Sheik Gumi condemns Deborah’s lynching in Sokoto, says Muhammad never killed

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has condemned the killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto over alleged blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.

Deboah, a second-year student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, was on Thursday, May 12, killed and her body burnt by some irate youths for blaspheming Prophet Mohammad on social media.

But Gumi, a controversial Islamic cleric leader, condemned the act and said that even Muhammad did not in his lifetime attack those who insulted and blasphemed him.

PRNigeria reported Gumi as saying this during his religious teaching class in his Kaduna Juma’at mosque.

Gumi argued that if Prophet Muhammad did not kill nor attack his transducers and those who blasphemed him while alive, those killing for the same offence lacked justification for their actions.

In a video clip obtained and translated by PRNigeria Gumi said, “If we think by killing Deborah, people who are not of the same faith with us will stop insulting our prophet, then we are in delusion,” PRNigeria quoted him as saying.

He said instead of killing for blasphemy, Muslims must live in a manner that shows the beauty of their religion by coexisting with non-Muslims and proving how beautiful the Prophet lived by adhering to his teachings on how to live peacefully with others.

Furthee condemning the resort to extra-judicial killings, the cleric maintained that Nigeria is a secular state and religious law cannot be used in countries like Nigeria.

“Hence, anyone who kills a non-Muslim who they have agreed to live peacefully with, will not smell the fragrance of Paradise for 40 years,” he said.

Gumi implored other Islamic religious leaders to ensure reorientation of their students and followers, saying they must refrain from instigating their followers to carry out heinous acts.