Muslims in Nigeria welcome death sentence for Kano cleric

Most Muslim residents in Nigeria’s city of Kano have welcomed the sentencing of cleric Abdul Inyass for blaspheming Prophet Muhammad, according to reports.

Media reports indicate that residents said Abdul Inyass had committed a serious crime for which Islamic law prescribed the death penalty.

A Sharia court yesterday announced that it had sentenced Inyass to death by hanging.

Inyass belongs to the Sufi branch of Islam, that interprets some principles of the religion differently to the majority of Sunnis, who are in the majority in Kano.

He was reported to have said that “Niasse was bigger than Prophet Muhammad” during a lecture at an event in May 2015, leading to violent protests in the city.

Niasse (Ibrahima) was a major leader of the Tijānī Sufi order of Islam in West Africa.

Inyass had to go on the run after his house was burned down in August 2015 and was arrested in Abuja before being brought back to Kano for a secret trial.

He is expected to appeal against his sentence at the High Court.