'Salman Rushdie of music' Iranian rapper faces death threats for 'blasphemous' song

Tehran, May 15 (ANI): A Germany-based Iranian singer is facing death threats and fatwas for releasing a 'blasphemous' rap song.

Shahin Najafi released a song with references to Ali al-Hadi al-Naqi, the tenth of the 12 Shia Muslim Imams, a religious figure highly respected by millions in Iran.

He has now become 'the Salman Rushdie of music' after clerics in Iran issued fatwas calling him an apostate, which is considered punishable by death under the country's sharia law, The Guardian reports.

According to the state-run media, Ayatollah Naser Makareme Shirazi, a pro-Iranian regime cleric, was the latest person to issue a fatwa in regards to Najafi.

"Any outrage against the infallible imams ... and obvious insult against them would make a Muslim an apostate," he said.

Najafi's song, called Naqi, is a chronology of events in the past year.

Najafi, 31, has rejected claims that he meant to insult people's religious beliefs, though the song criticises Iranian society, the report said. (ANI)