated Sharia-interface cases, and 10 legal academics provide practitioner perspectives on Arabic text authority in the dual legal system. Keywords: Arabic legal language, Nigerian legal pluralism, Sharia, common law, jurisprudential reasoning.