International and Ugandan religious freedom advocates are calling for the rejection of a bill that would establish a nationwide system of Sharia courts in Uganda, warning that lawmakers are pushing to fast-track its passage before Parliament dissolves later this month.

Parliament dissolves on April 24, with the Qadhis Courts Bill expected to be formally introduced and moved into committee within days, according to the legal advocacy group ADF International, which has called on parliamentarians to reject the measure.

Under the proposed system, if a Muslim files a family, custody or inheritance dispute in a Qadhis court, any Christian or other non-Muslim party to that case would lose the right to seek resolution in Uganda's civil court system. Appeals to Uganda’s High Court would be limited to panels composed of a Muslim judge and four Muslim scholars, with no further recourse available.

“We are very concerned at the Qadhis Courts Bill, which will require Christians and other non-Muslims to appear before Sharia courts, and formally introduce religious law into our national law,” said Arthur Ayorekire, vice president of the Uganda Christian Lawyers’ Fraternity. “The bill is not necessary and will only lead to legal uncertainty, tensions between religious groups, and potentially will allow extremism to grab a hold in Uganda.”

ADF International pointed out that the bill raises concerns about religious conversion. Sharia law does not recognize conversion from Islam, and under the proposed courts, Muslim individuals seeking to convert to Christianity or other religions would likely be prevented from doing so.

Kelsey Zorzi, ADF International’s director of advocacy for global religious freedom, said Uganda would be in clear violation of international law if the courts were established, citing the implications for the recognized right to choose and change one’s religion.

Zorzi added that the bill’s passage “would represent a dangerous expansion of Sharia law into Sub-Saharan Africa at a time when Christian persecution is growing,” as quoted by Decision magazine.

The bill includes no provisions addressing potential conflicts between Sharia rules on marriage and Uganda’s national laws. The group drew a comparison with Nigeria, where Sharia courts have permitted and recognized underage marriage despite a national minimum age of 18, a situation that has been linked to the kidnapping, forced conversions and involuntary marriages of minor Christian girls.

Under Sharia law, women’s testimony in court carries less weight than men’s, which affects outcomes in divorce and child custody proceedings, the group said.

Uganda would not be the first African country to have Sharia courts, but the system proposed in the bill offers fewer protections than comparable frameworks elsewhere on the continent.

Kenya’s Kadhis’ courts hold no jurisdiction over non-Muslims and are voluntary even for Muslims. Decisions made by Kadhis’ courts can be appealed to secular High Courts, with no special provisions on panel composition. Those courts also apply non-discrimination rules for witnesses, to address Sharia law’s unequal treatment of women and non-Muslims, ADF International said.

The religious freedom concerns accompanying the bill come against a backdrop of documented violence against converts in Uganda.

Last August, Mohammed Nagi, a 38-year-old Ugandan father of five and a new convert, was murdered after a friend named Rajabu lured him to a trading center in Nyanza South village with the promise of a job. Nagi had converted to Christianity in March, and in the months before his death, family members told him he deserved to be killed for leaving Islam.

Uganda’s constitution guarantees religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and to convert, and that protection is reinforced by other national laws. Muslims make up no more than 12% of the population, with the highest concentrations in the country’s eastern areas.

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