Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has thrown his weight behind the presidential pardon earlier granted to Maryam Sanda, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 2020 for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, describing it as an act of mercy consistent with Islamic principles.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had initially granted Sanda a state pardon alongside 174 other convicts, including individuals convicted of drug trafficking, kidnapping, and fraud. The decision triggered widespread outrage across the country, prompting the president to revoke the pardon.
However, Sanda’s death sentence was later commuted to 12 years imprisonment on what the presidency described as “compassionate grounds in the interest of the children.”
Reacting to the development in a Facebook post on Thursday, Sheikh Gumi said Sanda’s actions and subsequent remorse were evidence that the tragedy was influenced by the devil, not premeditated intent.
“They said she stabbed him, then broke down crying over his body. Do you understand? That is the work of Shaytan,” he wrote.
“So, when she was pardoned, people began to speak without knowledge. They do not understand the ruling of forgiveness in Islamic law.”
The cleric said that the forgiveness offered by the victim’s family was both lawful and spiritually virtuous.
“The family of the deceased said, ‘We have forgiven her.’ May Allah protect us all. Ameen,” Gumi stated.
He further emphasised that Islam values mercy over vengeance, stressing that the act of forgiveness was in line with divine teachings.
“In Islam, when the family of the victim forgives, it is not a weakness, it is mercy. And mercy is more beloved to Allah than vengeance,” he wrote.
“Maryam Sanda’s execution would not have been the right solution. The presidential pardon she received was the correct one. In Islam, justice is not driven by anger but by balance and compassion.”
Gumi’s defense came amid widespread debate over the moral and legal justification for Sanda’s pardon, which many Nigerians have described as a betrayal of justice. The cleric’s remarks, however, reframed the conversation within a religious and ethical context, urging the public to view forgiveness as a higher moral virtue.
