The Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MMPN) has condemned the jungle justice meted out to a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education,Deborah Yakubu,over alleged committal of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (SAW) on Thursday.
The group,in a statement by its National President,Abdur-Rahman Balogun in Abuja, described such action as anti- Islam, barbaric and criminal offence in Islamic law.
According to the statement : “Allah says in Qur’an 5 verse 32 thus: … We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.So, the punishment for any offence in Islamic law is decided by a judge. No other member of the public has that jurisdiction”
The group emphasised that even if it is a crime committed against the state, it is when the specific punishment is prescribed in the Qur’an or Hadith, only a competent judge of a Shari’ah court is allowed to approve the witnesses and evidence, and to give the sentence for the execution of the appropriate punishment.
It added:”In essence, anyone who takes the law into their hands is a crime that should be punished for their crime.It is in this light that we commend the immediate action of the Sultanate Council and His Eminence Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar in condemning the criminal act and call for calm pending the outcome of the investigation panel set up by the Sokoto state government.
“As a body of Muslim Media practitioners, we join all others to condemn this barbaric act and call for immediate justice on any individual or group of people found guilty of perpetrating this dastard act.This is so because if any individual or group is permitted to judge and execute punishments on their own without recourse to the constituted authority, there will be nothing but jungle justice and anarchy on the land.
“Again, what happened in Sokoto is a manifestation of ignorance on what the religion of Islam preaches, hence the need for Islamic scholars to renew their commitments to preaching peace, love, tolerance and understanding as taught by the Prophet Muhammad himself.The Prophet (S.A.W) during his lifetime was maligned, insulted and attacked but he didn’t retaliate or order his people to prosecute any of them, hence, people accepted Islam during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad ( S.A.W ) because of his exemplary and worthy character.”
