Aiman Jafri
Student, Study Hall School

In the Northeast Nigeria operates an Islamic Jihadist and Takfiri terrorist organization named Boko Haram. They seek to establish an Islamic state which is ruled by Sharia and repudiate westernisation. The group is known for attacking Christians, Muslims and government targets, as well as for bombing churches, mosques, schools and police stations. The group also kidnaps western tourists and has assassinated members of the Islamic establishment who have criticized the group. Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths between 2002 and 2013.Strangely, the same organization that caused the death of thousands condemns westernisation for causing criminal behavior.

On April 14, this organisation abducted about 250 girls of Government Secondary School in Chibok of Borno State, Nigeria. The students were forced into Islam and into marriage with members of Boko Haram. Some were reportedly send to Chad and Cameroon. Boko Haram spokesperson said ‘attacks would continue as long as Nigerian Government continues to interfere with traditional Islamic education’. Due to their militant activities, 10,000 children don’t attend school.

It is shameful that an organization seeking political gain turns to a religion in order to receive the attention it assumes it needs. These strands of events have sparked great ridicule and criticism on Islam. People are flooding the social networking sites with demands such as ban on Islam. There is an equally powerful opposition to comments like these. Amidst the mayhem of followers and haters of Islam, a question pops up. Why is it that in events like these, where an extremist – Islamic organisation commits crimes in the name of their religion, people automatically generalise ideas/faith/believes of the whole of Muslim population. It’s even more ridiculous that people have accepted an extremist organisation as a representative of Islam, even after constant opposition from religious heads themselves. For instance, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh joined other religious leaders in the Muslim world to condemn the kidnappings, describing Boko Haram as misguided and intent on smearing the name of Islam. He stated that Islam is against kidnapping, and that marrying kidnapped girls is not permitted. Just because some people do something in the name of Islam doesn’t mean they entirely represent the manners and culture of Islam. Every religious text can be interpreted to your world views if you try hard enough, and it is obvious that the majority of Muslims in the world will find Boko Haram as horrid as everyone else.
I leave it to you to decide whether it’s their ignorance talking or a religion.

Jyotika Misra
Student, Study Hall School

In April, 2014 we saw the horrific case of 234 Nigerian schoolgirls being abducted by an Islamist terror group. This incident garnered the attention of everyone across the world irrespective of their nationality, religion or race. It forced many to ask what actually an Islamist group is. Do these people who claim to propagate Islam even understand the religion? This group abducted innocent Nigerian girls in order to force the government to meet their demand of releasing their militants in return of providing freedom to their girls. But the question here is whether the method which they adopted is right and Islamic (as they mention it)? The initial inactiveness of the government on the whole issue is also something which gathered eyeball of everyone across the globe.

Boko Haram, the militant group which abducted the girls, claims to follow and preach Islam to such extent that its official name translated to English as ‘People committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s teachings and Jihad’. But this name is wholly inappropriate for such extremist group. The deeds of the members of Boko Haram which comprises of kidnapping, murdering is nowhere in line with what Prophet Mohammad taught the world. Islam is as peaceful as any other religion, whether it be Hinduism or Christianity. But it is due to these extremist groups that it is wrongly interpreted. One of the main principles of Islam states that no one should be a cause of anyone else’s grievances. Here, torturing or traumatizing anyone is considered as haram. But through this action of Boko Haram, hundreds of girls are into trouble and their families are in the worst state, awaiting the arrival of their loved ones. They don’t know in what state their daughters are? And whether they will ever come back to them? In a recent video released by this militant group we saw the Nigerian girls wearing hijab and reciting the namaz. This showed that they have been converted to Islam by the group. But this action is completely immoral and unethical. No person can force anyone to adopt a particular religion, this is what even the holy book states. The leader of the group in the same video states, that they have ‘liberated’ the girls by converting them to Islam. But is this liberation? By carrying out inhuman activities like abducting the girls, converting them to Islam, this group is rather imprisoning the girls and forcing them to slavery.

Boko Haram is a group which largely targets secular, western educational institutions as they think that these can be a threat to their religion. But in the process of doing so they are worsening the global scenario. There is no harm in being religious but the real problem arises when people become communal and extremist. The action of this militant group is in contradiction with what they claim to propagate. Instead of promoting Prophet Mohammad’s version of Islam they are bringing it into a bad light through its misinterpretations. Whether based on religious context or human interpretations, no value in the history of mankind justifies such brutal acts.

In order to avoid such situations firstly it’s important for such groups to understand the religion, its true meaning and the human values attached to it. And in order to avoid communal divide in the extreme situations like what Nigeria is facing, it is the duty of Muslims to deliver the real message of Islam to the world. At the same time it is also the duty of non-Muslims to understand the holistic situation before rushing to judge.

Manasvita
Student, Study Hall School

In northern Nigeria, Mohammad Yusuf founded a terrorist group ‘Boko Haram’ with the basic ideology of ‘Salafist Jihadism’ or ‘Islamic Fundamentalism‘. As their name suggests, they disapprove of westernization in Nigeria and want people to follow their diktats. They want Nigerians to follow their interpretation of Islam and their ideology of Jihad. They are infamous for their bombing and assassination of innocent people. They are intolerant to all the other religions except Islam and seek conversions by force. Any view point that questions their ideology is neither accepted nor tolerated. They are known for their cruelty and attacks on women, government officials, Christians and even Muslims. Women education particularly is considered sinful and unislamic. Science and technology is condemned as they believe that it is responsible for westernization of their culture.
On 14th April 2014, this group conducted a massive raid on ‘Chikbok School ‘in the states of Borno and abducted 276 girls. They had kidnapped a number of girls earlier also and some of them managed to escape from their clutches. One of the girls when personally interviewed revealed that they were being used as sex slaves and converted to Muslims. The leader of this group Abubakar Shekau demands the release of imprisoned Boko Haram fighters. Attempts are being made by human rights activist and a team of specialized soldiers from USA and UK to recover the missing girls. The UN officials have warned, the kidnappers can be arrested and persecuted under international law. Freedom and destiny of these abducted girls still depend upon the negotiation between the ‘Boko Haram ‘and the Nigerian government.
Clashes in Nigeria between Jihadists and Christians date back to the post independence era. The raging insurgency and ubiquitous bomb blasts and terrorist activities hunting Nigeria today are a result of different ideologies prevailing in the country. Recently the attacks have been more inhumane and deadlier in their approach. The abduction of nearly 300 girls in last one month has come to the world as a shock. Different forces from all over the world and human right activists are making efforts to bring back these girls. This action by Boko Haram solved dual purpose of increasing the Muslim population and spreading nationwide terrorism .they have continued to operate beyond control of the govt. and security forces. The violent uprisings can be called a result of bad governance and social injustice. The poor, uneducated and unemployed youth with impressionable minds were easily influenced and joined hands with them in the name of “Allah and Jihad”. It is only when the government understands their point of view; it can effectively tackle the situation. However, the Nigerian President’s approach to the problems seems impractical.
This abduction is yet another incidence that shows the helplessness and plight of women throughout the world. The terrorist group couldn’t have chosen a more vulnerable target for this purpose. Overpowering the young women of Nigeria was a very easy task for them. The world talks about women empowerment, equal rights and equal justice…. Is this approach by the Nigerian president acceptable?? Are these actions sufficient?? Are these girls suffering just because they were born as girls?? Where is the justice? Where is equality??… ITS LYING SOMEWHERE IN THOSE THOUSANDS OF NEWSPAPER REPORTS AND DEBATES ON WOMEN… we still need to fight. We still need to stand up for this cause before it’s too late .