By Abdulrazaq Magaji
God created man; He knows man has the propensity to cross the line by assuming powers of life and death over fellow humans. But God has also fashioned out ways of regulating society so that His creatures do not turn this beautiful world into a jungle. Yet many who claim to fight on behalf of God take pride in negating His injunctions. Take a look at this beautiful testimony by God in Qur’an chapter 3 verse 158: It was thanks to Allah’s mercy that you dealt so leniently with them. Had you been cruel and hard-hearted, they would have surely deserted you. Two chapters down, specifically Qur’an 5 verse 8, Allah commands: Do not allow your hatred for other men to turn you away from justice. It is instructive to note that the ‘you’ and ‘your’ in these verses refer to Prophet Muhammad, the last of God’s prophets whose acts and deeds Muslims are enjoined to uphold!
But the last time he spoke, Shekau claimed that God enjoins Muslims to show leniency had instructed him to disturb the sleep of young girls, take them into captivity and sell them in the open market. Contrary to Allah’s injunction that man eschews cruelty and hard-heartedness, Shekau made similar callous claims when his henchmen killed students in a federal-owned school, post-Nyanya bomb blast, after his lieutenants killed Zaria- based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Auwal Albani and some members of his family and after several similar dastardly acts committed. What, by the way, is Islamic in kidnapping young girls and forcefully converting them against clear Quranic injunctions that there be no compulsion in religion? When did kidnapping and forceful conversion of young girls become euphemism for leniency? Does bombing poor, struggling people at motor parks and market places amount to showing leniency to people whose soul you wish to win over? Is this Islam? Which Islam enjoins the slaughter Muslims and non-Muslims in their places of worship? What show of leniency is in burning towns and villages and killing every moving target, men and women, old and young including infants in the process?
While we search for answers, the recent twist to Boko Haram’s wrongheaded campaign has provoked the need to take another look at the warped demands of the group. On several occasions, Shekau has stated, with too much bile, that his group is an Islamic revival movement with the sole aim of converting all Nigerians to his brand of Islam. Were the literate among his lieutenants not too afraid to tell him, Shekau should know that Borno, his centre of operation, does not qualify to be referred to as predominantly Muslim considering the large number of non-Muslims indigenes of the state. Reference here is not to settlers but to non-Muslims with their ancestral homes in Borno. Without wishing to join in the polemics of its feasibility, it is necessary to point out that Shekau may claim more innocent lives but the idea of his being crowned Amir al Mumineen is mere illusion.
Boko Haram, two borrowed Hausa words (Boko, Book in English and Haram, Arabic for sinful) literally translates into Western Education is Sinful. It is an old phenomenon in northern Nigeria with its roots in British colonial rule. For obvious reasons, British indirect rule shielded Islam from undue exposure but in ensuring they succeeded in their colonial enterprise the British introduced western style education to provide the necessary work force they needed. It meant getting parents to send their children to schools that were usually run by Christian missionaries. Many parents saw this as a trap and kept their children away. Subsequently, western schools were reserved for children of the hoi polloi or as punishment for children of non conformist members of society. Five and half decades after independence, the perception of western schools as haram has inexplicably refused to die even with most schools being run directly by state governments.
But boko has come a long way; it is no longer the haram that was, in the past, forced down the throat of children of less privileged members of society. Indeed, it has now been turned into a haram which door has been slammed in the face of its original beneficiaries. By progressively excluding the less privileged from education, what we have succeeded in doing is to deny majority of community members the right to access education. This, coupled with the fact that successive governments in the north appear clueless in respect of provision of amenities means majority of the people are constantly being impoverished. There is a strong linkage between abject poverty in the north and the quick urge on the part of youths to embrace violence as a means of redressing wrongs. Little wonder that the north, especially since the Maitatsine insurgency of the early 1980’s has turned into a breeding ground for extremists.
Shekau and his followers may have one grouse or the other against society. Who doesn’t?! But, in line with the Shari’ah, they should press their case without depriving parents of their children or separating spouses from their partners. Certainly, killing school boys in their sleep, kidnapping school girls and selling them into slavery, bombing innocent people in market places and bus parks and burning down and looting whole communities signpost sick, hallucinatory minds. These are not acts expected of people who seek redress against injustice and who claim to defend Islam.
Abdulrazaq Magaji is based in Abuja and can be reached at magaji777@yahoo.com
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