So you think things are tough here in the United States? Let’s face it – things are tough all over. One thing we have here in the USA is a decent judicial system, and albeit maybe a little lenient at times, still it is at least civilized.

Islamic Justice?

I have written about auto theft rings in places like Fresno, California where the thieves are arrested and let go so often by police they are on a first-name basis. I wonder how “Islamic Justice” would affect them. Would it deter them from boosting another vehicle? I bet it would!

An Islamic sharia court in Zamfara State in Africa has sentenced two men to amputation of their right wrists for stealing a bull, with the amputation to be carried out in public if it is given final approval.

The Sharia court in the village of Nassarawan Mailayi in the northern state of ordered that Auwalu Abubaka, 23, and Lawalli Musa, 22, have their right hands chopped off for stealing a bull worth 130,000 naira ($867, 628 euros).

Amputations for less than $1K, crazy?

However, the two men have 30 days to appeal their sentence and the state governor must approve any amputation. Such sentences have only rarely been carried out in Nigeria.

The judge based his decision on the facts that they admitted their guilt and they trespassed into the house … and stole a bull whose worth is well above the minimum value to warrant amputation.

It provides for amputation of the wrist for theft and it would be the second time such a sentence is handed down in Zamfara, the first of Nigeria’s 36 states to reintroduce Sharia Law after the country returned to democratic rule in 1999.

In 2001, a notorious cattle rustler had his right wrist amputated following conviction by a sharia court in the state capital Gusau for stealing a bull after the then state governor approved the sentence.

The amputation drew outrage from local and international rights groups, which led to the overturning of more than a dozen amputation sentences across the 12 predominantly Muslim states.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation, and its 150 million people are roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

Again, while our laws may be too lax, at least they are civil. What are your thoughts on amputation as a punishment?