Abduljabbar Kabara, the Islamic cleric from Kano State, is set to face trial today over a comment he made that is reportedly blasphemous.
The cleric was detained on July 16, 2021 over an alleged blasphemous comments believed to be capable of inciting violence and intolerance.
The Kano state government had detained the Islamic scholar who is known to be controversial and unconventional in his approach to Islamic preaching.
Kabara will be trialed over an allegedly blasphemous statement he made against Prophet Muhammad in 2021.
The state government had said that the scholar’s words are capable of disrupting public peace.
The Kano State government, which in this case, is the prosecuting party will seek to establish that the cleric is guilty of the crime and liable of spending time behind bars or at worse receive capital punishment.
He earlier appeared before Justice Sarki Yola at Kano Higher Shari’a Court in Kofar Kudu where he was denied bail and remanded in prison ever since.
The justice cited that there is need to fully address the charge before the subject can be released back to the society.
Abduljabbar will again face the court today, December 15, to decide if he is guilty as charged or innocent of the claim.
Update: Convicted for Blasphemy
The final verdict after a session that lasted for two hours is that the cleric is guilty as charged and may face capital punishment.
The pronouncement was made by Justice Sarki Yola who stated that there is ample evidence to convict the scholar.
The scholar, who had shown calmness and resignation indicated that he was not allowed to defend himself.
“I don’t know the lawyer representing me. This is the first time I am seeing him. He should not be allowed to speak on my behalf. I can and should be allowed to speak for myself,” he said.
“My lord, after I heard how you twisted all my evidence, you turned around all my submissions upside down, you have assigned words to me that I have never uttered.”
Resigning to fate, Abduljabbar said:
“Deliver your judgement, and I am not asking for leniency at all. I want all my followers to know that I will die a hero and I don’t want you (the Judge) Ibrahim Sarki Yola to do me any favour or grant me leniency. This is my last word. Assalamu Alaikum.”
The Kano state government has convicted a number of blasphemous cases that have led to capital punishment.
There was a case of Mubarak Bala, a social critic, that was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment. There is also Aminu Yahaya Sharif, a musician, that was also imprisoned after he released a song that was reportedly blasphemous against Prophet Muhammad.
I Will Die Honorably – One Year After, Kano Islamic Cleric Detained for Blasphemy to Die by Hanging
