The case of Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who is facing a death sentence over alleged blasphemy against Prophet Mohammed (pbuh), has brought these troubling dynamics and the touchy issue of islamophobia to the fore again.
For years on end now, Muslims in Nigeria have worked relentlessly to distance themselves from the tag of religious extremism and scoffed at non-Muslims who they see as islamophobes due to their penchant to lump all Muslims together and tar them with the same brush as the few unconscionable and disgusting Muslims who indulge in nefarious and abhorrent activities under the guise of Islam.
While there are good and bad Muslims in Nigeria, just like we’ve decent and horrible people in Christianity and other religions, the line between the two conspicuously different personalities of the same religion is getting blurred every day by the troubling antics and shenanigans of the bad ones through whose actions many now see and define what Islam is, and there is only so much broadminded and reasonable Muslims who find the actions of their fellow adherents appalling and repulsive can do to wipe themselves clean of the stench of this negative perception and shrug off the odious portrayal of their religion.
The case of Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who is facing a death sentence over alleged blasphemy against Prophet Mohammed (pbuh), has brought these troubling dynamics and the touchy issue of islamophobia to the fore again. Sharif-Aminu, a Nigerian Sufi artist, is challenging the strict blasphemy sharia law of Kano State, Northern Nigeria, under which he was previously sentenced to death, at the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He was convicted in 2020 despite not having legal representation after sharing audio messages on WhatsApp considered blasphemous towards the Prophet Mohammed.
After nearly half a decade in incarceration, a lightening of hope flickered across the sky for Sharif-Aminu last week. Last Thursday, the Supreme Court granted his lawyers permission to file an appeal outside the legally permissible time frame. However, it wasn’t the legal lifeline that the apex court gave to the embattled Sharif-Aminu that has received the needed attention. Even though many Nigerians were relieved and happy that the singer will finally get the opportunity to prove his innocence, the public remarks of the counsel representing Kano State, Lamido Abba Sorondink, have left many aghast and petrified, evoking the troubling spectre of islamophobia on social media.
The Kano division of the appellate court had squashed the death sentence verdict of the appeal court in 2021. But while speaking to newsmen last week, Sorondink insisted that the Supreme Court cannot save the musician from the judgment of the Sharia court, he added that Sharif-Aminu will be executed even if the apex court affirms the ruling of the Kano State appeal court. His remarks have reignited the discourse of religious extremism and intolerance on social media.
“This applicant made blasphemous statements against the Holy Prophet, which the government of Kano State will not condone. If the Supreme Court upholds the lower court’s decision, we will execute him publicly,” Sorondink asserted in a confident tone of finality.
For a case that has already highlighted the conflict between religious laws and constitutional rights and also seen by many as a testament to the persecution of the adherents of other faiths, the comments of the Kano State lawyer only serves to amplify the deep-seated islamophobia harboured by many non-Muslims in the country and put Muslims who do not share his abhorrent and extremist views in bad place. For years, there has been agitation for the abrogation of Sharia law where they are used in the country. Sharia should have no place in a secular state like Nigeria, the agitator argued. But this clamour has had little to no impact, with the proponents and supporters of Sharia claiming it is only binding on Muslims. But this is not true as Christians have been subjected to Sharia over purported blasphemy. Many Christians have been severely punished for what is alleged to be blasphemy. Some of them were lynched.
This case will test the Nigerian jurisprudence and justice system. The ruling of the Supreme Court will mark a watershed in Nigeria. It remains to be seen if the Kano government counsel will follow through with his threat of executing Sharif-Aminu even if the apex court upholds the appeal court judgment that exonerated him. Also, it is not enough to shout down or denounce people who expressed irrational but valid fears about how some Muslims practice Islam as Islamophobes. People like Sorondink will continue to give people reasons to harbour these sentiments if Muslims who are opposed to the distasteful and diabolical actions, beliefs and utterances of men like Sorondink don’t put a stop to their inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour. Such barbarity should have no place in our country.
Even more worrisome is the fact that the actions of the state government and remark of Sorondink are not supported by the religion or the prophet they are claiming to act on behalf of. They contradict the teachings of Prophet Muhammad and the tenets of Islam. They are only hiding under the banner of Islam and false reverence for the prophet to satiate their bloodlust for violence, destruction and death. If Nigeria truly aspires to step into the 21st century and be a nation of values, human lives, and freedom, it must wage a brutal war on religious extremism and fundamentalism and repeal all religious laws.
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