Some good news out of Nigeria for a change, in light of the ongoing Islamic genocide against Christians in pursuit of an Islamic caliphate in the region.
Teenager Omar Farouq and Yahaya Aminu Sharif were convicted in August by a Sharia court in the northern state of Kano.
Unfortunately, as is the case in some other Muslim communities, notably in Pakistan, if the courts don’t get you, jihadists will try:
“Their lives will never be the same again,” said Kola Alapinni, a defence lawyer representing both defendants. He said it would not be safe for Farouq to remain in Kano, while Sharif was likely to remain in custody until his retrial was heard.
“Nigerian appeals court throws out blasphemy convictions that caused outcry,” by Hamza Ibrahim, Reuters, January 21, 2021:
KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) – A Nigerian court threw out two blasphemy convictions on Thursday that had caused an international outcry, freeing a teenager from a 10-year prison sentence and ordering a new trial for a man sentenced to death.
The two had been convicted in August by a sharia court in Nigeria’s northern, mainly Muslim state of Kano. Teenager Omar Farouq was accused of making blasphemous comments during an argument, while Yahaya Aminu Sharif was accused of having shared a blasphemous message on WhatsApp.
Appeal judges at the secular branch of the state’s high court ruled that Farouq should be acquitted because he was a minor who had not had adequate legal representation. They said he was 17 at the time of his sentencing and not 13 as stated in previous hearings.
In the case of Sharif, the conviction was quashed and the case sent back to the sharia court.
“Their lives will never be the same again,” said Kola Alapinni, a defence lawyer representing both defendants. He said it would not be safe for Farouq to remain in Kano, while Sharif was likely to remain in custody until his retrial was heard….
The convictions sparked a debate about sharia, which the defendants’ lawyers argued was incompatible with Nigeria’s secular constitution….
Mount Zion says
“Their lives will never be the same said the defence lawyer” . That’s the beauty of Islam , it ruins lives . Remember Asia Bibi ? when her conviction was overturned , a minority of thousands of peaceful muslims took to the streets on a door to door search . As far as I know she is still under police protection up to this day . It really makes my blood boil when I hear moslems in western countries say that they’d rather be under sharija law which is divine than under the constitution which is man made , apparently a famous somali-american congress woman from Minnesota who claims that sharija is reasonable has the same view .
mortimer says
The anti-blasphemy provision in Sharia law is subtly worded: the dhimmi must not ‘mention something impermissible’ about Islam. That covers a lot of ground and individual Islamic scholars will interpret it differently.
The problem with a ‘blasphemy law’ in a pluralistic, multi-cultural society is that what appears ‘blasphemous’ in one religion will be a required, cherishsed doctrine of belief in another. With religions at logger-heads with each other on fundamental teachings, the court cannot decide who is the blasphemer, unless there is an ESTABLISHMENT OF ONE RELIGION over the other religions. Of course, that ‘establishment’ is exactly what Muslims want.
The problem with a Muslim establishment of religion is that all other groups are liable automatically for a blasphemy charge and they will immediately make plans to leave a bigoted, Muslim domain.
Nigeria has no establishment of religion and thus, Islam cannot legally have dominance over other faiths, even in north and eastern Nigeria. Nigeria’s supreme court will ultimately decide that blasphemy laws are not legally enforceable everywhere in Nigeria.
gravenimage says
Alas, Mortimer, Nigeria is not as reasonable as you are. Shari’ah law has been formally imposed in 12 Muslim-majority states for over twenty years now.
Veracious_one says
Sharia is not compatible with any other laws.
Keith O says
Sharia is not compatible with civilised humans.
gregbeetham says
Humans don’t need to go looking for aliens we’ve got them right here on Earth, yes they were dropped on their head when they were small but hey, look on the bright side, we can study critters from an inverse alternate universe without even leaving Earth.
gravenimage says
Nigeria: Appeals court throws out 2 blasphemy convictions over social media posts that sparked protests
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This is good–but it may not save the accused from Muslim violence.