Islam and Boko Haram: Sultan of Sokoto voyage of discovery

THE most respected Sultan of Sokoto; His Eminence, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar 111, is also the President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. He fits into that office appropriately and deservingly too. The office of the Sultan of Sokoto, being the Head and ruler of the Caliphate, bestows on the occupant the privilege of “first among equals” within the world comity of Islamic brotherhood.

When he speaks, the gods have spoken. And he is actually a “god” both to the Muslim community and Islamic matters, even beyond Nigeria. The Sultan is even larger than life if you add the reality of his military back-ground to the fact that before he ascended his ancestors’ throne, he was the Defence Attaché to Pakistan – a country loaded with terrorism.

His recent declaration, that “terrorism has no place in Islam”, though coming belatedly, is worthy of clinical and comprehensive evaluation therefore. But first, we must give kudos to the vibrant prominent Northern Nigerian rights activist and author; Shehu Sani, for prompting the Sultan into speaking on the Boko Haram and Islam religion.

Sani had earlier challenged the Sultan of Sokoto to do more in bringing to an end the Boko Haram insurgency. Sani pointed out that the Sultan, with other prominent Islamic religion leaders from the North should do more in finding solution to the Boko Haram embarrassment [for sure, Boko Haram is an embarrassment to Islam religion and its leadership]. Thus, the reverent Sultan was dragged out of his shell to the public arena of discourse, on Boko Haram, by a deserving son of the North.

In coming out, the Sultan made a few statements on the situation of terrorism in the North/East of the country. First, he stated that we should not “associate Islam with Boko Haram”. Adding that “Islam is a religion of peace” [which it ought to be], and finally noted that “terrorism has no place in Islam”. We may need more academic tutoring, maybe, by the Sultan himself, for the “uninitiated” Nigerians [a group l may belong to] to be able to understand and assimilate this subject matter and acceptance of same.

It is a most difficult assignment persuading people not to “associate Islam with Boko Haram”, as the Sultan pleaded, for just few reasons that can be quickly evaluated. And these reasons had earlier been part of demands made known by Boko Haram. Boko Haram demanded, amongst many others: One, an Islamic State for Nigeria. Two, it demanded for a Sharia law for the whole country – in other words, Nigerian must be an Islamic Nation, then Dr. Goodluck Jonathan; a Christian incumbent President, “must covert to Muslim”.

With few demands of the murderous gang called Boko Haram, enumerated above, it becomes an exercise in futility for anyone, the most reverent Sultan inclusive, to say that “Boko Haram” should not be associated with Islam”.

Terrorists in religious matters; mostly of the Islamic dynasty, preach the Koran, say prayers in the Islamic manner, performs every other religious obligation in consonance with Koran injunction, “kills” for Allah, and do all these other atrocities in the name of the great Prophet Mohammed. It is therefore, ipso facto, a difficult one not associating Islam with Boko Haram, for it is a common saying that “by their fruit you will know them”. By violence of jihad, core Muslims are known.

It means therefore that either the Sultan wants to admit it or not, the Islamic religion organisation he heads in Nigeria cannot be separated from the Boko Haram metamorphic display. He needs to accept one truth that Boko Haram jihadists, to those of us who are uninitiated, is a full package of Islam. All members of the sect [Boko Haram] are the Sultan’s subjects, with Spiritual Divine respect for him as their spiritual father. He can and expectedly too, call them and order them to lay down their arms so that Nigeria can be. He is not to be alone on this mission but must be assisted by all other Islamic leaders from the north – the core north – in tackling this group to total submission.

Without any disrespect to the person of the Sultan, l am however full of sympathy for his presentation, in demanding what the Muslim North needs, probably for peace to fully return. “Muslims want and also demand to be treated with equality, with justice, with fairness and inshi-Allah [God's willing] things will turn around”, he was quoted as saying.

If there is really an imbalance between the North and the South, will there be any justification for the Sultan to hold the South responsible? Did the pro-North British Empire not bring both the south and north protectorate together at the same time? Did the south ever hold the north down at any given time in education or any other human endeavours, even when the Empire pushed Northern interest over and above that of the South?

For example, I am aware that on the eve of Nigeria’s Independence, Southern Nigeria has one hundred and nine secondary schools as against only nine secondary schools in the north. Who do we blame for that? Did the North not stop Henry Carr Commission [on the feasibility of establishing secondary schools across Nigeria] at Lokoja for reasons only known to the North? Is the present interpretation of “Western education is evil” being propagated by Boko Haram a reality of moving the Northern academic interest forward?

Without being sarcastic, it is safe to say that Boko Haram is an Islamic religious instrument of prosecuting a political agenda of the core Northern Muslims to bring the leadership of Nigeria back to Northern control. So it is a war against the South/South as presently represented by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency.

It is the fulfilment of a threat made by some Northern Muslim leaders in 2011 “to make Nigerian ungovernable if a south/South minority should be a President of Nigeria”. Boko Haram is the Core Northern Muslim leadership’s instrument of war to fulfil the “promised making of Nigeria ungovernable”. This is the simple truth.

This is where l will implore the retired military Eminent Sultan of Sokoto, in collaboration with [his] other travellers, for the sake of posterity, do all within their power to tell their subjects that the game is over. Hold the bull by the horns Sir.

GODWIN ETAKIBEUBU, current affairs commentator, wrote from  Lagos.