Why I won’t pray for the late Actor, Murphy Afolabi even in death — Cleric

Why I won’t pray for the late Actor, Murphy Afolabi even in death — Cleric

An Islamic cleric, Sheikh Yelma’e, has explained why he won’t be praying for the departed soul of popular actor, Murphy Afolabi, days after the actor was buried.

It would be recalled that many Nigerians and top Nollywood stars grieved recently on social media when the news of the sudden death of the actor hit the internet few days back.

The Osun-born actor died at the age of 49 and had been buried at his home in Ikorodu, Lagos.

But while reacting to the late Afolabi’s death, Sheikh Yelma’e vowed never to pray for his departed soul, saying the actor mostly used his roles in movies to promote actions that are against the Islamic religion.

According to The PUNCH, the cleric, in a video clip posted on YouTube and reposted by @mufasatundeednut on Instagram on Thursday, said he would never pray for Afolabi because he usually acted as herbalist, among other roles forbidden in Islam.

Noting that there was a need for religious teachers and students to start reflecting on the portrayal of actions against Islamic teachings, the cleric said praying for Afolabi’s departed soul especially when most of his roles in films contravened Islamic practice would amount to hypocrisy.

He said, “What we posted yesterday was that we cannot pray for (late) Murphy Afolabi because in the movies he usually acts, and particularly Yoruba movies, it has a lot of forbidden things including traditional sacrifices and it is rare for the actors not to be involved in such traditional sacrifices.

“They might be acting that way with the thinking that they are joking but anything that has to do with Almighty Allah should not be joked with. Acting like herbalist, witch, or wizard, is against Islamic teachings and Islam is against such actions.

“What will make a Muslim start using what nonbelievers do to make people laugh? It is common in Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo films, but mostly in Yoruba films. I feel it is time for religious teachers and students to start looking into these issues.

“When any of these actors with a Muslim name acts like herbalist in Yoruba movies and later dies, it becomes hypocritical for people to expect us to pray for them. As for Murphy Afolabi, I won’t pray for him, and neither will I curse him because he might not know.”