In Kano State, the Nigerian Sharia court convicted a 22-year-old musician to death for supposed blasphemy on an album the singer penned and shared on WhatsApp. They report the young musician to have mocked Prophet Muhammad in his song. In a song shared in March by Sharif-Aminu, the Hausawa Filin Hockey Upper Sharia court ruled Yahaya Sharif-Aminu guilty of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad commending, a Muslim Tijaniya district imam.
After the release of his album, Sharif-Aminu hid. The furious youth demonstrators burned the house of his family and sought Islamic police intervention, termed the Hisbah.
“When I heard about the judgment, I was so happy because it showed our protest wasn’t in vain,” the leader of the protesters, Idris Ibrahim, said on Monday.
The Sharia Court: Sharif-Aminu Did Not Deny The Charges.
Sharia Judge Aliyu Muhammad Kani said that, during 90 days, Sharif-Aminu could challenge the judgment. Inspector Aminu Yargoje, the Judge, claimed that the decision was justified because it avoided future blasphemy. The Sharia courts, along with regular courts in Nigeria’s predominantly Islamic states, are a distinct network of Islamic-only judges. BBC News found that in Sharia courts, death penalties were mostly uncommon, with the most notable execution taking place in 1999. The Supreme Civil Court can still revoke the Islamic death penalty.
Sharif-Aminu is not a well-established artist in Nigeria, even though he is a musician inside the Muslim brotherhood sect Tijaniya. He’s in jail at present. Another Tijaniyya sect member was found guilty on a death row and remained in prison under Sharia courts since 2016. In Kano’s private court case, Abdulazeez Inyass was convicted of blasphemy for saying that Tijaniya Leader Sheik Ibrahim Niasse “was greater than Prophet Muhammad” in his sermon. However, several young Nigerians were angered by the announcement. The BBC announced that enraged protestors ignited the courtroom on fire amid Inyass’ trial.
“No one should ever be sentenced to death for blasphemy,” youth film director Enioluwa Adeoluwa tweeted. “This is an extreme violation of human rights, and the federal government must act to stop the sentence from being carried out. It is Sharif-Aminu today, it might be you tomorrow.”
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