So much furore has been generated over the uprising borne out of religious intolerance in Nigeria. From the sporadic incidents of religious clashes often between Christians and Muslims, to outrages bothering on 'blasphemy'.

Not long ago, the fire ignited in Sokoto state, precisely on the campus of Shehu Shagari College of
Education. The case was of a female student who allegedly
"blasphemed" the prophet of Islam. This lady was dragged out of her dormitory, mobbed and set ablaze within the student community!


Sparing us the details of this gory story, I wouldn't like to dwell on the incidence, as there has been different views to it ...many of which are purely emotion-laden.


My argument about the issue (at large) is how we tend to define and argue out some of these things.


I guess a vital point to start is to define what Blasphemy means.


According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, Blasphemy is he act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God.

Now, if blasphemy is about insulting or not reverencing God, I have a problem with how Muslims interpret and react to their version of "blasphemy"!

First, every Muslim readily admits that Muhammad, the prophet of Islam is not God! In fact, the major point of departure of Islam from Christianity beliefs is the grouse the former has against the latter of 'equating' Jesus (the leader of Christians) to God (Allah).
Indeed, Muslims may not attack you for insulting Allah, but they can go and have always gone dangerously irate when anyone (including a fellow Muslim) disparaged Mohammed!

So, whereas in principle, Mohammed the prophet of Islam is seen as lesser (in fact a slave of Allah), he is in practice venerated above Allah (his lord)!
This put to test the veracity of the claims that other faiths besides islam are hypocritical about their monotheistic status, as Muslims would want us to believe!

A second point is the problem of putting into the right perspective, the place of Islamic jurisprudence in a plural society like Nigeria.
Although this area is controversial as many legal experts have continued to argue about the topic... What stands out is the many different views of many Islamic scholars and groups in reacting to the Sokoto incident!
The Islamic blocs have though agreed that insulting the prophet of Islam is unacceptable, but differed on the act of killing a person guilty of blasphemy!

This is coming on the heels of an approaching election year, and I think it's bad news for some Muslim politicians who want to be religiously correct in the eyes of the non-muslim electorates. That not withstanding, that the Sokoto Sultanate (Caliphate authority) has issued an official statement condemning the act and seeking justice as juxtaposed to the position of some Islamic clerics who are already issuing statements or trending in viral videos praising the barbaric act of murder leaves a huge legislative burden on the lawmakers and law enforcers of the country!
It is also important to view it from the moral angle.
Our lawmakers must come out clear on what the law states (or is to state) about killing blasphemy suspects and allied matters, and the executive (law enforcement arm of government) should take effect on the law.

For those praising the murder of Deborah today, moral advise to them is to introspect and consider that it is an unfortunate Deborah today, it could be one of theirs tomorrow!

If Muslims think they have a right to kill because they are 'provoked' in a religiously sensitive manner, the onus is on them to watch what they say about the tenets of other people's faith, because they may be setting a precedent that will become an ill wind in the future...

I hope you are not in the North. Cause those brutish animals can even attack you for this.
I never take my encounter with poor Muslims beyond greeting.
I also don't argue the bible or Christian beliefs with fellow christians.

TOPIC: HOW TO AVOID WILD ANIMALS ATTACK!!!
LESSON1
DON'T ARGUE RELIGIOUS MATTER WITH MUSLIMS IN UNCIVILIZED COUNTRIES.
LESSON2
DON'T ARGUE RELIGIOUS MATTER WITH MUSLIMS IN UNCIVILIZED COUNTRIES.
LESSON3
DON'T ARGUE RELIGIOUS MATTER WITH MUSLIMS IN UNCIVILIZED COUNTRIES.
LESSON4
DON'T ARGUE RELIGIOUS MATTER WITH MUSLIMS IN UNCIVILIZED COUNTRIES.
LESSON5
DON'T ARGUE RELIGIOUS MATTER WITH MUSLIMS IN UNCIVILIZED COUNTRIES.
LESSON6
DON'T ARGUE RELIGIOUS MATTER WITH MUSLIMS IN UNCIVILIZED COUNTRIES.
LESSON7
DON'T ARGUE RELIGIOUS MATTER WITH MUSLIMS IN UNCIVILIZED COUNTRIES.