EXCLUSIVE: Spontaneous killing, burning of people accused of blasphemy not supported by Holy books – Muslim, Christian clerics
By Toyibat Ajose and Oluwaseyi Lawal
Nigeria has witnessed a number of uprisings in recent times over alleged cases of blasphemy.
Earlier this month in Sokoto State, a 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, Deborah Samuel was openly stoned and subsequently burnt to death in the school premises for alleged blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The sad incident which attracted global outrage and condemnation later degenerated to almost a full blown religious crisis before the intervention of the state government, law enforcement agents and respected clerics.
The police have since arrested some suspects in connection with the killing and subsequent unrest in the state.
While that was healing up, another destructive blasphemy incident happened in Bauchi State leading to loss of properties. However, the case was quickly brought under control by the State Government and Police Command, averting unnecessary loss of lives.
Nigeria been a religious country is well populated by the Christian and Muslim faithfuls. Adherents of the traditional religion are also well represented in the country’s population figures. However, aside the recent Sokoto and Bauchi events, the nation had in times past been engulfed in religious crisis that consequently led to avoidable loss of lives and properties.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Newsclickng.com correspondents, clerics from the two dominant religions condemned the unwarranted stoning and lynching of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto State. They explained that both religions categorically preach love and peaceful coexistence between neighbours irrespective of their religious standing.
Deborah’s killers negated Islamic values, took laws into their hands – Imam Dr. Mustapha Ibrahim
Imam Dr. Mustapha Ibrahim is Director, Islamic Center for Dawah and Research, Abeokuta. According to him, Deborah Samuel’s killers by their action negated the teachings and values of Islam which they claimed to protect by summarily killing a blasphemy suspect that they neither reported nor tried.
“Blasphemy in Islam is simply impious utterance or action concerning Allah and his Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). In a broader term, blasphemy include the mocking or mystifying of attributes of Allah, attributes of the prophets, and insultingly denying any of the fundamental belief. The ruling of blasphemy depends on who and what it is concerned; whether it is on Allah, or the prophets or against the Islamic beliefs,” Ibrahim explained.
On what should be done should a person be accused of blasphemy against the prophet like the case of Deborah Samuel, Ibrahim said:
“The one we have before us which is what I’ll talk about is blasphemy against the prophet. The ruling of this type of blasphemy is execution of the person if the person is tried and found guilty. The person must be tried and he must be guilty. It has to be reported to the authorities, it has to be tried and if found guilty, it’s the authorities that now decide. Nobody has the right to decide except the authority, the law. It is not a decision one can make on its own, it has to be the decision of the authority otherwise so many people might have been killed unjustly if we don’t go into trial. In summary if anyone commits blasphemy against the prophet, its execution with trial or a capital punishment. This is applicable in places where Shari’ ah law is being used.
“When we are trying to talk of insults or defamation of an individual publicly, some countries or societies even have laws which prohibits such because it is a crime.”
The cleric however condemned the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel saying it cannot be justified.
“As far as my knowledge is, I have every cause to condemn the killing for three reasons. The people fail to report her, they fail to take her to trial, and they burnt her. This is not acceptable in Islam, otherwise so many people would have been killed unjustly. If one is accused of blasphemy, it needs to be reported to the authority and must be tried. Then they look at the circumstances surrounding the incident and then decide if the person is guilty or not. But for this case it is not done. So, this incident is absolutely condemning. There is no way by which one will justify the killing of Deborah in Sokoto,” the cleric submitted.
To forestall a recurrence of such dastardly act, Ibrahim advised adherents of the various religions to respite each others beliefs.
“We can maintain a cordial relationship by respecting other people’s religion and cultural beliefs. If we can respect each other’s beliefs, we are going to have a cordial relationship. This is because when you insult or defame, it enhances provocation and provocation leads to destruction. We need to realise one thing; the intent of fight is proportional to the harsh words exchanged by the people involved.”
Men can’t fight for God – Lady Evangelist Grace Ilori
Lady Evangelist Grace Ilori is Minister in charge; CAC WOSEM, Ile Anu, Ikotun, Lagos. According to her, no one can justifiably take another person’s life in disguise of fighting for God.
“In simple words, blasphemy means talking about God in an offensive way or spreading false information about his person. However, in Christianity, there is no law that establishes any punishment for blasphemy or that says we should kill anyone accused of blasphemy. If at all it happens in any way, God is capable of punishing such a person who blasphemes against Him”.
According to the cleric, killing or stoning to death of those accused for blasphemy also happened in the biblical days at some point. She however noted that the teachings of Jesus Christ has abolished the practice.
“Blasphemy is not something new. It happened in biblical days. As a matter of fact all of us in one way or the other commit blasphemy on a daily basis. Now imagine if we all have been killed because of that, then the world today will be empty. While stoning to death for offences even lesser than blasphemy was the order of the day at a point in the biblical days, however, the teaching of Jesus Christ has eradicated that and does not establish any law or punishment concerning blasphemy,” she said.
On Deborah Samuel, Ilori said the action by the mob against her was barbaric and unwarranted.
“As regards the incident in Sokoto, I see Deborah Samuel as one of the martyrs. May her soul rest in peace. I feel so much pain in my heart for someone like her to die like that. I also feel for her parents and families who maybe hurting at the moment. There is no other way to console them than to hope that the law takes it course on her killers.”
She also warned against retaliatory approach either in the North or down South. She advised that both Muslims and Christians must learn to coexist tolerably for peace to rein in the country.
“It is important that we learn to respect other peoples beliefs and cultures and not try to impose it on people who are not in tune with it. Christianity means to be Christ like in words and deeds. You don’t disrespect other peoples’ views and call yourself a Christian. We must be tolerant, law abiding and respectful for the world to experience genuine peace. There are thousands of other religious views worldwide apart from Christianity and Islam. So how many people are we going to keep as enemies if they take exceptions to our faith?,” the preacher asked.
