1. Boko Haram and Shari’a Law
Islam in Nigeria
Boko Haram and Shari’a Law

2. Shari’a law adopted in 12 northern states in Nigeria

3. History of Shari’a in Nigeria
Comes from Maliki Law – 8th century Imam
Sunni
British colonialism – “indirect rule”
Zamfara state first to adopt in 2000
Goal – purification

4. Shari’a Law v. Nigerian Law
Coexists uneasily
Freedom of religious practice v. no established religion
Criminal enforcement by federal police v. hisba
Penalties: stoning for adultery, right hand amputated for theft, 80 lashes w/ a whip for drinking alcohol
Can’t opt out
Conflicts between Sharia and civil law not easy to resolve
Conflicts with Nigerian federal legislature
Conflicts with human rights/UDHR

5. “Western Education if Forbidden” - Meet Boko Haram
Since 2002
Lead by Muhammad Yusuf
Patterned after Taliban in Afghanistan
Based in northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri
Unaffiliated with wider jihadi network
Rejects evolution, water cycle and believes earth is flat – no kidding.
Boko Haram leader Muhammad Yusuf
The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".

6. Yusuf in 2009 BBC interview
"There are prominent Islamic preachers who have seen and understood that the present Western-style education is mixed with issues that run contrary to our beliefs in Islam," he said.
"Like rain. We believe it is a creation of God rather than an evaporation caused by the sun that condenses and becomes rain.
"Like saying the world is a sphere. If it runs contrary to the teachings of Allah, we reject it. We also reject the theory of Darwinism."
bbc.com July 31, 2009 – Muhammad Yusuf was killed the day this article was published.

7. Violence as a political means
Staged dozens of terror attacks starting in 2003
Attacked police installations to steal weapons
Yusuf killed in 2009 by Nigerian forces
2010 prison break – 100 members set free
Membership between 5,000-8,000?
45 major terror operations between September 2010 and November 2011 mostly in northern Nigeria
University of Maiduguri shut down July 2011

8. Students evacuating University of Maiduguri, July 2011

9. Violence spreads
Attacked candidates for office and opposition Islamic clerics
Abuja
United Nations compound summer 2011
“Middle belt” – Plateau state, April 2012
Cell service cut in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states May-July 2013

10. Religious Cleansing? Targeting Christians in northern Nigeria
Abuja Christmas Day church bombing 2011, 42 killed
Many Christians have fled northern states of Borno and Yobe
Bombing in Damaturu,
northern Nigeria, June 2012

11. How dangerous is Boko Haram?
Spreading across Nigeria but leadership diffuse
Too uncoordinated to negotiate with?
Current leader Abubakar Shekau not charismatic like Yusuf
No current threat outside Nigeria
May be linked to Al Qaida in Maghreb, Somalia jihadists or AQAP – suicide bombings?
Basically in control of northeastern Nigeria
Shari’a in all of Nigeria? Not likely
Nigerian government too weak to effectively deal with Boko Haram
Abubakar Shekau
africanheraldexpress.com

12. Sources
BBC.com
NPR.org
David Cook, PhD., Baker Institute, Rice University, Boko Haram: A Prognosis, December 2011
Foreignpolicy.com ‘Is Nigeria the Next Front of the War on Terror?” July 2012
Nigerianmailonline.com
Ruud Peters, PhD., University of Amsterdam, Report to European Commission, The Reintroduction of Islamic Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria, September 2001
UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs, IRINnews.com