STILL ON THE BLASPHEMY BROUHAHA: EXPOSING THE HYPOCRITES AND THE IGNORANT
Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:00:am Opinion
4.7K By Sirnucy Lafiagi
Last night, I was engaged in a very constructive and fruitful debate by some cyber-friends and I didn't go to bed until a quarter to 12am. Let me use this medium to appreciate their maturity and sincerity throughout the course of our discussions. It was a great experience. Having said that, let me say again for the umpteenth time that the Kano mob attack was unfortunate, barbaric, irrational, crude, cruel and inhumane. It must be condemned by all compos mentis homo sapiens. As a person, I will be glad to see the culprits brought to book to face criminal charges. Meanwhile, Isaac Newton's 1st and 3rd Laws of motion have a different dimension to the issue at hand. (1st Law states that a body will continue to be in a state of rest or of uniform velocity until an external force compels it to move....... While the 3rd Law states that action triggers reaction).
Therefore, let us take our minds off the 'nomenclature' (blasphemy) for a moment and address the critical issue which is taking the life of a fellow human being unjustly and in mysterious circumstances which is a very common phenomenon in Nigeria. I still remember vividly watching the gory video of 4 students of UNIPORT that were stripped naked, beaten to a pulp and burnt alive in Alu community; I still remember the many 'alleged' thieves that were burnt alive in Lagos and Abuja; I still remember the post-election killings and beheading of people in Rivers State..... etc. However, since none of these cases involves Islam, Muslims and Shariah, one or two days of media ranting and that's it. This is the same Islamophobic mentality that's being preached in the West. What constitutes Terrorism in the West is not the Crime but the Criminal.
The Kano incident really exposed the hypocrites among us as well as the ignorance of many Muslims about the Shari'ah. It has produced many "GoogleCertifiedMuftis" and Shaykhu'l-Islaam al-Internetiyyu who have continued to issue frivolous "fataawaha" since yesterday. I have read so many of them, and I will respond to them in due course. Some claim that nobody was ever executed for blasphemy during the time of the Rasuul. Some say that the Qura'ān and Sunnah are both silent on the punishment for blasphemy. In fact, an Imam was quoted to have given a Khutbah claiming that the Shari'ah didn't mention executing the blasphemer! All of you and your Imam need serious tutoring and mentoring. Let me refer you and your Imam to just one book:
Some of my cyber-friends said, "what if she doesn't know that it amounts to blasphemy to insult the Prophet of Islam?" and I told them, "forget about blasphemy, is it ethical to insult or deride other people's Prophet? Does the Bible teaches that? For God's sake this is about commonsense! Why is everybody busy condemning the reaction and sparing the action? Or would she ha e been lynched without the 'alleged provocation?'
On 16th August, 2010, a female Christian student of Law in the University of Ibaadah, Seun Olubunmi Olagunsoye stormed the Friday mosque and started preaching the gospel right in front of the Muslims eye! She said,
"Except you accept Christ in your life, you are not safe. All of you here, no matter the number of the congregation, accept Jesus Christ. Allah is not God; Jesus is Lord"
Isn't that an insult to our religion? What an affront! Yet, if she was lynched and killed, hypocrites will still come on Social media to challenge the reaction and spare the action! Some said, "why avenge for Allah and the rasuul?" Unfortunately, the same people cannot stand their Fathers being insulted without putting up a fight whether verbal or physical!
Again, the Kano mob action is condemnable, but so is the blasphemy against our beloved Prophet. Nobody can insult our Prophet and think that's it. In as much as I condemn the reaction, I take serious exception to the action that triggered it. Non Muslims should learn to respect our religion just as we respect theirs so that peace will reign in the land.
Sirnucy Lafiagi
Therefore, let us take our minds off the 'nomenclature' (blasphemy) for a moment and address the critical issue which is taking the life of a fellow human being unjustly and in mysterious circumstances which is a very common phenomenon in Nigeria. I still remember vividly watching the gory video of 4 students of UNIPORT that were stripped naked, beaten to a pulp and burnt alive in Alu community; I still remember the many 'alleged' thieves that were burnt alive in Lagos and Abuja; I still remember the post-election killings and beheading of people in Rivers State..... etc. However, since none of these cases involves Islam, Muslims and Shariah, one or two days of media ranting and that's it. This is the same Islamophobic mentality that's being preached in the West. What constitutes Terrorism in the West is not the Crime but the Criminal.
The Kano incident really exposed the hypocrites among us as well as the ignorance of many Muslims about the Shari'ah. It has produced many "GoogleCertifiedMuftis" and Shaykhu'l-Islaam al-Internetiyyu who have continued to issue frivolous "fataawaha" since yesterday. I have read so many of them, and I will respond to them in due course. Some claim that nobody was ever executed for blasphemy during the time of the Rasuul. Some say that the Qura'ān and Sunnah are both silent on the punishment for blasphemy. In fact, an Imam was quoted to have given a Khutbah claiming that the Shari'ah didn't mention executing the blasphemer! All of you and your Imam need serious tutoring and mentoring. Let me refer you and your Imam to just one book:
Some of my cyber-friends said, "what if she doesn't know that it amounts to blasphemy to insult the Prophet of Islam?" and I told them, "forget about blasphemy, is it ethical to insult or deride other people's Prophet? Does the Bible teaches that? For God's sake this is about commonsense! Why is everybody busy condemning the reaction and sparing the action? Or would she ha e been lynched without the 'alleged provocation?'
On 16th August, 2010, a female Christian student of Law in the University of Ibaadah, Seun Olubunmi Olagunsoye stormed the Friday mosque and started preaching the gospel right in front of the Muslims eye! She said,
"Except you accept Christ in your life, you are not safe. All of you here, no matter the number of the congregation, accept Jesus Christ. Allah is not God; Jesus is Lord"
Isn't that an insult to our religion? What an affront! Yet, if she was lynched and killed, hypocrites will still come on Social media to challenge the reaction and spare the action! Some said, "why avenge for Allah and the rasuul?" Unfortunately, the same people cannot stand their Fathers being insulted without putting up a fight whether verbal or physical!
Again, the Kano mob action is condemnable, but so is the blasphemy against our beloved Prophet. Nobody can insult our Prophet and think that's it. In as much as I condemn the reaction, I take serious exception to the action that triggered it. Non Muslims should learn to respect our religion just as we respect theirs so that peace will reign in the land.
Sirnucy Lafiagi
Related News
Leave a comment...