JIHAD IN SUFISM AS A PANACEA TO BOKO HARAM’S VIOLENT JIHADISM IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Since its emergence in 2002, the militant group Ǧamā‘atahl al-sunna li-l-da‘wawa-l-ǧihād,49 popularly called Boko Haram, has waged a deadly jihad against the Nigerian state in a bid to establish an Islamic state in north-eastern Nigeria. The trademarks of this campaign include suicide bombings, the burning of churches, schools and government establishments, and the murder of Christians and moderate Muslims. This violence is symptomatic of the religious fanaticism, intolerance and extremism that has characterised northern Nigeria since the jihad of Usman Dan Fodio in 1804 that overthrew the Hausa kings and imposed an Islamic theocracy. Sufism, on the other hand, is the mystical aspect of Islam that advocates the love of God and union with Him. The early followers of this spiritual movement regarded the asceticism associated with the mystical life as the internal or spiritual jihad. This article argues that this practice, if given an enabling environment to flourish, could minimise or bring to an end, religious intolerance and extremist violence, as well as enhance interreligious dialogue in northern Nigeria.

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