Nigeria’s Supreme Court held its first hearing in a high-profile blasphemy case Thursday that defence lawyers hope will lead to a ruling that puts curbs on sharia law.
Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, a Sufi Muslim musician, was sentenced to death by a sharia court in Nigeria’s northern Kano state in 2020 for sharing song lyrics deemed to insult the Prophet Mohammed.
The Kano State High Court later overturned the conviction but also ordered a retrial — an outcome his lawyers are trying to prevent while seeking a wider ruling on punishments for violating sharia law, including the death penalty for blasphemy and adultery.
“All various aspects of the sharia penal code that offend the constitution and Nigeria’s international obligations, we cannot have on our statute books,” lawyer Kola Alapinni told reporters after the court granted an extension for his team to file their appeal.
Though Nigeria’s federal government is secular, sharia law operates alongside common law in 12 mostly Muslim northern states.