Askia Nasiru Kabara, younger  brother of Kano State-based Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara, who was sentenced to death by a Sharia court for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Mohammed.

Askia tells TED ODOGWU that the cleric’s trial and sentencing was politically-motivated

What is your name and relationship with Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru Kabara, who was recently sentenced to death for blasphemy by a Sharia court in Kano?

My name is Askia Nasiru Kabara. Sheikh Abduljabbar is my elder brother, same father and same mother. My late father had four wives and 35 children.

Were you shocked about the judgment of the Sharia court, sentencing your brother to death or did you see it coming?

I was not shocked when I heard about the judgment because that is what we had since been expecting from the Kano State Government. The case, from inception, is injustice and I also know that the state government had a hidden agenda, which it wanted to achieve. That was why I was not shocked when I heard about the judgment because the governor, from the onset, had interest in the case.

Were you in court when the judgment was pronounced? What was your immediate reaction?

I was not in court when the judgment was given. I got the information from people, who started calling me shortly after the judgment. I left everything in the hands of the Almighty God and I keep praying. I am confident that the Almighty Father, is hearing my prayers and Isha Allah (by the grace of God) at the end of the day, Abduljabaar will be freed, since I know and have confirmed that he is innocent of the charges of blasphemy pressed against him.

Can you tell us what actually led to the court case?

This issue is surely politically-motivated. There were several hands involved. It came from different angles, where Sheikh Abduljabbar had enemies. It started from my immediate family, specifically my elder brother, Karibullah Nasir Kabara. He was the one who assembled other scholars to blackmail Sheikh Abduljabbar and formed a group called Maja. Subsequently, they went to the Abdullahi Umar Ganduje-led state government, which also has interest in this issue, and they started manipulating and planning how they would deal with Sheikh Abduljabbar.

From the beginning, I knew their plan and what they wanted to achieve, which they have now achieved through the Sharia court. However, by the grace of God, as the judgment has been appealed, Sheikh Abduljabbar will be freed!

Prior to the judgment, was Sheikh Abduljabbar on bail or was he in detention?

From the time he was captured, the authorities denied him his fundamental human rights. To us, there is nothing like blasphemy in this matter. It is a matter of interpretation, which he has a right to teach, to preach, to think, as provided for by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The entire issue borders on interpretation of Prophet Mohammed’s tradition. The issue is not related to blasphemy. Rather, Sheikh Abduljabbar is protecting the good image and teachings of Prophet Mohammed but his teaching was turned upside down because they wanted to achieve their hidden agenda. The issue of blasphemy is absolutely false; that is the truth.

You alleged that the case was politically motivated and that the state government had a hidden agenda it set out to achieve. Did Sheikh Abduljabbar, at any time, have a clash with the governor?

They have a personal grudge against Sheikh Abduljabbar. Our blood brother, Karibullah, especially had a grudge with Sheikh Abduljabbar.

There was a time the court assigned a lawyer to defend Sheikh Abduljabbar,  as he had no lawyer to defend him. The lawyer provided by the state government confessed before the media that Karibullah was behind the case.  Everybody is aware of what the lawyer said. So, that is the issue.

How is your family handling this situation?

As I earlier said, we, the family members, have left everything in the hands of God; we have been praying and we believe that at the end of the day, our Almighty God will intervene for Sheikh Abduljabbar to regain his freedom. Meanwhile, we are making efforts to appeal the judgment.

What about your parents?

Both our father and mother are no more.

Can you tell us about Sheikh Abduljabbar’s immediate family and how they are currently coping with the situation?

He has only one wife with 10 children, aged two, four, six and eight. To date, only his first daughter is married. One of his daughters is currently a student at Skyline University, Kano.

Have you or any of his disciples been able see him after the judgment?

Only us, the immediate family members, have seen him. My elder brother, Sheikh Musal Kasiyuni Nasir Kabara, and I were able to visit him twice. His son also often visits him. These are the only people allowed to visit him.

Did he tell you how he is being treated in detention?

The prison officials are treating him well and he is healthy. He has no problem in detention. He feels relaxed in prison.

Sheikh Abduljabbar said he would be dying as a hero. Why is he not remorseful about the issue of death sentence passed on him?

Can one apologise or be sorry for a sin he did not commit? He did not, in any way, commit blasphemy. One can only apologise if he did something wrong but he did not commit what they  accused him of. He did not in any way commit blasphemy.

Why did he not settle with the people he offended before the issue became a court matter?

If they are claiming that he blasphemed Prophet Mohammed, then they should leave him to apologise to the Almighty God and not the government. The issue in totality is false, it’s not true! It was purportedly put together to satisfy the interest of some people. We know our brother Karibullah and some clerics, who have different ideologies from him, alongside Ganduje himself. Do you know the issue of the dollar clip? Ganduje at that time, invited Sheikh Abduljabbar to condemn the act, promising to reward him but Sheikh Abdulljabbar declined the offer. That signaled the beginning of his fallout with Ganduje. Secondly, when the issue of election cropped up in 2019, the year of inconclusive election, Sheikh Abduljabbar spoke out and said the election should not be truncated in order for our state to enjoy peace and harmony. Sheikh Abduljabbar’s appeal did not go down well with Ganduje. The truth is that the issue is politically-motivated, which started as a family crisis between him and Karibullah. We know our brother and we know his intention. Even me, I don’t feel safe. We are aware of everything but we have left everything in the hands of God.

Will you describe Sheikh Abduljabbar as a stubborn person?

To those who do not know Sheikh Abduljabbar, he may appear like someone who is arrogant. However, if you are close to him, you will discover that he is pursuing a cause, which is related to the Qur’an that originated from the Holy Prophet. He does not have his own personal view. That is why in his preaching/teaching, one can find that youths are following him. I can confidently say without fear of contradiction that in the entire country no other Islamic cleric has the kind of large following that Sheikh Abduljabbar has. That is the basic truth because of his unique style of preaching, teaching. He can back a single preaching up with 50 references from different books. Even what they are claiming was blasphemy, he presented more than 150 references to support his teaching. The word they claimed was blasphemous of the Holy Prophet, regarding his marriage to Safiyyah by force, was something he quoted from different books.  But because they needed to nail him, they abandoned all the references. In addition, there was an audio clip, where government and its agents edited his teachings and came up with a few-minute clip, which they used as a basis that he blasphemed the Holy Prophet. The clip was edited.  That was what they did but Sheikh Abduljabbar presented a certified authentic copy of his teaching audio clips to the court but the court failed to admit it.

If peradventure, Sheikh Abduljabbar is killed, what will happen to his mosque and followers?

I don’t know; only God knows what tomorrow holds in stock. What I know is that killing cannot stop his ideology. That is what history recorded. If killing can stop the ideology of a person, Salafi Wahabi’s (Izala) ideology would not have survived until this time. Ibn Tamiyyah was killed in prison over 700 years ago but see how his ideology is still spreading, with the support of Saudia. Sheikh Abdulhabbar has a different ideology; he is very versatile; they cannot treat him this way. Killing Abduljabbar cannot stop his ideology, his teaching, it cannot stop anything. So, totally, this is very wrong. This government is doing things which cannot be substantiated. If it is a credible and realistic government, they cannot treat people this way because we want to live in peace in this country. Why does the government often come up with some issues, which provoke people to anger? So, I don’t think that killing Abduljabbar can be a solution and this cannot stop his teaching; that is the truth. If they eventually collect the mosque, can they cage his ideology? Can they reverse the mindset of his followers? They just cannot! The mosque is just a structure; his teaching will remain in the minds of his followers forever.

My message to the government is to ensure that justice prevails because the government knows what the real issue of the case is. What are the reasons behind the case? It is injustice and injustice cannot lead to peace and stability. So, I am calling the attention of the Federal Government, great personalities and international human rights organisations to intervene in the issue, so that justice can prevail for peace and stability of our great nation and humanity in general.

(culled from Punch)