The Madina General Court has refused to review its death verdict for a black magician and to offer him a “chance to repent” as ordered by the Cassation Court in Makkah. There was no way to verify that his “repentance” would be sincere, the General Court said in its objection statement. The 46-year-old Lebanese man, identified as Ali Hussein Subat, would put on a “show of repentance” only to escape death, the statement added. All the man's actions of black magic have caused him to “completely revert” from Islam. He has become an “infidel” who deserves death, the general court stated. The three-judge panel that handed down the death verdict said that the Shariah-approved sentence of death for the magician was for committing a serious social crime other than murder. This capital punishment would deter many from practicing black magic in the country amid an increasing number of foreign magicians, the statement added. “The practice of magic is one of the most corrupt actions ever, requiring the help of Satan and is one type of kuffur (turning away in arrogance from Allah).” Subat had appeared regularly on satellite television programs promoting sorcery. The Madina General Court delivered its death verdict of the magician, who was publicly known as a “Scheherazade Magician” for being a regular guest on a magic show of the Scheherazade satellite channel. Subat was arrested at a Madina hotel in May 2008 and was then found in possession of “talismans and herbal medicines used as magic materials”, according to the authorities. The Cassation Court is now in possession of the case file.
