An Upper Sharia Court in Nigeria’s northern state of Kano has sentenced a 22-year old singer, Yahaya Aminu Sharif to death by hanging for blaspheming against the Prophet Muhammad.
An upper Sharia court in the Hausawa Filin Hockey area of the state said Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, 22, was guilty of committing blasphemy for a song he circulated via WhatsApp in March.
In his ruling on Monday, the Shari’a court Khadi, Aliyu Muhammad Kani, found Sharif guilty of the one-count charge bordering on derogatory comment contained in one of his songs.
Sharif, a resident of Sharifai Quarters in Kano Municipal, was accused of committing blasphemy against the prophet in a song he circulated via WhatsApp in March 2020.
Sharif’s action came to public knowledge on 4th of March, 2020, when hundreds of angry youths stormed the Kano Hisbah board headquarters in protest against what they considered an uncomplimentary assault on Prophet Muhammad.
The youths accused government and security agencies of undue protection and failure to act appropriately against Sharif.
The irate youths had earlier razed down the family house of the singer after his disappearance when they invaded the resident.
The leader of the protesters that called for the musician’s arrest in March, Idris Ibrahim, told our correspondent that the judgement will serve as a warning to others “contemplating toeing Yahaya’s path”. “When I heard about the judgment I was so happy because it showed our protest wasn’t in vain.
“This [judgement] will serve as a deterrent to others who feel they could insult our religion or prophet and go scot-free,” he said.
Source: Guardian
