The Discourse of the ʿUlamā’ on the Boko Haram Phenomenon in Northern Nigeria
Prior to the nominal suppression of the Boko Haram group and the subsequent killing of its founder, Muhammad Yusuf, in 2009, many Nigerians (including the majority of Muslims) knew very little about the extremist organization. Likewise, it was not widely known that some Muslim scholars, especially...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
International Institute of Islamic Thought
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | American Journal of Islam and Society |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/3075 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849686020529848320 |
|---|---|
| author | Ismail Hashim Abubakar |
| author_facet | Ismail Hashim Abubakar |
| author_sort | Ismail Hashim Abubakar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Prior to the nominal suppression of the Boko Haram group and the subsequent killing of its founder, Muhammad Yusuf, in 2009, many Nigerians (including the majority of Muslims) knew very little about the extremist organization. Likewise, it was not widely known that some Muslim scholars, especially mainstream Sunnis, had engaged the spiritual leaders of the group in an ideological dialogue a few years after its emergence. Yet, interested parties had sought to link Boko Haram’s militancy to the increasingly prominent, Salafi style of religious propagation. Fortunately, those attempts were nullified by the emergence of well-documented debates and dialogues advanced by Sunni scholars. This article presents the discourse of Nigerian scholars about Boko Haram’s ideology. In particular, it analyses a debate that took place between ‘Isa ‘Ali Pantami and Muhammad Yusuf. Using a video recording of the debate and key academic literature, this essay finds that a weak and misguided perception of the objectives of the Islamic Sharī’ah and the desire of undue fame, among other factors, are the main issues that led to the emergence, growth and militancy of the organization.
|
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-62fada2be6f74987aec0a7f1a75983e9 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2690-3733 2690-3741 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | International Institute of Islamic Thought |
| record_format | Article |
| series | American Journal of Islam and Society |
| spelling | doaj-art-62fada2be6f74987aec0a7f1a75983e92025-08-20T03:22:52ZengInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtAmerican Journal of Islam and Society2690-37332690-37412025-06-01421-210.35632/ajis.v42i1-2.3075The Discourse of the ʿUlamā’ on the Boko Haram Phenomenon in Northern NigeriaIsmail Hashim Abubakar0https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8119-3324Mohammed V University Prior to the nominal suppression of the Boko Haram group and the subsequent killing of its founder, Muhammad Yusuf, in 2009, many Nigerians (including the majority of Muslims) knew very little about the extremist organization. Likewise, it was not widely known that some Muslim scholars, especially mainstream Sunnis, had engaged the spiritual leaders of the group in an ideological dialogue a few years after its emergence. Yet, interested parties had sought to link Boko Haram’s militancy to the increasingly prominent, Salafi style of religious propagation. Fortunately, those attempts were nullified by the emergence of well-documented debates and dialogues advanced by Sunni scholars. This article presents the discourse of Nigerian scholars about Boko Haram’s ideology. In particular, it analyses a debate that took place between ‘Isa ‘Ali Pantami and Muhammad Yusuf. Using a video recording of the debate and key academic literature, this essay finds that a weak and misguided perception of the objectives of the Islamic Sharī’ah and the desire of undue fame, among other factors, are the main issues that led to the emergence, growth and militancy of the organization. https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/3075Boko HaramextremismMuhammad Yusuf‘Isa ‘Ali PantamiNigeria |
| spellingShingle | Ismail Hashim Abubakar The Discourse of the ʿUlamā’ on the Boko Haram Phenomenon in Northern Nigeria American Journal of Islam and Society Boko Haram extremism Muhammad Yusuf ‘Isa ‘Ali Pantami Nigeria |
| title | The Discourse of the ʿUlamā’ on the Boko Haram Phenomenon in Northern Nigeria |
| title_full | The Discourse of the ʿUlamā’ on the Boko Haram Phenomenon in Northern Nigeria |
| title_fullStr | The Discourse of the ʿUlamā’ on the Boko Haram Phenomenon in Northern Nigeria |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Discourse of the ʿUlamā’ on the Boko Haram Phenomenon in Northern Nigeria |
| title_short | The Discourse of the ʿUlamā’ on the Boko Haram Phenomenon in Northern Nigeria |
| title_sort | discourse of the ʿulama on the boko haram phenomenon in northern nigeria |
| topic | Boko Haram extremism Muhammad Yusuf ‘Isa ‘Ali Pantami Nigeria |
| url | https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/3075 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ismailhashimabubakar thediscourseoftheʿulamaonthebokoharamphenomenoninnorthernnigeria AT ismailhashimabubakar discourseoftheʿulamaonthebokoharamphenomenoninnorthernnigeria |