Islamic Legal Governance of Blockchain-Based Agricultural Markets in Nigerian Islamic Commerce

Abstract

Prologue: Blockchain technology promises transparency, traceability, and transactional certainty in agricultural markets through decentralized records and smart contracts. In Nigeria, agriculture is central to economic development, and Islamic commercial transactions are widespread in northern markets. Yet existing statutes—the Evidence Act 2011, Cybercrimes Act 2015, and Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023—offer only partial recognition of digital transactions, leaving gaps in blockchain decentralization, smart contract enforceability, commodity tokenization, consumer protection, and Sharia oversight that generate substantial legal uncertainty for Sharia-compliant market participants.

Objective: This paper examines the legal governance of blockchain-based agricultural markets from the perspective of Islamic commercial law (fiqh al-muʿāmalah), to assess the compatibility of blockchain applications with Sharia principles and identify the regulatory and institutional reforms required to support Sharia-compliant digital agricultural trade in Nigeria.
Method: Employing doctrinal legal methodology, the study analyzes applicable statutes, regulatory policies, fiqh al-muʿāmalah principles, and international legal frameworks governing digital and agricultural transactions.

Result: The findings indicate that blockchain applications can enhance contractual certainty, reduce information asymmetry, and strengthen trust in Nigerian Islamic trade—provided that their implementation respects the prohibitions of ribā, gharar, and maysir, and satisfies the requirements of lawful subject matter, mutual consent, and verifiable ownership. The study further identifies regulatory uncertainty, fragmented institutional oversight, and deficient Sharia governance mechanisms as principal obstacles to the adoption of Sharia-compliant blockchain.

Implication: The paper contributes to Islamic economic law scholarship by proposing a harmonized governance framework that integrates statutory reform, legal recognition of smart contracts, and institutionalized Sharia oversight—offering policy-relevant guidance for regulators, market operators, and Shariah advisors in Muslim-majority economies as they navigate digital agricultural transformation.

Limitation: The study is confined to doctrinal analysis and acknowledges the fast-evolving nature of blockchain technology; future research should adopt empirical and comparative approaches to evaluate regulatory effectiveness, stakeholder experiences, and Sharia-compliant blockchain applications in Nigeria and beyond.