Justice for Susan Magara Must Not Become Collective Blame Against Muslims

The recent High Court of Uganda judgment convicting nine people for the kidnapping and murder of Susan Magara has reignited public discussion on the barbaric crime. The court found the accused guilty of kidnapping Magara for ransom and subsequently killing her. The article unequivocally condemns the crime, stating it offended Ugandan law, human conscience, and fundamental Islamic principles.

“

And do not take a life which Allah has made sacred, except with legal right.

It extends sympathies to Magara's family, emphasizing that no family should endure such suffering. The author stresses that nothing said should minimize the crime, excuse the perpetrators, or interfere with legal appeals. Crucially, the piece asserts that Islam offers no sanctuary for murderers, citing the Quranic command against taking a life unjustly.

“

Kidnapping a person, demanding money for her release, mutilating her body and eventually killing her cannot be transformed into an Islamic act by attaching a Qur'anic verse to it.

The article draws a clear distinction between criminal ransom and Islamic concepts like 'fidya' or redemption. It explains that criminal ransom is extortion by a wrongdoer, which cannot be legitimized by religious invocation. Islamic jurisprudence differentiates the source, purpose, and authority of payments, with 'fidya' used in regulated settings like providing food for the needy or in specific pilgrimage contexts, as mentioned in Quran 2:184 and 2:196.

“

A criminal ransom is money or another benefit demanded by a wrongdoer who has unlawfully seized or detained an innocent person.

Furthermore, the text clarifies that 'fidya' in the context of captives after armed conflict (Quran 47:4) operates under the authority governing war and peace, and does not permit private citizens to abduct innocents for profit. Redemption in a broader Islamic moral sense, such as freeing a slave (Quran 90:13), is about liberation from oppression, not creating captivity for personal gain. The article concludes that these Islamic concepts do not authorize private individuals to commit such grave crimes.

“

Fidya, by contrast, carries the sense of giving something in substitution or for release and is used in the Qur'an in regulated and morally legitimate settings.