Blasphemy: Free Umar Farouq Now By Leo Igwe

Leo Igwe

While efforts are being made to save the life of a 22-year-old Muslim singer, Yahaya Aminu-Sharif, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy, the world should not forget Umar Farouq. The international community should pressure the governor of Kano state, Abdullahi Ganduje, to free this 13-year-old boy from prison because he committed no crime. Like Aminu-Sharif, Farouk was accused of blasphemy and tried in a sharia court. While Yahaya was prosecuted for insulting Prophet Muhammad, Farouq was convicted for insulting the Islamic god. Yahaya was sentenced to death while Farouq was given a 10-year prison sentence. Now, a lot has been said about the death sentence on Yahaya, but there has not been enough focus on the outrageous prison sentence of Umar Farouq. There is no move to appeal and get the sentence overturned. Now does that mean this boy will spend the next ten years in jail? Let us take a closer look at Farouq’s case.

Leo Igwe

According to the news report, Farouq made derogatory statements about the Islamic god. That was all. Unfortunately, the report did not state what this 13-year-old exactly said. It is not clear how the prosecutor proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the said statement insulted the Islamic god. Allah did not attend the trial. The Islamic god did not testify before the court. But whatever the remark that he might have made, there is nothing that warrants this harsh sentence that the Upper Sharia Court in Kano handed down to an innocent boy. There is no justification for the imprisonment of Farouq. So one wonders what made the sharia court judge decide to penalize this boy. How is this sentence compatible with Islamic jurisprudence? What legal reasoning informed such a despicable verdict? What does a boy at that age know about Islam or the Islamic god? At 13 years, most Nigerian children are finishing their primary school or are starting secondary school. Most children have little or no knowledge about god or religion, except what they have been told. A 13-year-old has not attained the age of reason. Has he? So how could a sharia court be so mean, ruthless and shrewd in adjudicating a case that concerned a minor? What is the basis in conscience to inflict this punishment on Farouq?

I mean, Farouq cannot vote and, at his age, can seldom make a distinction between derogatory and non-derogatory remarks. Meanwhile, as a human being, Farouq has a right to freedom of expression. It is in freely expressing their thoughts and beliefs that children intellectually grow and develop. So how could a sharia court judge that worths his (or her) salt justify penalizing a child for some god related comments? What stretch of Islamic wisdom informed this obscene ruling?

Farouq is an Islamic prisoner of conscience. He is a victim of a vicious form of Islam that rages in Northern Nigeria. Blasphemy is a victimless crime because the entity that is supposedly hurt or insulted is a chimera. And it is unconscionable and unjust to imprison a child on such a ground.

So, I urge the governor of Kano state, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, to free Umar Farouq Now!

Opinion

AddThis

Original Author

Leo Igwe

Disable advertisements

from 24HRSNEWS
via 24HRSNEWS

from EDUPEDIA247https://ift.tt/2F4I6u1
via EDUPEDIA

These funny food quotes will make you laugh like crazy

Food is not only an essential part of the daily routine but also the most exciting one. We cannot imagine our life without something yummy. How do you make ordinary eating fun and unforgettable? We bring to your attention amazing food quotes which will definitely make you smile. Image: unsplash.com (modified by author) Source: UGC Are you looking for interesting ideas to entertain your interlocutor while having lunch at work or family dinner? Then this article is definitely for you! Good food quotes Below are food quotes, aphorisms and witty statements. This is an exciting and extraordinary collection of the top "pearls of wisdom" on this topic. Here you can find funny jokes and sayings, intelligent thoughts of philosophers and original words of great thinkers and inspiring statuses from social networks, as well as many other things. The best appetite comes without food. I love calories. They are dаmn tasty. An empty stomach is the Devil's playground. Have bre

The Transitional Phase of African Poetry

The Transitional Phase The second phase, which we have chosen to call transitional, is represented by the poetry of writers like Abioseh Nicol, Gabriel Okara, Kwesi Brew, Dennis Brutus, Lenrie Peters and Joseph Kariuki. This is poetry which is written by people we normally refer to as modem and who may be thought of as belonging to the third phase. The characteristics of this poetry are its competent and articulate use of the received European language, its unforced grasp of Africa’s physical, cultural and socio-political environment and often its lyricism. To distinguish this type of poetry we have to refer back to the concept of appropriation we introduced earlier. At the simplest and basic level, the cultural mandate of possessing a people’s piece of the earth involves a mental and emotional homecoming within the physical environment. Poems like Brew’s ‘‘Dry season”, Okara’s “Call of the River Nun”, Nicol’s “The meaning of Africa” and Soyinka’s “Season”, to give a few examples,

The pioneering phase of African Poetry

The pioneering phase We have called the first phase that of the pioneers. But since the phrase “pioneer poets” has often been used of writers of English expression like Osadebay, Casely-Hayford and Dei-Anag, we should point out that our “pioneer phase” also includes Negritude poets of French expression. The poetry of this phase is that of writers in “exile” keenly aware of being colonials, whose identity was under siege. It is a poetry of protest against exploitation and racial discrimination, of agitation for political independence, of nostalgic evocation of Africa’s past and visions of her future. However, although these were themes common to poets of both English and French expression, the obvious differences between the Francophone poets and the Anglophone writers of the 1930s and 1940s have been generally noted. Because of the intensity with which they felt their physical exile from Africa, coupled with their exposure to the experimental contemporary modes of writing in F

EDUPEDIA247

Search This Blog