Nigerian Muslim Singer Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy

Throughout northern Nigeria, Boko Haram and Fulani militants have engaged in a vicious and violent campaign to create in Islamic Caliphate in the region and enforce strict Sharia Law on the populace.  Among the most strongly enforced laws of Sharia are the Blasphemy Laws.  These laws decree that anyone, Muslim or non-Muslim who says anything considered derogatory toward the Islamic Faith, specifically the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, will be suffer severe punishment, which could include the death penalty.  Recently, a twenty-two year old Muslim singer by the name of Yahaya Sharif-Aminu fell victim to this draconian practice.   Originally from the region of Kano, Nigeria, Yahaya recently released a song on social media in which he sang a song of praise for his favorite Imam who serves in the Tijaniya Muslim Brotherhood.  Critics of the song accused Yahaya of professing such deep praise for this Imam that he elevated him above the Prophet Muhammad.  This was in their eyes, blasphemy, and worthy of a sentence of death (Link to Video).  

Prior to his conviction, radicals in the region worked up mobs who attacked Yahaya's family home and burned it down.  Sadly, this sort of thing is not unusual.  In fact, it's very common in Nigeria.  Many Nigerians have attested on social media (often discreetly to avoid violent repercussion) that what has happened to Yahaya Sharif-Aminu happens to many throughout Northern Nigeria.  When speaking of the Fulani Jihadist militants, northern Nigerians state "They kill us every day, but you never see it on the news."  Others state that even when accused "blasphemers" are not arrested, they're often attack by militants or mobs, and are often killed (Link to Video).  In some cases, entire tribes are being targeted by these militants, simply because of their faith, yet the media is silent.

This practice of burning down homes of accused blasphemers, arresting & sentencing them to death, or simply killing them, is not limited to Northern Nigeria, it's practiced in Islamic nations all over the world.  For instance, the nation of Pakistan is notorious is for locking up accused blasphemers, and mob violence against such individuals is all too common.  

Asia Bibi spent over eight years on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy before she was acquitted, but her case was far from isolated.  Just recently, yet another Pakistani Christian has been been accused of blasphemy and locked up, all over a Facebook Post (Link to Video).

The only thing that is even more despicable than this practice is the world's indifference to it.  Throughout the world political leaders, celebrities, and Leftist activists are silent on these ongoing atrocities.  They've been cowed by the plague of political correctness and are afraid to stand against this tyranny because the radicals within our own nations will smear anyone who dares to speak openly on this issue as being a "racist bigot."  

Despite this, many people, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, are warning us.  Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of the famous women's rights activist Malala Yousafzai was among the first to speak out against the Taliban when they encroached into his region.  The whole time he spoke against their hateful beliefs he carried Pastor Martin Niemöller's famous "First They Came..." poem in his pocket, because he knew that "If people were silent, then nothing would change."  History shows us that that there have been many times when it was a very bad idea to back down and do nothing.  Now is one of those times.  

Sources

"Nigeria: Authorities Must Qualsh the Conviction and Death Sentence Imposed on Kano-Based Singer."  Amnesty International.  August 13, 2020.  Accessed from  https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/08/nigeria-authorities-must-quash-the-conviction-and-death-sentence-imposed-on-kano-based-singer/

"Nigerian Singer Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy in Kano State."  BBC.  August 10, 2020.  Accessed from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53726256.

Yousafzai, Malala and Christina Lamb.  I Am Malala.   New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2013.