Learning something about Mohamed Yusuf, founder of the movement often known as #BokoHaram, known for his opposition to aspects of Western education ("Boko") which he deemed incompatible with Islam...
Yusuf was not always hostile to "Boko". His own children, including Habib Yusuf, who became the wali of #ISWAP in 2016, used to attend Al Kanemi College in Maiduguri, a private institution of repute, using English as teaching language (but also teaching Arabic).
But after Yusuf developed his criticism of "Boko", he removed his kids from Al Kanemi and sent them to a Quranic school in Maiduguri.
If I am correct, two of his wives were also following “modern” education in some institutions of Maiduguri, and he convinced them to drop it too.
After the 2009 uprising, during which Yusuf was executed by the police, supporters evacuated Yusuf’s children to Ndjamena, where they kept on studying the Quran. Following the establishment of jihadi camps in the Sambisa forest, Habib was brought there, launching his career…
I suspect this Boko education endowed Habib with the good English and Arabic that he is often noted for - a significant resource in his privileged relation with the Islamic State.
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