John Shiklam, Gusau
27 April 2002
TWO Muslims who converted to Christianity in Mada, Zamfara State have escaped death sentence, as a presiding judge of Sharia court has thwarted efforts by members of the sharia implementation and monitoring group in the area at seeing the converts sentenced to death by stoning.
The Christian converts, Lawal Yakubu and Ali Jafara were on Wednesday, arraigned before a sharia court in Mada by officials of the sharia monitoring group in the area for converting to Christianity. Presenting their case before the court presided over by Alhaji Awal Jabaka, four officials of the monitoring group namely Mallam Mustapha Namadi (chairman) Mallam Yusufu Namadi, Mallam Hassan Sharubutu and Mallam Rabiu Mudi (secretary) told the court that they received reports that the "accused" persons who were known to be Muslims, had converted to Christianity. They prayed the court to investigate the matter and punish the suspects in accordance with Islamic law.
When the judge Alhaji Awal Jabaka asked the "suspects" to tell the court whether they were muslims before they converted to christianity, Lawali repled that he had been a Christian for a long time and challenged the officials of the sharia group to prove that he was a Muslim while Jafaru replied that he was muslim before becoming a Christian.
Quoting from the Quran and several other Islamic books, the judge explained that the punishment for any muslim who converted to another religion was death sentence but pointed out however, that the court could not rule such because the Zamfara sharia panel code had no provision on how to punish people who converted to other faith.
Apparently in an attempt to convince the officials of the sharia group, the judge handed over the Zamfara Sharia Penal Code and the state government gazette to the secretary of the group to search if there was any provision in the penal code that converts should be killed. After searching through the sharia panel code and the gazette for about five minutes, he told the judge that there was no such provision.
While the sharia monitoring officials insisted that since the Quran, the hadith and other Islamic books prescribed death for muslims who converted to another religion, the two converts should be sentenced to death, the judge maintained that although all the Islamic books agree with death sentence for muslims who converted to another religion, the Zamfara State Sharia penal code had no provision for such offences and unless there was such a provision in the penal code, the court had no power to pass sentence.
According to the judge since Zamfara State started the implementation of the sharia legal system, it enacted laws guiding sharia court judges stressing that the courts operated within the provisions of the sharia penal code.
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