The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria on Tuesday asked the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, not to spare the Kano singer who blasphemed Prophet Muhammad.
According to the Council, the governor must ensure that the singer is executed as pronounced by the Sharia Court.
The upper Sharia Court in the Hausawa Filin Hockey area of Kano State, while delivering judgement on August 10, 2020, found Shariff Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, 22, guilty of committing blasphemy for a song he circulated via WhatsApp in March.
In a statement by its Secretary General, Nafi’u Baba-Ahmed, the Council insisted that the singer be executed to serve as a deterrent to others.
The group also asked the governor to ignore the “so-called” human rights activists calling for pardon for the singer.
The statement reads partly, “The calls by some so-called human rights groups to pardon the culprit should not deter the state government from doing the right thing as this case is purely an Islamic affair and in consonance with the religion, culture and wishes of not only the people of Kano, but the majority population of Nigeria, who are Muslims.”
The Islamic gospel musician had gone into hiding after he composed the song.
Protesters were said to have burnt down his family home and gathered outside the headquarters of the Islamic police, also known as the Hisbah, demanding action against him.
Critics said the song was blasphemous as it praised an imam from the Tijaniya Muslim brotherhood to the extent of elevating him above the Prophet Muhammad.