An Islamic diagnosis of cases of blasphemy-related mob justice in Nigeria between 1999 and 2022

Abstract

Blasphemy-related mob justice is an infamous crime in Nigeria --though not peculiar to it-- that has claimed many lives illegally with huge accompanying economic loss and damages. Outside varying negative social consequences of this menace, its attempt to imprint a barbaric outlook on the unmatchable civilization of Islam and its decorous values in social interactions and justice administration is particularly perturbing. Between 1999 and 2022, at least nineteen (19) cases of blasphemy-related mob justice have been unofficially recorded. This paper aims to employ an Islamically oriented tool, the Islamic Evaluation Scale (IES), to holistically diagnose the problem and identify the underlying edu-philosophical factors propelling the crime. The result of the study establishes deficient Islamic Philosophical Productivity (IPP) as the primal aggregate factor that reflects in other detailed underlying five (5) factors. The findings are, thus, expected to contribute to the development of in-depth and effective sharī’ah-compliant interventions to address the crime.