A top Indian Muslim cleric has played a key role in the postponement of the execution of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya in Yemen's capital, Sana'a.
Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, the Grand Mufti of India, reached out to prominent Yemeni scholar Sheikh Umar bin Hafiz, urging him to intervene with the family of Talal Abdol Mehdi, the Yemeni man Priya was convicted of killing.
Nimisha Priya, a 37-year-old nurse from Kerala, was sentenced to death in Yemen. Her legal team maintains the killing was accidental and happened during a time of abuse and distress.
After the Grand Mufti's request, Sheikh Umar sent his students to talk to the victim's family. After several rounds of talks, the family agreed to pause the execution for four hours, giving Priya's legal team more time to act.
The title Grand Mufti of India refers to a senior Islamic legal authority, often regarded as the highest-ranking among Islamic scholars in the country. Unlike in some Muslim-majority nations where such titles are granted by the state, in India, the designation is honorary and not officially recognised by the government.
Sheikh Abubakr was officially conferred the title in February 2019 by the All India Tanzeem Ulama-e-Islam during a gathering at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan. He is recognised as the 10th individual to hold this title, particularly within the Sunni (Barelvi) Muslim community.
In Islamic tradition, a "Mufti" is a scholar qualified to issue legal opinions under Sharia law.
Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, also known as Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar, is based in Kerala, the same state as Nimisha Priya, and is a respected religious leader in India and South Asia.
Born in Kozhikode, Kerala, he serves on various Islamic scholars' councils at the state and national level and is frequently invited abroad for religious lectures and conferences, especially in the Gulf and Southeast Asia.
He also leads the Markaz Knowledge City, a large educational and cultural township in Kozhikode that houses medical and law colleges, and a cultural centre.
As the Grand Mufti, he offers fatwas (Islamic legal opinions) and guides on religious and social matters, particularly within the Barelvi school of Sunni Islam.
Over the years, Sheikh Abubakr has courted controversy for some of his statements. During the 2019-20 protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), he advised women not to participate in street demonstrations, saying, "Men will take care of it".
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