Islamic Law and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Northern Nigeria: A Gap Analysis

Islamic law contains substantive provisions regarding the dignity, legal capacity, and welfare obligations owed to persons with disabilities rooted in the Quranic obligation to care for the vulnerable and the prophetic tradition of inclusiveness toward people with physical and mental impairments. Yet the analytical examination of how these provisions have been operationalised in northern Nigerian law and policy, alongside their gaps relative to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, has not been conducted. This study performs an analytical gap analysis between Islamic law provisions on disability rights and the legal and policy framework for persons with disabilities in northern Nigeria. A doctrinal and policy analytical methodology is applied, reviewing classical Islamic jurisprudence on legal capacity (Ahliyya) for persons with cognitive, physical, and sensory disabilities, the Nigerians with Disability Decree and Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018, and disability law provisions in six northern state Sharia Penal and Personal Status Codes. Structured interviews with fifteen disability rights advocates and ten Islamic scholars supplement the documentary analysis. Available disability and Islamic law literature identifies the jurisprudential distinction between Ahliyya al-Wujub (rights capacity) and Ahliyya al-Ada' (exercise capacity) as a potentially enabling doctrinal framework, though rarely utilised in northern Nigerian legal practice. The CRPD and the Islamic welfare obligation of Kifaya provide the dual normative reference. Findings are expected to reveal significant gaps between doctrine and practice. Recommendations address Islamic disability inclusion legislation in northern states and community awareness programmes. Keywords: disability rights, Islamic law, Ahliyya, northern Nigeria, gap analysis.