Hauwa Ibrahim (born 1968) is a Nigerian

human right Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

who won the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

Sakharov Prize The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commonly known as the Sakharov Prize, is an honorary award for individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought. Named after Russian scienti ...

in 2005.

Life

Ibrahim was born in Gombe in 1968. She was trained to be a lawyer and was considered one of the first

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

woman in Nigeria to achieve this distinction. Ibrahim was known for

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

work defending people condemned under the Islamic

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

laws that are in force in the northern Nigerian provinces. She claims she defended

Amina Lawal Amina Lawal Kurami (born 1972) is a Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery and for conceiving a child out of wedlock. Lawal was sentenced by an Islamic Sharia court in Funtua, in the northern state of Katsina, in Nigeria, o ...

Safiya Hussaini Safiya Hussaini Tungar Tudu (born 1967) is a Nigerian woman condemned to death for adultery in 2002. She gave birth to a child as a single woman in Sokoto, a Nigerian state under Sharia law. She was sentenced to be stoned, but was acquitted of a ...

and

Hafsatu Abubákar Hafsatu is a Nigerian feminine given name of Yoruba and Hausa origin, which means 'gathering'. Notable people with the name include: * Hafsatu Kamara Hafsatu Sahid Kamara (born 7 December 1991) is a Sierra Leonean sprinter. She competed in t ...

. This has however been refuted by Aliyu Musa Yawuri in her piece 'On Defending Safiyatu Hussaini and Amina Lawal'. In 2005 she was awarded the

for this work. Hauwa has been a Visiting

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Saint Louis University School of Law The Saint Louis University School of Law (also known as SLU Law) is the law school affiliated with Saint Louis University, a private Jesuit research university in Saint Louis, Missouri. The school has been American Bar Association approved sin ...

and Stonehill College, a World Fellow at Yale University, a Radcliffe fellow, and a fellow at both the Human Rights Program and the Islamic Legal Studies Program at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Hauwa is presently a teacher and a researcher at Harvard University. She is also one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

. While a Radcliffe fellow, Ibrahim adopted an interdisciplinary approach to delve into the theoretical foundations of Shariah law and examine how they have influenced legal practice, which has, in turn, affected the human rights of women in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. Her research led to the book Practicing Shariah Law: Seven Strategies for Achieving Justice in Shariah Courts, published in January 2013."Harvard Divinity School visiting faculty profile
retrieved 2013.

References

External links

Downloadable PDF brochure from the Sakharov Prize ceremony describing the prize, Ibrahim, and her work

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim, Hauwa 1968 births Living people Nigerian women lawyers Sakharov Prize laureates Nigerian human rights activists Saint Louis University School of Law faculty People from Gombe State University of Jos alumni

Life

See also

References

External links