Cologne-based rapper, Shahin Najafi, has gone into hiding after the Iranian government put a fatwa on his head along with a 60,000 pounds (about $93,000 U.S. dollars) reward for his death.
Najafi drew heat from the Shiite Muslims after publishing a song that appeared to make fun of a holy cleric of Islam.
Najafi rapped about a man who has been dead 1,143 years: the 10th imam, Ali al-Hadi al-Naqi, imploring in verse for the imam to return to modern-day Iran to sort out the regime there.
Things only got worse as Najafi further angered the hardcore Islamic rulers of Iran with a video that showed a mosque dome in the shape of a women’s breast.
Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani in the Iranian city of Qom criticized him and that has now translated into a contract on his head.
He is now under police protection in Germany at an undisclosed location.
Officials say the situation is ‘very serious’ and he has been forced to cancel a European tour.
Speaking from his hiding place to German news magazine Der Spiegel, Najafi said:
“At first I thought it was nonsense. I couldn’t believe it. Only when I saw the bounty on my head on the Internet did I truly understand that this was serious.”
Najafi escaped to the West in 2005 after being sentenced to three years in jail and 100 lashes for singing a song poking fun at Islamic beards, although he escaped before the sentence was carried out.
The song “Naqi: has turned Najafi into the most wanted rapper in hip-hop.
