An Upper Shari’a Court sitting in Kano, on Thursday, sentenced a Kano cleric, Sheikh Abduljabbar Kabara, to death by hanging for blasphemy.

Kabara was arraigned on July 16, 2021, by Kano State Government on four counts charge bordering on blasphemous comments against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The presiding judge, Ibrahim Sarki-Yola, in four hours judgement, said the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.

“I, Sarki-Yola, sentence the defendant to death by hanging for making blasphemous comments against Prophet Muhammad (PUBH),” Sarki-Yola declared.

He also ordered the Kano State Government to seize all the 189 books the cleric tendered as exhibits and be taken to Kano State Library for the public.

The judge also ordered the state government to seize the defendant’s two mosques he used to commit the offences.

Sarki-Yola said: “Jami’ul Asahable Kahfi, Filin Mushe and Jami’ul Rasul at Sabuwar Gandu should not be used.”

Sarki-Yola also ordered the general public, radio stations, TV stations to stop using the defendant’s preachings and pictures, especially in any social media, adding that anyone found would be prosecuted.

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“The defendant did not follow the right path of preaching; he fabricated all the meaning of the hadith and made a blasphemous comment against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), I, therefore, find him guilty.

“The defendant has the right to appeal within 30 days,” he added.

He called on the general public and all Kano clerics to be careful with the words they used while preaching and translating, especially concerning Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The prosecution counsel, Suraj Sa’eda, SAN, urged the court to sentence the defendant for finding him guilty.

He said that the defendant committed the offence on August 10, October 25, and December 20, 2019, while preaching at his two mosques.

“The defendant made a blasphemous comment against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his marriage with Nana Safiyya in hadith 1,365, 1,428, 2,326 and 5,120 Sahih-Bukhari and Muslim and posted it on his Facebook page Ashabul Kahfi,” he said.

Sa’eda said the offence contravened section 382(b) and 375 of Kano State Shari’a Law 2000.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges, adding that he only translated the meaning of the hadith and was only protecting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) based on the comment against him in the hadiths.

The defense counsel, Aminu Ado-Abubakar, holding brief for Dalhatu Shehu-Usman, pleaded for leniency and urged the court to temper justice with mercy on behalf of the defendant.

“The defendant committed the offence based on how he understood the hadiths, My Lord, it was a mistake,” Ado-Abubakar stated.

The Star