Wikipedia Reference Boko Haram Ideology Boko Haram was founded as an indigenous group, turning itself into a Jihadist group in 2009. It proposes that interaction with the Western world is forbidden, and also supports opposition to the Muslim establishment and the government of Nigeria. The members of the group do not interact with the local Muslim population and have carried out assassinations in the past of anyone who criticises it, including Muslim clerics. In a 2009 BBC interview, Mohammed Yusuf, then leader of the group, stated his belief that the fact of a spherical Earth is contrary to Islamic teaching and should be rejected, along with Darwinian evolution and the fact of rain originating from water evaporated by the sun. Before his death, Yusuf reiterated the groups objective of changing the current education system and rejecting democracy. Nigerian academic Hussain Zakaria told BBC News that the controversial cleric had a graduate education, spoke proficient English, lived a lavish lifestyle and drove a Mercedes-Benz. In the wake of the 2009 crackdown on its members and its subsequent reemergence, the growing frequency and geographical range of attacks attributed to Boko Haram have led some political and religious leaders in the north to the conclusion that the group has now expanded beyond its original religious composition to include not only Islamic militants, but criminal elements and disgruntled politicians as well. For instance Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima said of Boko Haram: “[they have] become a franchise that anyone can buy into. Its something like a Bermuda Triangle.” The group has also forcibly converted non-Muslims to Islam. Dr Ahmad Murtada of the Islamic Studies Department, University of Bayero, Kano has noted in his research into Mohammed Yusuf and Boko Haram that the core principles of the group are: an emphasis on Hakimiyyah [sovereignty to Gods law]; a belief that they are the Saved Sect mentioned in the Prophetic Tradition of Islam; prohibiting studying in Western educational centres of learning as they consider them to be based on non-Islamic traditions and colonialism, they thus criticise Saudi Arabia for its usage of Western educational methods; prohibiting working in any governmental institution or civil service role; a contorted interpretation of the edicts of scholars from the classical tradition such as Ibn Taymiyyah to support their rebellions and use of violence; post-2009 a close relationship with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and further incorporation into the global Jihadi and Takfiri worldview. Boko Haram have thus been widely rejected and repudiated by many adherents of the Salafi tradition in Nigeria.
Posted on: Wed, 07 May 2014 02:05:57 +0000
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