Educational Philosophy of Boko-haram: Analysis from Islamic Perspective

The Nigerian armed forces are doing their utmost to crush the Boko-haram insurgency. However, killing and dislodging members of the group does not indicate total elimination of its ideology. The arguments of the movement against conventional education remain in circulation among people awaiting another generation to champion the course in a new identity. To eradicate the ideology and its influence, there is need for thorough intellectual and logical responses to those arguments. It is against this background that this paper Ulum Islamiyyah Journal | Vol.32, December 2020 56 sought to analyse the movement’s arguments that conventional education should be prohibited on the ground that it originated from the West and was introduced in the country to promote Christianity. The paper realized that this argument is unfounded because conventional education is not a western property, rather a global heritage comprising the remarkable contributions of the Muslim world. Moreover, Islam does not forbid Muslims to benefit from any useful knowledge irrespective of where it originates from as long as it does not contravene Islamic teachings. It also found that using schools for promoting Christianity is no more applicable to many public and private schools in Nigeria today. The paper encouraged Muslims to pursue the education to its highest level.


Introduction
With the advent of Islam in Nigeria, the Islamic scholarship was well established in the North, and the religion and its educational system spread to some parts of the South. The Islamic educational curriculum did not only incorporate spiritual and moral aspects, but also covered other areas of studies like economics social and pure sciences (Gada 2010, p. 47). However, with the arrival of British colonialists alongside Christian missionaries in 19 th century in the South and early 20 th century in the North, conventional education was introduced. The introduction was met with stiff resistance in the North due to the scepticism of the people who were predominantly Muslims, about the perceived Christianisation of the region by the missionaries through their schools. For a long time, the Muslim leaders in the North successfully resisted the intrusion of conventional education into the area, but they later allowed it with the condition that their religion and culture would not be interfered with (Muhammad 2010, p. 18).

While concerted efforts by different Muslim leaders and organisations for total
Islamisation of the newly introduced education are ongoing due to it obvious benefits, there exist in the country, a number of people who still maintain that conventional education is a taboo and those who adopt it are considered heretics. This individual ideology metamorphosed into the movement known as "Nigerian Taliban" under the leadership of Muhammad Ali and Abu Umar. The group was exterminated by the Nigerian forces in 2003 (Kyari 2014, p. 12). The appearance of Boko-haram to revive the ideas of the so-called "Nigerian Taliban" is a clear indication that the use of force alone, may play a very remarkable role in hibernating the ideology, but cannot completely eliminate it. The killing and dislodging of members of Boko-haram today do not imply that the deviant idea is dead. The cassettes, compact disks (CDs) and booklets carrying the arguments and ideologies of the movement remain in local circulations couple with the fact that members of the group are still alive, some in hiding and others in flaunting. It should also be noted that there exist a number of individuals who also harbour the same ideology but are not members of the group. With the passage of time, a new generation will come and will be influenced by these factors to champion the course and try to avert the mistakes of the past. Therefore, the Boko-haram challenge is more of ideological challenge than military one. To completely overcome it, there is need for intellectual and rational responses to the arguments raised by the movement to kick against conventional education.
The arguments raised by the group are multi-faceted. Some of which relate to the origin of the education and purpose of introducing it in the country, while others relate to its curriculum contents and the environment in which it is taught. In view of the fact that this paper cannot examine all the arguments, it attempted to critically analyse the first part of the arguments, which is the origin of the conventional education and purpose of introducing it in Nigeria, but before that, attempt would be made to give a brief account of Boko-haram movement and its ideology.

A Brief Account of Boko-Haram Movement and Ideology
The official name of the movement is "Jama'at Ahl al-Sunnah li al-Da'wahwa al-Jihad" meaning (The Group of the People of Sunnah for Preaching and Jihad), but people, and the media in particular, prefer to call it Boko-haram, in reference to one of its cardinal ideologies which prohibition of studying conventional education.
Boko in classical Hausa language means fake, deceit or deception. It is often used to connote "fake or deceitful bride" (amaryar boko). Such bride, mostly the bride's grandmother, was used in place of the real bride when being taken to her new home to make fun of the situation especially, when the groom gets to see who the bride is. Hence, the phrase "makarantar boko" in Hausa language means "fake or deceitful school" because at the initial stage, conventional schools were used to convert Muslims to Christianity (Muhammad 2010, pp. 46-47). While haram is Arabic word which means prohibited or forbidden (Baydoun 2001, p. 153). Therefore, "Boko-haram" technically means conventional education is forbidden.
As a movement, Boko-haram is a group of young Muslims, mostly from North Eastern Nigeria, who isolated themselves from the society and decided to fight the existing political and educational system of the country. Their main ideology is that since Islam and its laws are superior to all other laws and systems, and since Muslims have the Shari'ah which contains sufficient guidance for their religious, social, economic, political and educational systems, then it is forbidden for them, in whatever reason, to live under any system of governance other than the Shari'ah. Accepting any law or partaking in any political or administrative system that is man-made, such as democracy and secularism, is not only forbidden but also tantamount to kufr (disbelief). Furthermore, given that the conventional educational system which is functioning in Nigeria does not only serve the non-Islamic democratic system by producing people who are loyal to democracy and, having originated from the West and contained subjects, topics and concepts that are against the teachings of the Qur'an and Sunnah, then, according to them, it is haram (forbidden) (Lamido 2018, p. 7).
Boko-haram movement emerged early 21 st century as a peaceful movement calling the youth via public lectures and sermons to shun in existing conventional education, avoid participating in politics, public and civil services, and work towards ousting the entire Nigerian polity and replacing it with the Shari'ah (Lamido 2018, p. 7). After winning a number of youth who accepted its call, the group organized itself into a structured command with Muhammad Yusuf as the Commander-in-Chief otherwise known as the Amiral-Am. Each state command has its Amir or Commander, just as each Local Government Area has its own coordinator. At all the different levels, the followers constitute the subjects (Muhammad 2010, pp 44-45). Apart from the spiritual and educational engagements, they are equally structured to perform physical and military drills (Murtala 2013, pp. 19-20).

Major Arguments of Boko-Haram
Muhammad Yusuf emphatically articulates his movement's view and position on conventional education in a number of occasions. For example, in his debate with Shaykh Isa Ali Pantami, Yusuf defines conventional education as: "The body of knowledge that came to us through European colonialists which includes medicine, technology, geography, physics and others, including the English language" (Umara 2015, p. 17).
While in his debate with Malam Idris Abdul-Aziz, he clearly declares his position on the education saying, "Western education as taught in the kinds of schools we have in Nigeria is haram" (Adeyanju 2018, p. 4 O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones; over it are angels stern and strong, they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, and do as they are commanded (Qur'an 66:6).
He claims that taking one's children to conventional schools is tantamount to casting them in the Hellfire contrary to saving them from it as commanded by the verse .
As to the Hadith, he frequently quotes the Hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah that the noble Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) says: Every child is born innately submitting to Allah, it is his parents that change him to either a Jew or a Christian or a Pagan (Sahih al-Bukhari: Hadith No. 6926).
He asserts that one of the different means of changing the child from natural state on which he was created is enrolling him in the conventional schools.  Other two ahadith usually quoted by him are:

Position of Islam On Conventional Education
To Conventional education falls under mu'amalat, therefore, is halal (permissibility) except if proven haram (prohibited) by an explicit text of the Shari'ah. Thus, the task before the anti-bokos is to provide evidence for its prohibition. However, if anything in the contents and methods of conventional education contradicts the clear teachings of Islam and its objectives, that aspect of the content or methodology is prohibited, not the education as a whole.

Conventional Education: Western or Global?
There is no doubt about the fact that conventional education was introduced in Nigeria by  (Muhammad 2010, p. 54).
The so-called "conventional" or "secular" education is simply what has been re-packaged by the "West" after adding to what was received from the heritage of humanity throughout history in various parts of the globe, including that of the Islamic world. It is therefore not American, British, or European education, but a culmination of knowledge and legacies from ancient times till date, which can in reality be termed "global education" (Da'awa Institute of Nigeria 2017, p. xiii).

Does Non-Islamic Origin of Knowledge Render It Haram?
It is pertinent to note that Islam does not classify information or knowledge on the basis of its geographical location or cultural origin, but on the basis of its usefulness or otherwise, and whether it contradicts the Islamic primary sources of information, the Qur'an and when he wanted to write to the Jews I would write it to them, and when they wrote to him I would read their letters to him" (Sunan Abi Dawud,Hadith No. 3647).
The Jewish language is not different from English or any other European language considering the fact that they are of non-Islamic origin. In fact, this similarity applies to many languages today. If the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) would instruct his companion to learn the language of his most brutal enemies, learning other's languages is therefore permissible. It may even become obligatory in certain conditions. It will also be deduced from the Hadith that Zaid ibn Thabit definitely learnt it from non-Muslim, probably from the Jews themselves; because if a companion of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was good at the language at that point in time, he would have relied on him rather than instructing Zaid to learn it, or command Zaid to study it from that companion who knew it.
Another instance is what Ikrimah reported that Ibn Abbas said: Some of the prisoners on the day of Badr did not have any ransom, so the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) made it their ransom to teach the children of Ansar how to write. One day a boy came crying to his father, who said: what is the matter with you? He said: my teacher hit me. He said: the evil one is seeking vengeance for the people thrown into the well at Badr. By Allah, you will never go to him again (Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hambal, Hadith No. 2216).
This narration also indicates that Islam does not prohibit Muslims from learning and using knowledge that originates from non-Muslims and does not also prohibit learning from non-Muslim tutor because the Arab prisoners were Pagans.
Another narration from A'ishah reports that Allah's Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) accepted to be guided through the desert from Makkah to Madinah by Abdullah bin Uraiqit who was a pagan Arab but deeply knowledgeable about the terrain and directions in the desert (Mustadrak al-Hakim, Hadith No. 4282).
He also accepted an idea from Salman Al-Farisi that originated from a Persian military defence strategy. This was the idea of digging a trench or ditch (khandaq) which was used to protect the city of Madinah from the invading army of the Quraysh and their allies during the Battle of the Trench (Ibn Hajar 2 nd ed. 2002, vol. 7, p. 393).
These narrations, like the aforementioned, indicate that Islam does not prohibit Muslims from learning and using knowledge that originates from non-Muslims as long as it is useful and does not contravene any Qur'anic or Hadith text. However, this applies to knowledge that relate to mu'amalat, but as far as aqidah (creed) or ibadat (rituals) related knowledge is concerned, it must originate from Islamic reliable source(s) and be taught to Muslims by Muslims. This represents the opinion of most scholars.

With Change in Circumstance Comes Change in Fatwa
Certainly, when conventional education was introduced in Nigeria "it was Christian sponsored, and Christian missionary schools were established primarily to convert people to Christianity, the education was therefore seen as a threat to Islamic faith" (Fafunwa, 1975, 71). "This lent credence to the ulama's opposition against the newly introduced education at the initial stage" (Muhammad 2010, p. 18

The Qur'anic and Prophetic Texts
With regard to the Qur'anic verse cited by Muhammad Yusuf to justify his claim: Save yourself and your families from the Fire (Qur'an 66:6). Even if it is arguably accepted that the Ahadith are authentic, they are not indicating prohibition for studying conventional education because conventional education deals with mu'amalat not aqidah and ibadat which will not be taken except from authentic Islamic sources as explained above.

Conclusion and Recommendations
From the above discussion, it is clear that forbidding Muslims in Nigeria from studying conventional education based on its origin and purpose of introduction is baseless.
However, Muslim leaders, organisations and educationists should not relent in their efforts towards total Islamisation of the system in the country. Finally, in order to diligently combat the heretic ideology of Jama'ahAhl al-Sunnah li al-Da'wahwa al-Jihad and others with similar tendencies in the polity, the following recommendations are made: 1. Due to the close connection of the deviation of Boko-haram to religion, because they claimed to be Islamic movement, all eyes are on Muslim scholars and academics to emphasise the Shari'ah position on each and every issue raised by the group. These scholars and academics should therefore actively study all the elements of the ideology and, intellectually and logically address them.
2. Muslims in Nigeria, particularly the youth should be sensitized on this issue by positively utilizing all available means and platforms. The sensitization exercise should not neglect the rural areas where a good number of its inhabitants still harbour the misleading idea of prohibiting conventional education.
3. It is high time for religious organisations in Nigeria to begin to set out strict rules as to who speaks what in their names and block the free-to-air licence they accord to their young shall grow Tullab al-'Ilmwho remain the sole targets of radicalism as in the case of ill-indoctrinated Boko-haram members.
4. There should also be well designed uniform curriculum by the federal and state ministries of education for Islamiyyah schools run by individuals and organizations to ensure proper monitoring and evaluation.
5. Military force alone cannot eliminate ideological insurgencies such as Boko-haram, so there should be synergy between government and scholars to map out sound and well formulated intellectual counter-narratives to be circulated inform of books, pamphlets, sermons, radio and TV programs, jingles and documentaries to be made available in the public domains and educational institutions.