On Thursday (December 15), a 52-year-old Islamic preacher by the name of Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara was sentenced to death in Nigeria for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad.
As per reports, the punishment was handed to him by an upper Sharia court in the Nigerian city of Kano. Abduljabbar had allegedly committed blasphemy during one of his preachings at his mosque.
According to the prosecution, the Islamic preacher had allegedly violated Sections 375, and 382 of the Kano State Sharia Penal Code Law, 2000. They claimed that his ‘blasphemous video’ went viral on social media.
BREAKING: Nigerian Islamic Cleric, Abduljabbar Kabara Sentenced To Death By Hanging For Blasphemy | Sahara Reporters https://t.co/FSte2gnX7H pic.twitter.com/pAKQQkG2DM
— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) December 15, 2022
While hearing the matter, Justice Ibrahim Sarki Yola of the Kano Sharia court claimed that Abduljabbar had failed to defend himself, despite being provided with ‘enough time.’
“I, Ibrahim Sarki Yola, Upper Sharia Court Judge City Number One, found you, Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara, committing an act contrary to section 283 (B) of Kano State Sharia Penal Code Law 2000, I, therefore, sentence you to death by hanging,” the judge declared.
“The prosecutors also convinced the court that the accused person deliberately interpreted the religious books and fabricated the blasphemous comments against the Holy Prophet Muhammad,” he further said.
Moment drama ensued during Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara court sentencing in Kano pic.twitter.com/UUWaKReImx
— Daily Trust (@daily_trust) December 15, 2022
“I similarly order the total closure of your mosques located at Filin Mushe Gwale LGA and Jamiurrasul located at Sharada,” he added. The judge also put a ban on playing his sermons on radio stations and ordered the confiscation of his 189 books.
Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara accused the judge of being unfair and challenged him to condemn him to death. He said, “You Ibrahim Sarki Sani Yola, changed the whole narration about the case go ahead and sentence me to death, I will die honourably meeting my God.”
“And I am pleading to my followers not to worry about the sentencing as I will die as a righteous person,” he remarked while his lawyer desperately tried to make emotional appeals to Justice Ibrahim Sarki Sani Yola.
Islamic cleric had held Shia scriptures superior to Sunni counterparts
As per a report by Daily Trust, Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara belongs to the Qadiriyya Islamic sect and is regarded as a prominent Sunni scholar in Nigeria.
However, as early as 2020, he expressed his inclination towards being a Shia. “After a thoroughly long time research which I have made by myself, I realized that Shi’a has more scriptural evidence over Sunni…” he told the BBC.
“I will not bother myself if you call me a Shi’a, but I’ll be concerned with calling me a Sunni,” the Islamic scholar on death row had said 2 years ago.
Yadda aka yi zaman yanke wa Abduljabbar Kabara hukunci a kotu. pic.twitter.com/qnOmUJ7kbo
— BBC News Hausa (@bbchausa) December 15, 2022
Reportedly, Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara had alleged on multiple occasions that some of the Hadiths (teachings of Prophet Muhammad), as narrated by other Islamic scholars, are either inaccurate or false.
Last year, he was held captive by the Kano State government, following complaints by scholars from other Islamic sects in the country. By then, he had 9 cases of blasphemy registered against him.
Following public outcry over the matter, a debate was organised between Abduljabbar and other Islamic scholars on July 10, 2021. The chairman of the debate concluded that the Islamic scholar was unable to answer a single question posed by other scholars.
He was thereafter remanded in custody again. Abduljabbar is the son of a prominent leader of Qadariyya Islamic Movement in West Africa named Nasiru Kabara. He has now 30 days to appeal against the death penalty, which was handed out to him.
