An Iranian Shia man will get 150 lashes after he was convicted by a Saudi court of insulting a late Muslim Caliph who was one of the closest companions of Prophet Mohammed (pbuh), a local daily said on Wednesday.
The Iranian was visiting the central town of Madinah, the second holiest shrine in Islam after Makkah, when he stopped in front of Abu Bakr Al Sidddiq’s grave, Kabar online Arabic language paper reported.
“The Iranian, who is Shia, took off his shoe and started waving it in front of the grave…he then began to curse late Abu Bakr Al Siddiq,” it said.
Judge Sheikh Fayez Al Suhaimi, a Saudi Sunni, sentenced the unidentified Iranian to 150 lashes and four months in prison, it said.
Abu Bakr As-Siddiq was also the Prophet’s father-in-law. Upon Mohammed's death, he became the first Muslim ruler (632–634), regarded in Sunni Islam as the first of the Rashidin (righteously guided Caliphs.
In Shia Islam, Abu Bakr is, however, regarded as a usurper on the grounds the Prophet’s cousin, Imam Ali bin Abi Taleb, was the righteous successor.
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