Boko Haram The Greated security treat in Nigeria

International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) Volume 2, No. 2, February 2013 ISSN: 2319-4421 Boko Haram: The Greatest Security Threat to the Sovereignty of Nigeria Abdulmajeed Hassan Bello, Ph. D, Department of Religious and Cultural Studies, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria ABSTRACT The greatest security threat to the sovereignty of Nigeria today is the Boko Haram insurgency. The terrorist have carried their campaign of terror up to the police force headquarters. These developments led to the belief in many circles that Islam and terrorism are synonymous. The paper in its attempt to capture the issue of National security in Islam describes the Qur’anic schools that intend to produce self-disciplined citizens socially integrated in their community. The Qur’anic education is not an activity separated from other aspects of society. Success was of course, important, but failure did not turn the individual into a useless burden on society. It was the British administration that labeled the system of education they brought as Western education, while the other one was identified as religious education. Thus in attempt to resist the cultural invasion Muslim leaders clustered around the Qur’anic schools, this explains the reason why the vast majority of Muslims remained hostile to western education. The paper however, holds that ‘fasa’d’ used in the Qur’an is very comprehensive in its context. Thus Islam does not only condemn ‘fasa’d’ in all forms, but prescribes appropriate punishments for all acts of terrorism. The paper concludes that ‘terrorism’ applies to acts of terror, attempts to cause bomb explosions, etc. and to all excess restrictive and punitive measures taken by a government to suppress oppositions as well. Islam does not provide any cover or justification for acts of terrorism, be it committed by an individual, a group or a government. Keywords Almanjirai, Boko Haram, fundamentalism, Jihad and Qur’anic schools. 2012: xiii). A spate of attacks against Churches and continued to target Muslim figures who opposed it. The mounting toll of victims included the brother of the Shehu of Borno, the traditional ruler of the Kanuri people of northeastern Nigeria, southeastern Niger, western Chad, and northern Cameroon; Ibrahim Ahmad Abdullahi Bolori, a prominent Maiduguri cleric who had criticized Boko Haram; and Ibrahim Birkuti, a cleric in southern Borno State who was also well known for his criticisms of the sect (J. Peter Pham, 2012: 5). The group thus constitutes a wider threat to the political, economic, and security interests in Africa. All these incidents suggest a strategy of provocation, through which the group seeks to spark a large scale sectarian conflict that will destabilize the country. It is not enough to crush the sectarian uprising by force of arms but to understand their criminal nature, their irrelevance to the contemporary Nigeria (Alexander Ekemenah, 2011:8). We must understand the social and economic conditions that brought them into existence in the first place and the forces that shape their worldviews, what sustains them, the essence of their demands, what should be the role of the state in such situations and Islam’s response to the terrorism. Because defeating terrorist requires not just military victories but war of ideas. This war of ideas needs, an understanding of the terrorist worldview and ideology before effective countermeasures can be determined. This paper is an attempt to examine the socioeconomic, political and inter-religious context in which the wave of terror carryout by Boko Haram emerged and evolved. WHY MUSLIMS ATTACHED IMPORTANCE TO THE QUR’ANIC SCHOOLS? INTRODUCTION The Islamic sect Boko Haram has been a security challenge to Nigeria since at least 2009, but the group has expanded its terrorist attacks to include international targets such as the United Nations building in Abuja in August 2011. Their attack capabilities have become more sophisticated, and there are indications that members of the group may have received training in bomb-making and other terrorist tactics from al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in the north and/or east of the continent (James J. F. Forest, Because of the importance attached to the teaching of the Holy Qur’an in any Muslim community, many Qur’anic schools were established before the British role in houses, mosques and some public places. The establishment of such schools was not the responsibility of the government of the day or local authority but was a communal responsibility. Thus Muslims in Nigeria regarded the setting up of such schools as obligatory, and believed that any person who contributed to that kind of meritorious activity would be abundantly rewarded by Allah (S. A. S. i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org 66 International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) Volume 2, No. 2, February 2013 Galadanci, 1993:100). A learned respected person would be assigned to teach and train the children of both sexes in these schools. The children would be taught the art of reading and writing with a view to developing their mental and intellectual capacities. Besides teaching the skill of reading and writing, the teacher was expected to teach his pupils the basic principles of Islam and rudimentary principles of ethical values. In addition to these, they would be introduced to some occupations like farming, sewing and the like; depending on the location the school was situated (Galadanci, 1993: 100). Immediately the British entered in to the Northern part of Nigeria they realize the extent of the spread of Qur’anic Schools there. Arabic was then the official language used in royal courts, offices and the legal courts. They also find out that the majority of the people were literate because almost everybody had to go to school (Galadanci, 1993:102). Two drastic changes were immediately introduced: (i) Arabic desisted to be the official language. English replaced it as the official language of the administration. (ii) New alphabet – the Roman alphabet was similarly introduced to replace the Arabic one being widely used by the Muslims. Education was greatly expanded soon after independence. It was generally expected at that time that Western education was the only genuine passport to good living. In an attempt to resist the cultural invasion of the EuroChristian missionary schools, Muslim leaders clustered around the Qur’anic schools, and sometimes, gave out fatwa i.e., formal legal opinion prohibiting Muslim children to be enrolled in the missionary schools (AlAminu Adu Manga, 1993:129). This explains the reason why the vast majority of West African Muslims remained hostile to western education. In tracing the progress of Qur’anic schools in Nigeria before the British occupation, we should not have the impression that the system was properly conducted and organized to the best interest of the community; and that it was not defective (Abu Manga, 1993: 129). The existing schools at that period were not organized under any central body to co-ordinate their activities but were left entirely in the hands of their proprietors. Consequently, standard varies and the system remained static without any improvement for long time (Galadanci, 1993; 104). No arrangements were made for the welfare of the students and many of them used to travel from one town to the other in search of competent teachers. This no doubt caused a great deal of hardship to many students especially minors who invariably ended up as almanjirai roaming about asking for alms to survive. Some teachers at those schools have been known to abuse these children, in some cases taking a potion of whatever people give them, and in other cases using them as foot soldiers in religious clashes. ISSN: 2319-4421 These minors created a social problem Nigeria is facing today. THE BOKO HARAM Islamic fundamentalism Arabic: usul (from ‫لوصأ‬, the "fundamentals"), is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Islamic fundamentalism is not a distinct from Islamism but as a subset, "The most conservative element among Islamists." Its "strictest form" includes “Wahhaabism, ( ) sometimes also referred to as Salafiyya ( ) (Jamaal Al_Din M. Zarabozo, 2006: 187). There are differences in opinion over precise date and conditions under which the group that became known as Boko Haram was first established. But a senior Nigeria military officer suggested that the group has existed in some form or another since 1995, while others have written that it was founded in 2003 or 2004: Nigeria reporters Isioma Madike contends that the group began in ) (Isioma Madike, 2011: online 1995 as shabaab ( at:http:/nationalmirroronline) under the leadership of the conservative Islamist Lawan Abubakar, who later left for Islamic University of Medina in Saudi Arabia for further studies. Isa Umar Gusau suggests that the origins of the group can be traced to a group of Muslim students who dropped out of the University of Maiduguri around 2002 (onlineat:http). Despite the existence of various conflicting accounts, it is agreed by most observers that in 2002, a 32 years old charismatic Muslim cleric ustaz Muhammad Yusuf, established a religious complex with a mosque and an Islamic boarding school in Maiduguri in Borno state, along with a prayer group which he called Jamā'atu Ahlis Sunnah Lildda'awatih wal-Jihad, ( ) loosely translated from Arabic as “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad,” Better known by its Hausa name Boko Haram (Farouk Chothia, 2011: Online). The movement, translates as "Western education is sinful," according to Toni Johnson of the Council on Foreign Relations, Yusuf originally intended his salafist prayer and self-isolation movement to promote the religion of Islam and encourage the enforcement of shari’ah in the countries northern states, he attracted mostly disaffected young people and unemployed university students and graduates, many of them animated by deep-seated socioeconomic and political grievances like poor governance and corruption (2011, online). In essence, Boko Haram sought to create a better Nigeria through strict adherence to Islam. Over time, the group’s members saw themselves increasingly at odds with the secular authorities, whom they came to view as representatives of a corrupt, illegitimate, Christian- i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org 67 International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) Volume 2, No. 2, February 2013 dominated federal government. Their disappointment in local government leaders was worsened in the July 2009, when authorities in Bauch refused to allow them to preach and recruit publicly (Freedom Onuoha article: 58). Like many religious terrorist groups around the world, Boko Haram’s ideology portrays the world in terms of an epic struggle between good and evil, and they are convinced in their own revealed truth from God. Many religious terrorist groups share a common belief that they are following the will of God, and that only the true believers are guaranteed salvation and victory (Jessica Sterm, 2004: 282). At the individual level, for the religious extremists there is no room for the other person’s point of view. Because they believe their cause is just, and because the population they hope to protect is purportedly so deprived, abused, and helpless, they persuade themselves that any action-even a heinous a crime-is justified. They believe God is on their side (Forest, 2012:13). In their eyes, the superiority of God’s rules provides them with a feeling of justification for violating man made rules against violent atrocities. Doing the bidding of a higher power demands sacrifice but also means fewer limits on violence. It is easier to kill if you think you are doing God’s will; violence is seen as necessary in order to save oneself, one’s family, or even the world ( Forest, 2012:14). The sect advocates religious intolerance. And present a case-study of such religious fundamentalism of Islamic typology that is inevitably fraught with its own internal contradictions upon closer perusal. The teachings of the sect were opposed to all forms of western education and civilization because these were considered unlawful. Member of the sect were indoctrinated in to believing that their state of hopelessness was caused by the government imposition of western education and culture on them, and failure to manage the resources of the country to their benefit. It is believed that fundamentalism informed the sect’s mission to destroy the government and its establishments especially as they were not built according to pure Islamic tradition. Among the goals set by the sect were: to capture the entire Northern Nigeria, attack the city of Jos, the plateau state capital which the sect has even given another name that is not known to the Nigerian state but a reflection or indication of its crusade to Islamize the country and impose Shari’ah. Many Nigerians hold belief that this is an affront to Christendom in an attempt to provoke the Christians to a street fight (Alexander Ekemenah, 2011:8). Most especially when they will start attacking Christians, burning their houses and churches in Northern Nigeria. ISSN: 2319-4421 Therefore, Boko Haram like, other religious terrorist groups throughout the worlds, capitalizes on local conditions by offering envisioned solutions to the grievance shared by the surrounding communities. They portray the situation in term of a Muslim population oppressed by non-Muslim rulers, infidels, and apostates backed by sinister forces that intend to keep the local Muslim communities subservient (Forest, 2012:15). Its followers are reportedly influenced by the Qur’anic verses such as: And whoso judges not by that which Allah has sent down, these it is who are the disbelievers, . . . and whoso judges not by what Allah has sent down, these it is who are wrongdoers (Qur’an, 5: 44-45). ...and whoso judges not by what Allah has revealed, those it is who are the transgressors (Qur’an, 5: 47). And that thou should Judge between them by which Allah has revealed and follow not their evil desires and be on thy guard against them, lest they involve thee in trouble on account of a part of what Allah has revealed to thee. But if they turn away, then know that Allah intends to punish them for some of their sins. And indeed a large number of men are disobedient (Qur’an, 5: 49). Controversy still rages as to the origin of Boko Haram whether it was essentially a creation of the Northern political establishment; whether it was by product of the inter-political rivalry between the ruling PDP and ANPP, whether it was essentially of socio-psychological and environmental product of the North eastern state of Borno, Gombe and Bauch; whether they are maggots of conservative political rottenness and the putrefying corruption that has eaten deep in to the fabric of Nigeria collective society, whether it was as hybrid product of the present international security context in which the world live today as symbolized by the global jihadist movement against western neo-imperialism spearheaded by al Qae’da against united states etc (Ekememenah, 2011:8). Without doubt when we sit down with the task of unraveling the mystery and mystique of Boko Haram in a holistic manner, without prejudices and with all objectivity that we are capable of, we will discover that it is a combination of all the above factors and forces. But one of the problems governments are having in tackling Boko Haram is the inability to define Boko Haram. An understanding of internal contradiction of Boko Haram is essential for widening the scope of this study without which the knowledge base will be in completed. First, an i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org 68 International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) Volume 2, No. 2, February 2013 understanding of the socio-economic climate of Borno, Gombe, Bauch and its environ in particular and that of the country as a whole is necessary for understanding doubt, general economic crisis in the country contribute to the recurrent occurrence and fueling of religious crisis in the country especially in the Northern part of the country. Extreme poverty, illiteracy or lack of proper education, religious intolerance and fanaticism, bad governance all these contributed to the phenomenal emergency of Boko Haram. Thus Boko Haram was formed as the Nigeria state emerged from the decade’s long despotism of military rules at a time when democracy was still fledging and has not stated yielding its proverbial dividends (Ekemenah, 2011:8). At the psycho-social level we can understand the meaning of the phenomenon called Boko Haram (western Education is a sin) from the apparent failure of the social system especially the educational system in the state and its environ; the inability of the social and educational system to liberate the individual from the evil yoke of ignorance, to render meaning to life and dignity of human Being; the inability of the state government to provide sustainable employment opportunities and living for the graduates that led to the unconscious creation of rebellious social forces against the state and society, forces that turn round to manacle society and threaten social stability such as street urchins known as almanjirai and now Boko Haram (Ekemenah, 2011:8). While at the psychological level of the individual member of the sect, it is the collapse of psychological apparatus in its inability to withstand the shocks of modern life and a political system that is still finding its feet on the terra firma of constructive and sustainable economic development model (Ekemenah, 2011:8). Thus western education became the object of their venomous hatred. Its hatred of western education seen as the root of the evil ravaging society and individuals was made manifest in the burning of their acquired school certificates. In fact it is the rite that must be performed before one can be admitted as a member of the sect (Ekemenah, 2011:8). It is obvious that the perceived failure and collapse of a world order or world view around them accentuated by the collapse and failure of their own psychological apparatus to absorb the shocks of modern life dominated by western education and culture. As a result of jobless and unemployment Boko Haram members engage in commercial trading among themselves and to limited extent with the outside world, cutting themselves from the mainstream and large scale commercial activities of the outside world. They are not industrious in terms of managing small or medium scale industries which would task their management skill and would involve having constant interface with commercial ISSN: 2319-4421 banks that are inevitable interest (Ekemenah, 2011:8). Thus the members of the sect do not involved in agricultural activities as such because they are urban bred and urban based youths that are frustrated with urban demands on their lives. Besides this, there are no largescale agricultural settlements that could engage and absorb them on a permanent basis and thus giving those basic means of survival within the overall economic frame work of the state (Ekemenah, 2011:8). All these socio-economic changes combined to produce a sense of insecurity and vulnerability among northern Nigerians, and particularly among Muslim communities. This is in turn, offers insight in to why Boko Haram’s ideology has resonated among many, including frustrated university graduate who find legitimacy in their argument that western society has failed them; their aspiration cannot be met by the system currently in place. Another level of analyzing the phenomenon called Boko Haram is political violence. According to James J. F forest, terrorists and criminals thrive in a climate of sustained grievances. It is no coincidence that the worst forms of political violence in Nigeria today originates in the most socio economically disadvantaged part of the country. In the north, where unemployment and poverty are the highest, radical Islamists and the imposition of Shari’ah have challenged the authority of the state (Forest, 2012: 45). In the south, where environmental destruction resulting from oil extraction in the Niger Delta has made local Nigerians traditional groups and armed militant gangs often consisting of unemployed youth have engaged in kidnapping, extortion, car bombings, murder, and other forms of violent attack against the government and the nation’s critical oil infrastructure. An understanding of these security challenges and other complex dimensions of the Nigerian security environment is necessary for placing any analysis of Boko Haram in the proper context. Nigeria government has struggled for several decades with security challenges in the south and south east of the country, particularly in the Niger Delta. The civil war is one of the earliest examples of how violent unrest in this rein has font been fueled by ethnic identity politics and inequality in the distribution of resources. But, while the violence in the south of Nigeria is mainly secular and driven by grievances associated with resources and environmental damage, the north has seen far more ethnic, tribal, and religious violence, often manipulated by politicians for political gain and profit especially in area where neither Muslims nor Christiana are clear majority (Forest, 2012:52). Resources scarcity and ethnic identity politics play prominent role in the conflicts of this region. For example, i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org 69 International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) Volume 2, No. 2, February 2013 over the last decade an increasing number of the pastoralist Hausa-Fulani have migrated south ward from the drought-ridden north, bringing with them cattle that are encroaching on more fertile lands historically owned by other ethnicities. The resulting conflicts have sometimes been portrayed in the media as being Muslim versus Christian, while in fact the violence has frequently been fuelled by land use issues and indigenous versus settler rights (Zuwaqhu A. Bonat, 1995: 209). Therefore, accumulation of a broad range of socio economic and political grievances now justifies in their minds, a terrorist campaign. There are few other terms that could be used to describe the steady drumbeat of terrorist attacks have taken place since 2009 (Forest, 2012:47). SOURCES HARAM OF FINANCING BOKO The Boko Haram set is suspected of receiving foreign financial assistance. In February 2004, the department of state service arrested Sheikh Muhidden Abdullah, a Sudanese and director of a Saudi funded charity, al‫)ىدتنملا‬: Trust, over muntade al-Islami ( alleged involvement in 2003 in funding a short-lived violent uprising seeking to establish an Islamic theocracy in Yobe state. He was arrested after the discovery of his financial transactions running in to millions of naira with a Kano based business man, Alhaji Sharu, who confessed to be acting as middleman between the Boko Haram groups almuntada al-Islami. They later built 42 Mosques in Kano, and worked to promote the conservative wahabi Islamic ideology espoused by the out Taliban regime in Afghanistan (C. Nna-Emeka Okereke, 2012:176). The link between Al-muntada Al-Islami and the Boko Haram is rooted in the fact that Alhaji Sharu’s organization mutated into the Boko Haram following the preaching and mobilization of activities of Muhammad Yusuf (Okereke, 2012:176). Unfortunately, wherever one follow the flow of Saudi aid; he will also observe a rapid increase in the narrow, non-tolerant attitudes of Muslim clergy. Besides that of almuntada al-Islami, the group has also been allegedly linked to specific individuals with power and access to resources given the extensive system of patronage in Nigeria, this come as a surprise. Several of these individuals have been arrested, but some were killed before and judicial process could determined their guilt for example, on 31 July 2009 Alhaji Buji Boi- former commissioner for religious affairs in Borno state during the administration of former governor of Borno state Ali Modu Sherif was arrested and taken to the police headquarters in Maiduguri, where he was publicly executed on 31 July 2009, a day after Yusuf was killed at the same location (Forest, 2012: 71). In January 2011, ISSN: 2319-4421 another suspected financial, a local contractor, Alhaji Bunu Wakil, was arrested in Maiduguri alongside 91 others suspected of being members or supporter of Boko Haram. A month later another alleged sponsor of the group, Alhaji Salisu Damaturu was killed during a shootout with police. And in November 2011, authorities arrested a member of the Nigerian senate Ali Ndume, a people Democratic Party senator from Borno state and charged with financing Boko Haram (Okereke, 2012: 176). Whatever the sources of Boko Haram’s financing, individuals involved in supporting the group does so largely because they find some resonance in the group’s radical jihadist ideology. When this ideology resonates among the individuals with access to resources, it clearly benefits the group’s operational capacities. In addition to that, whatever resources Yusuf had access to, he invested part of it in acquiring dozes of taxes buses and motorcycles that he distributed to unemployed youths, members of the sects, and from which that made daily monetary returns to the sect’s coffers. It has been reasoned that this singular act of youth’s empowerment endeared Yusuf to the teeming populations of jobless youths who pleaded loyalty to him. ISLAM RESPONSE TO TERRORISM Islam means the religion of peace. A person following Islam will find that he or she is surrounded by noble teachings, the aim of which is to establish peace between man and Allah, the creator of all; between man and man; between man and the rest of Allah’s creation (Naseer Ahmad Qamar, 2010: 20). But Islam today is viewed by many as an aggressive religion that promotes terrorism. Sadly, it is often the case that the killing of innocent people, suicide bombings and terrorism activities are caries out by people who claim to be Muslim; however, in reality, the responsibility for such malicious acts actually rests with the so called scholars of Islam, who are gravely mistaken in their understanding of the issue of Jihad. They consider the unjustified killing of human beings by the sword as a religious duty. These scholars have deliberately misinterpreted some verses of the holy Qur’an and equate true Islamic Jihad to rebellion for their own benefits (Qamar, 2010:20). The Arabic word Jihad ( ) has neither the connotation of holy nor that of war. The translation of the word Jihad with holy war is arbitrary, tendentious and absurd. The word simply applies to any activity or job which is accomplished with great effort and which calls for striving hard. Maximum effort applied one’s wealth, of one’s personal honour for a noble cause circumstances involving great risk to one’s life is jihad. To rise against a tyrant in defense of the victim of oppression is jihad. The struggle against one’s own weaknesses, one’s egoism, against the i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org 70 International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) Volume 2, No. 2, February 2013 moral decay of the society, against oppression and wrong, against an enemy who attack one’s country, against compulsion in matters of faith and against the persecution of the innocent, all these comes under the category of jihad (Sheikh Nasir Ahmad, 1986: 18). How does such a religion deal with the issue of terrorism? And what does the word terrorism mean? Dictionaries will define terrorism as the use of violence and intimidation to force a government or community or an organized system of intimidation (Mairi Robinson, 2007: 1458), to achieve political ends. Thus terrorist is he who systematically uses violence and intimidation to achieve political ends or who controls or forces others to do something by violence, fear or threats. All these definitions are covered by two words of the Holy Qur’an, fitna ( ) i.e., sedition, riot, discord, and dissention, civil strife (Cowan, 1960: 696), and ikra’ah ) i.e., compulsion coercion and use of force (Cowan, ( 1960: 823). In support of the above definitions Mirza Tahir Ahmad says: The terrorism’ applies to acts of terror, attempts to cause bomb explosions, and so on. But this is not the only type of terrorism the world is referring from… whenever repressive measures are taken by governments against their own countrymen to still the voice of disagreement, those measures too should be included within the term “terrorism”… I considered all oppressive measure taken by governments against the left or right within their own countries as terrorism of the worst type (1990:115-116). It is really astounded to see many medieval minded Muslim scholars, erroneously referred to as fundamentalists, subscribe to the view that Muslims must confront non-Muslims in an armed struggle and remain at war with them till either they are exterminated or they accept Islam. Islam, as found in the holy Qur’an, has nothing whatsoever to do with this distorted and corrupt notion of a holy war (Tahir Ahmad, 1997:137). Islam realized that dissensions and disorders undermine unity, of the nation, and therefore, was evil. The word fasa’ad (‫ )داسف‬corruption, disorder and mischief used in the words of the Qur’an such as” i.e. create not disorder in the earth” Qur’an, 2:11) is very comprehensive in its context, and denotes all kinds of evildoings. Thus the Qur’anic expression “creates not disorder in the earth” both in religious and non-religious senses are strongly deprecated in the Qur’an (Manzoordden Ahmad, 2006: 201). The Qur’an does not only condemn disorder in all its forms, but prescribed definite punishments. Allah says: ISSN: 2319-4421 The only reward of those, who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive to create disorder in the land, is that they be slain or crucifies or their hands and feet be cut off on account of their enmity, or they be expelled from the land (Qur’an, 5:33). It is cleared that Islam does not hesitate to take extreme measures when the interest of the state or society at large so demand to uproot a dangerous evil. Islam refuses to pander to the false sentiments of emotion visionaries but follows the dictates of reason and sound judgment while prescribing punishment for public offences. The punishment prescribed here is of four categories, the form of the punishment to be inflicted in a particular case would depend upon the attending circumstances (Malik Ghulam Farid, 1969: 251). And awarding or imposition of punishment is the concern of government and not that of any individual. When we examine the so called Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria we discover political force working behind an Islamic façade. And this is a bitter truth. Almost every form of communal violence witnessed in Nigeria today, wherever that is and whatever cloak it wears, is essentially political in nature. Religion is not the exploiter; it is exploited by internal or external political interests. But the government can stop these disturbances at all levels if it can live up to its constitutional obligations and responsibilities by fulfilling its primary goal which is the welfare and security of the people with absolute justice and equality. It should provide employment and social security for the youth to shield them from being tools in the hands of unpatriotic, unscrupulous and self serving politicians. CONCLUSION We all agree that, among the factor fuelling religious extremism which manifest in terrorism, are the persistence of mass poverty, unemployment, corruption, and the scandal lousy behavior of public office holder in the conduct of governance. These breed frustrations, which are vented against the state and citizens, in the hope of forcing a change in the system through channels outside of the approved electoral process and other constitutional means. According to Islam, all attempt to impose religious tenets, social system, political behavior and selective way of life chosen by a people under specific conditions unacceptable according to the Holy Qur’an that says: “Let there be no compulsion in religion” Qur’an 2:256. Thus all acts of killing of innocent people, suicide bombings, and all restrictive and punitive measure taken by a government against its own people to suppress a popular movement or suspected opposition, that go beyond the limits of genuine legal measures and end up as brutal acts of violence designed to strike terror in the i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org 71 International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) Volume 2, No. 2, February 2013 hearts of a dissatisfied section of their own people are all acts of terrorism. And as far as Islam is concerned, it categorically rejects and condemns form of terrorism. It does not provide any cover or justification for any act of violence, be it committed by an individual, a group or a government. NOTE AND REFERENCES [1] Ahmad, Mirza Tahir. (1990), Murder in the Name of Allah, Cambridge: Lutterworth Press. [2] Ahmad, Mirza Tahir. 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(1986), “The Militant Islam”, The Review of Religions, Vol. LXXXI, (3). [22] Sterm, Jessica. (2004), Terror in the name of God, New York: Trade paperback Edition. [23] Johnson, Toni. “Boko Haram,” Council on Foreign Relations (November 7, 2011), online at: http:// www.cfr.org/africa/boko haram/p25739. [24] Zarabozo, Jamaal Al_Din M. (2006), The Life, Teachings and Influence of Muhammad ibn Abdul- Wahhaab, Riyadh: Ministry of Islamic Affairs & Endowments. i-Xplore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournals.org 72