Exploring the Nexus between Revealed Truths, Ideology and Religious Terrorism/Extremism: Boko Haram as a Case-study

Abstract

A core philosophical underpinning that characterizes radical groups like Al Shabaab, Al-Qaida and Boko Haram in contemporary times is their claim to a "divine mandate” to restore Islam to its pristine conditions and install an Islamic caliphate to restore perceived lost moral sanctity and as well replace secular political authority. The rise of Western economic philosophy of capitalism and democracy seems in the eyes of these radical groups to have impinged on the house of Islam as experienced in its idyllic form, most especially during the Ottoman Empire. Embarking on a delineation between "us” and "the other” or "them", these radical groups subscribe to an absolutistic, exclusivist and transcendental concept of truth in order to legitimize their actions. This has led to tragic consequences. Anyone perceived not to be in tandem with their perspective of the truth is categorized as an enemy, an apostate and becomes a target of elimination. Consequently, we are faced with a problem with a three-pronged dimension: epistemological, political as well as theological. This paper sets itself a threefold task: firstly, offer a framework of analysis for understanding of the concept of truth among Exclusivists such as Salafis; secondly, apply this model to the case of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. And thirdly, draw on observations in the first task, it will examine the inherent relationship between dogmatic contents of the so-called revealed religions vis-a-vis ideology and terrorism. The question that undergirds this paper is thus: what is the nexus between the concept of revealed truths, ideology and terrorism? How does the notion of truth among Salafi-Jihadists translate into the philosophical and theological foundation of an ideology and into acts of terrorism and violence?