Sheikh Abduljabar’s Death Sentence

Humanists are outraged by the death sentence that was handed down to an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abduljabar Nasir Kabara for blasphemy. A sharia court in Kano convicted Sheikh Abduljabar after it found him guilty of spreading lies about the prophet of Islam and making inciteful preaching. Sheikh Abduljabar denied the charges. That means he objected to the claim that he was spreading messages that were not true about the prophet Muhammad. Or that he was making provocative statements in his preaching. It is not clear how the sharia court was able to establish beyond reasonable doubt that this cleric blasphemed or used his preaching to incite people. The death sentence violates Sheikh Abduljabar’s human and constitutional rights including his rights to freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression. Sheikh Abduljabar has the right to say whatever he thinks or believes about the prophet of Islam even though other Muslims may disagree. 

The Islamic religion is not a homogenous faith. It has many traditions, sects, and schools of thought that espouse diverse contradictory dogmas and doctrines. The teachings of some sects are seen as lies by others. The preachings by some schools are regarded as provocative and forms of incitement by those who belong to other traditions. Islamic schools of thought and traditions mutually blaspheme and constitute embodiments of incitement. So, if blasphemy were to be a crime, then every Muslim would be a criminal because every Muslim blasphemes as a matter of faith. But blasphemy is not a crime. Blasphemy is a human right. What Abduljabar did was an exercise of his right, not an offence by any stretch of religious or Islamic imagination.

Unfortunately as enforced in Kano and other sharia implementing states, blasphemy constitutes a device to delegitimize, oppress and suppress Islamic or ir/religious others. Blasphemy is a weapon for the abuse and persecution of minority sects and traditions. Blasphemy is used to sanctify Muslim inhumanity to other Muslims and non-Muslims. 

So the conviction of Sheikh Abduljabar shames us all. It is an indictment of our collective conscience and demonstrates the disconnect between Northern/Nigerian Muslim conscience and humanity. It is sad to note that Muslim jihadists who enslaved and killed Africans who espoused traditional beliefs and practices introduced Islam to the region. After centuries of indoctrination and brainwashing, African jihadists are killing fellow Muslims and fellow Africans for expressing a different idea or belief. Humanists hope that reason, good conscience, and natural justice would prevail and this death sentence would be quashed.

Leo Igwe, human rights activist