Boko Haram, Nigeria’s Radical Islamic Group:
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation is roughly equally divided between Christians and Muslims and more than 200 ethnic groups which generally coexist peacefully. The stricter enforcement of Sharia however, in 12 of Nigeria's 36 states in 2000 alienated a sizeable Christian population in the north and sparked clashes which killed thousands.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation is roughly equally divided between Christians and Muslims and more than 200 ethnic groups which generally coexist peacefully. The stricter enforcement of Sharia however, in 12 of Nigeria's 36 states in 2000 alienated a sizeable Christian population in the north and sparked clashes which killed thousands.
Recently Violence erupted in the Bauchi state, one of Nigeria’s 12 states enforcing Islamic law. The possible trigger was arrests of the members of a radical Islamic group, Boko Haram, on suspicion of plotting an attack against a police station. Unrest quickly spread to other cities across northern Nigeria. The leader of the sect, Mohammed Yusuf, blamed for days of deadly violence in Nigeria was killed in police custody last week.
The group was founded in 2002 in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, by Mohammed Yusuf, a religious teacher. In 2004, it moved to Kanamma in Yobe state, close to the border with Niger, where it set up a base dubbed "Afghanistan", from which it attacked nearby police outposts. Since the group emerged in 2004, they have become known as "Taliban", although they appear to have no links to the Taliban in Afghanistan; though some analysts believe they took inspiration from the radical Afghans. Boko Haram means "Western education is a sin" and is another title used by local people to refer to the group.
The mission of the group is quite straight forward, to overthrow the Nigerian state, impose an extreme interpretation of Islamic law and abolish what they term as "Western-style education and culture". Touting the belief that western education "spoils the belief in one God", the group asserts, among other things, their rejection of Darwinism, the world being sphere and rain resulting from a process of evaporation, which, they believe, is opposed to the religious belief of it being a creation of God.
Boko Haram's members are largely drawn from disaffected youth -university students and jobless graduates among them. Yusuf, the deceased leader of the group was something of an enigma; believed to be in his mid-thirties, he was extremely wealthy and highly educated. In the case of “Boko Haram” there is no alleged link between Quranic schools— i.e., madrasas—and militancy. The members of these groups have been educated in secular schools and universities in Nigeria. However, reportedly the group members burned their degrees and argued that it is in Islamic learning that there is true salvation.
The crack down on the group and allegedly many innocent bystanders in the north has been highly criticized. BBC News Website Africa Editor Joseph Winter says Nigeria's security forces have a terrible reputation for brutality and human rights groups accuse them of frequent extra-judicial killings. More than 100 people were killed as a wave of unrest spread through the north in the wake of the police action. No-one seems to know just how big a threat the so-called Taliban pose, how big their membership is, or what their next move could be.
Discussion Questions:
§ The reports regarding Boko Haram’s activities don’t depict a focus on the Islamist vs. infidels’ stance; rather the attacks, including the recent incident, are directed more towards the state system and the government. To what degree does this reflect a trend towards reverting to ideology as a defense against a dysfunctional state system?
§ Considering the Nigerian state’s deplorable record on human rights violations, in the wake of the questionable circumstances of Muhammad Yusuf’s assassination and the brutal crackdown on populations in the north, to what extent is the state accountable for perpetuating the crisis?
§ Speculations regarding international financing and the cooption of these local factions in international radical networks such as Al-Qaeda are already rampant. What is the likelihood of these probable developments and could they possibly be curbed?
§ The reports regarding Boko Haram’s activities don’t depict a focus on the Islamist vs. infidels’ stance; rather the attacks, including the recent incident, are directed more towards the state system and the government. To what degree does this reflect a trend towards reverting to ideology as a defense against a dysfunctional state system?
§ Considering the Nigerian state’s deplorable record on human rights violations, in the wake of the questionable circumstances of Muhammad Yusuf’s assassination and the brutal crackdown on populations in the north, to what extent is the state accountable for perpetuating the crisis?
§ Speculations regarding international financing and the cooption of these local factions in international radical networks such as Al-Qaeda are already rampant. What is the likelihood of these probable developments and could they possibly be curbed?
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Business and Politics in the Muslim World (BPM)refers to the project entitled, "Globalized Business and Politics: A View from the Muslim World.' This project has been undertaken and developed by the Gilani Research Foundation as a free resource and social discussion tool.
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