Mohammed Yusuf (Boko Haram)

For other people named Mohammad Yousuf, see Mohammad Yousuf (disambiguation).

File:Mohammed-Yusuf.jpg

Mohammed Yusuf (29 January 1970 – 30 July 2009), also known as Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf, was a Nigerian Muslim sect leader. He was born in Girgir village, in Jakusko, present day Yobe State, Nigeria. He founded the militant Islamist group Boko Haram in 2002 and was its spiritual leader until he was killed in the 2009 Boko Haram uprising. 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". Yusuf was a Salafi.

Beliefs

According to the University of California at Santa Cruz's Paul Lubeck, Yusuf received instruction in Salafism and was strongly influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah.

In a 2009 BBC interview, Yusuf stated his belief that the concept of a spherical Earth is contrary to Islamic teaching and should be rejected, along with Darwinian evolution, and the concept of rain originating from water evaporated by the sun. In the interview he said:

"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."

Personal life

Yusuf had four wives and 12 children.

Nigerian academic Hussain Zakaria told BBC News that the controversial cleric had a graduate education, spoke proficient English, lived a lavish lifestyle and drove a Mercedes-Benz.

Death

Following the July 2009 Boko Haram uprising, the Nigerian military captured Yusuf in his parents-in-law's house and handed him over to the Nigerian police force. The police then summarily executed him in public view outside the police headquarters in Maiduguri. Police officials initially claimed that either Yusuf was shot while trying to escape or died of wounds he sustained during a gunbattle with the military.

External links

• Al Jazeera (9 February 2010), Video shows Nigeria 'executions'
• Duodu, Cameron (6 August 2009), Mohammed Yusuf's final days, The Guardian
• Human Rights Watch (2012), Spiraling Violence: Boko Haram Attacks and Security Force Abuses in Nigeria
• Murtada, Ahmad (2013), Boko Haram: Its Beginnings, Principles and Activities in Nigeria, Islamic Studies Department, University of Bayero, Kano, Nigeria

• "West African Militancy and Violence", page 74
• Boko Haram: The Emerging Jihadist Threat in West Africa - Background, Anti-Defamation League, December 12, 2011.