KANO COURT REJECTS SINGER’S BLASPHEMY APPEAL, SAYS SHARIA LAW IS CONSTITUTIONAL


A federal court in Kano has dismissed an appeal by a singer battling a religious ruling that he should be sentenced to death over blasphemy.

This is the first time that a federal court in Nigeria rules on whether or not Islamic sharia law is consistent with the secular country’s constitution.

Northern states in Nigeria have sharia courts that operate alongside common law.

The case goes back to August 2020 when a sharia court in Kano ordered singer Yahaya Aminu Sharif’s death by hanging for expressions considered derogatory against the Prophet Mohammed.

The singer appealed his conviction.

In January 2021, the Kano state high court quashed the death sentence but ordered a retrial before the Kano state upper sharia court.

Sharif’s lawyers appealed that verdict, arguing he should not be retried by another religious court.

But on Wednesday, the federal court in Kano dismissed that appeal.

“Sharia law is constitutional… The attempt by the appellants to prove the illegality of sharia law is therefore unfounded,” said judge Abubakar Mu’azu Lamido, in a 17-minute judgement read via Zoom.

“The appeal lacks merit, and the case is hereby dismissed.”

Two out of three judges backed the order for a retrial at the religious court, but the third dissented.

Sharif’s lawyer, Kola Alapinni, said the singer would appeal that ruling at the supreme court.

“It’s safe to say that we will go to the supreme court,” Alapinni told AFP.

The singer was accused of insulting the prophet in a song he shared online, which caused riots in the city.

Mobs burnt his family home and took to the streets demanding prosecution, leading to his arrest.

Sharif belongs to a branch of the Tijaniyya Sufi order, whose beliefs are considered heretical by some because of their interpretation of some basic Islamic principles.

Sharif’s conviction is the second death sentence to be handed down for blasphemy since a stricter version of sharia law was introduced in the early 2000s.

A Kano sharia court sentenced Abdul Nyass, a Sufi Muslim cleric, to death in 2015 for making blasphemous statements against the prophet.

Sharif and Nyass belong to the same branch of the Tijaniyya Sufi order.

BluntCrazeMan:




Secular Country Indeed..
Yet,, they would continue to mete out Sharia Laws on non-muslims..

Obagreatdatoye:
They want to bring Atiku or Tinubu to continue this menace?

DOTian:
Not just in the judiciary, The north has been operating as a different political unit since independence. They don't hide it. They don't believe in Nigeria unless they're the ones on top. It has been their position for eons. Once in power, they raid the countrys vault like Anini will do a banks, because they have no familial attachments to the country. The prices of basic commodities like food are far lower in the north than in most parts of the south. Essentially, the north has been existing as a state within a state in Nigeria for ages. Blame the socalled leaders of the South for allowing this to happen, who are busy building up a country that will be destroyed by their "fellow Nigerians" from futa jallon..

BluntCrazeMan:
We all continued to ask:
“What Exactly Is The Sharia Law and Sharia Courts Doing In the Constitution”??
..
People would come and equate Sharia Law with Customary Laws..
God Pass All Of Una

Na the thing wey the yeye leaders wey una elect dey go there, go dey do be that!

In Nigeria, where we have freedom of expression which Lalong fully exercised not quite long (no one was talking about killing Lalong) and he was forgiven but Islam which is a religion of "peace" doesn't preach forgiveness!

The body language of Buhari will tell you that he is in full support of the killings of the Nigerian citizens especially the youths!

If the Catholics can forgive Lalong, why can't this young man be forgiven

olisefom:
If the North were to be the owner of oil, there wouldn't be Nigerian long ago.