The Educational Philosophy of Boko-haram; Analysis from Islamic Perspective
Abstract The Nigerian armed forces are doing their utmost to crush the Boko-haram insurgency. However, killing and dislodging members of the group does not indicate the total elimination of its ideology. The arguments of the movement against conventional education remain in circulation among people awaiting another generation to champion the course in a new identity. To eradicate the ideology and its influence, there is a need for thorough intellectual and logical responses to those arguments. It is against this background that this paper sought to analyse the movement’s arguments that conventional education should be prohibited on the ground that it originated from the West and was introduced in the country to promote Christianity. The paper realized that this argument is unfounded because conventional education is not a western property, rather a global heritage comprising the remarkable contributions of the Muslim world. Moreover, Islam does not forbid Muslims to benefit from any useful knowledge irrespective of where it originates from as long as it does not contravene Islamic teachings. It also found that using schools for promoting Christianity is not more applicable to many public and private schools in Nigeria today. The paper encouraged Muslims to pursue education to its highest level. Keywords: Boko-haram, Conventional education, Islam, Muslims, Nigeria