Foxcrawl

An $100,000 reward is offered for the capture of Iranian rapper Shahin Najafi who was sentenced to death in Iran after he recorded a song considered offensive to a Grand Ayatollah (scroll down for the song).

Najafi singing in farsi and lives in Germany. In a dialogue with German site Qantara, quoted by CNN, the rapper said the song “Ay Naghi” is not about a particular religious figure, but about the Iranian society in general.

Najafi was blamed that his song would insult a Shi’ite imam and according to the Islamic law such a crime is punished with death penalty (fatwa).

“Following the early May release of the song entitled “Naghi”, rap artist Shahin Najafi brought serious offences to Imam Ali al-Hadi (or otherwise known as Ali al-Naqi), the 10th of the 12 Shiite Imams. Therefore Najafi’s song is considered a blasphemy and in consequence he was sentenced to death by Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani,” writes Iran’s the official news agency, Fars.

Iranian rap musician Shahin Najafi convicted to death by Islamic law after he released song Ay Naghi in early May 2012

Golpayegani, aged 92, is a Grand Ayatollah, which is the third most important authority in Islam, after the prophets and imams. The sentence was imposed under Article 513 of the Criminal Code: “Whoever insults the great prophets, imams or Sadigheh Tahereh (Prophet’s daughter) must be executed”.

Najafi is seen as a “Salman Rushdie” of the music, writes The Guardian referring to the famous author of the “Satanic Verses”.

“I do not worry. I live in a country that has clear rules and hence I should not be afraid,” said Najafi.
After the Islamic clerics issued fatwa, Shahin Najafi was placed under German police’s protection and he is currently hiding in a secret location.

Video: Shahin Najafi – Naghi (English version translation)