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Islamic Scholars Reject Fatwa on Killing Insulting Journalist
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| Life is beginning to return to normal in Kaduna after violent rioting sparked by a newspaper article |
LAGOS,
November 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Some Islamic
scholars rejected Wednesday, November 27, the fatwa announced by a
mainly Muslim state in Nigeria which called for a journalist to be
killed.
Zamfara
State had said it endorsed an Islamic decree calling for Muslims to
slay Isioma Daniel, a fashion writer who offended Muslims with an
article in This Day newspaper on the Miss World beauty pageant, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
But
Information Minister Jerry Gana, who acts as a spokesman for
Nigeria’s secular government, dismissed the decree as “null and
void” and promised it would not be enforced.
“The
federal government under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
will not allow such an order in any part of the federal republic,
because the federal republic is governed by the rule of law,” he
told AFP.
“The
constitution of the federal republic is the supreme law of the land
and the laws do not provide for anyone who has done something like
what This Day has done to be killed,” he said.
“That
directive of the Zamfara State government ... is null and void,” he
added.
Daniel was the author of an article in the November 16 issue of This
Day which dismissed Muslim criticism of the Miss World pageant,
suggesting the Prophet Mohammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) would have enjoyed the show and perhaps married a contestant.
Fury
over the article triggered rioting in the northern city of Kaduna,
where last week around 220 people were killed, and enraged Muslim
leaders around the country.
On
Tuesday a spokesman for one northern state, Zamfara, said its
government endorsed a fatwa - an Islamic legal ruling - calling for
Muslims to kill the author.
A
senior source at This Day told AFP that Daniel had fled the country.
At
the weekend Miss World’s organizers abandoned plans to hold the
event in Nigeria amid a storm of negative publicity over the event and
pulled contestants out of the country. The event will now take place
in London on December 7.
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| Shops burnt in
Kaduna during the “Miss World” riots
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Stressing
the legal attitude taken by the Muslim authorities in Nigeria towards
the Islam’s stance on the journalist who insulted the Prophet, the
prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Abdul-Khaleq Hasan Ash-Shareef told
IslamOnline:
“I
don’t agree with the decree issued by the Muslim authorities
regarding killing the journalist who attacked the Prophet. In a case
like this, the governor of the Muslim state (in case the Islamic Law
is fully applied) is to expel those non-Muslims who live within the
boundaries of Islam if they did a blasphemous act such as insulting
the Prophet.
“This
view is based on the Hanafi school of thought. According to the
Hanafis, if a non-Muslim did such an act, the ruler of the Muslim
state should expel him and grant him safety and security till he
leaves the land of Islam.”
Dr.
Ali Juma`ah professor of Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence said:
“Indeed,
hurling insults and attacking the noble personality of the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him) from non-Muslims is nothing new.
Rather it is an often repeated scenario. I would like to stress that
such insults against the Prophet do stress his high status and noble
character.
“In
Islam, it is well known that the punishment for the one who insults
the Prophet is to be killed because it constitutes an attack against
the seal of the Prophets and the symbol of monotheism. However, we
Muslims are ordered to be forgiving and pardoning.
“Although
we categorically deny the perverted behavior of those ill-mannered
people who attack the Prophet and insult him, we are ordered to call
others to the truth with wisdom and fair exhortation.
“Finally,
I would like to state that the enemies of Islam will continue on their
attacks and insults, especially against the Prophet Muhammad and we
Muslims warn them against their erroneous approach and the unjust
trend they are embarking on.”
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