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.