“Virtually all those who call the shots in the Nigerian Muslim community were there. In addition to the President himself, the senate president was in attendance. So were governors, ministers and other politicians. Traditional rulers led by the Sultan were conspicuously present.” He said.
Dr Jibia pointed out that there appeared to have been a “tremendous transformation that Izala has gone through over the years,” from what the sect used to be, described thus:
“But what set Izala against the majority of Muslims was their mode of preaching which was characterized by rudeness and name-calling by some of her most vocal preachers. Emirs, traditional scholars and ordinary people were not spared. Many people that would have ordinarily helped Izala were repelled by this approach.”
When Buhari Banned Izala
Dr. Abdussamad Jibia further highlighted how the Izala sect and President Buhari were worst of enemies in the past, during Buhari’s first stint as President of Nigeria:
“One of the people that Izala had to reconcile with is the former Head of state later turned politician General Muhammad Buhari who for a long time Izala group considered as an adversary. During his reign as a military ruler, General Muhammadu Buhari took several decisions that did not go down well with Izala. A case in point is the retirement of Sheikh Abubakar Mahmoud Gummi, the main patron of Izala, from his position as the consulting Grand Khadi of Northern Nigeria…”
General Muhammadu Buhari
Michael W. Baca, a Washington, DC-based Africa analyst mentions this period in the Global Observatory:
When he headed Nigeria’s military regime in the mid-1980s, Buhari sought to drastically curtail religious activism, banning Izala clerics from open-air preaching. These measures reflected the still commonly held belief among elites and intellectuals that all Salafis were dangerous radicals intent on destabilizing their country.
Izala sect-JIBWIS in uniform(Img: JIBWIS FaceBook page)Izala sect-JIBWIS in uniform (img: FaceBook)
Political Gambit: Izala Campaigned Religiously For Buhari
Dr. Jibia highlighted that perhaps what turned a sour relationship into one of mutual love and partnership was the fact that the Sheikh Bala Lau-led Izala group had campaigned for President Muhammadu Buhari faithfully.
Bala Lau bows for President Buhari in April of 2015 after he won the Presidency
“But the relationship between Buhari and Izala has since changed for the better. For example, throughout his four attempts at the presidency, Izala did not only indicate her support for Buhari, it openly campaigned for him at no cost. President Buhari must have realized how strategic the Izala group is in the Nigeria’s political equation of today.”
You can read Dr. Abdussamad Umar Jibia’s full discussion on his blog here.
The new found love with the government was apparently no accident and not due to transformation in the sect’s ways, but its deliberate political move. Many call Buhari a covert Izala member.
Wikileaks: Boko Haram Came Out of Izala Sect – U.S. Cables
According to US cables released by Wikileaks, Boko Haram evolved out of the radical Izala sect in Nigeria. Boko Haram has been designated the world’s deadliest terrorist organisation and killed over 100,000 Nigerians mostly in the northeast while ruining the economy of the region. The Izala Wahhabi extremist message is said to inspire the “takfiri (condemn and kill)” nature in its followership who are anxious to take lives and prone to terror. Boko Haram is one such Izala “Frankenstein.”
Classified By: Political Counselor James P. McAnulty for reasons in Sections 1.4. (B) and (D); Date: 2009 November 4
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BOKO HARAM ANTECEDENTS
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2. (SBU) In Maiduguri October 20 to 23, PolOffs met with religious leaders, government officials, politicians, and journalists to discuss events leading up to the July 2009 violence and the potential for future conflict. While most interlocutors pointed to outside influences and settlers as the cause of Boko Haram, Borno State Political and Cabinet Affairs Permanent Secretary Alhaji Hayatudeen Baba Omar claimed Boko Haram was “home grown,” stemming from poverty and low literacy rates.
3. (SBU) University of Maiduguri Professor of Mass Communications Dr. Gambo said Yusuf came to Borno State because of the existing Izala infrastructure, which he used to recruit naive youth before breaking away from mainstream Izala. He said Boko Haram was a name given to the group after the attacks in July 2009, but they were also known locally as “Yusufiyya.” (N.B., The Izala, or Jama’at Izalatil Bidiawa Iqamatus Sunnah, is a popular conservative movement advocating return to the “true practice” of the Islam but not necessarily creation of an Islamic state. End Note.)
4. (C) A conservative Sufi imam, Sheikh Fatahi said Boko Haram was not a new concept, and claimed it came out of Izala. He said Ja’afar Mahmud Adamu (a Kano-based Izala Sheikh killed in 2007 (reftel b)) trained Yusuf and even called him the “leader of young people,” but the two had split 5 to 7 years ago. He told PolOffs that Adamu and Yusuf both preached in Maiduguri’s Indimi Mosque, where the Deputy Governor worships.
According to Fatahi, the state government had initially welcomed Izala, including individuals sympathetic to Yusuf, into the government. While the Council of Ulama reportedly advised the government and Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) not to publicize Yusuf’s preaching, he said the government would not intervene. The NTA, as a commercial enterprise, insisted on airing paid programming indiscriminately. Fatahi blamed the government programming indiscriminately. Fatahi blamed the government for ignoring Ulama’s warnings about the potential danger of some factions within the Izala.
5. (SBU) Religious Affairs Ministry Director Muhammad Abdullahi said the Ministry was aware of Mohammad Yusuf, considered him “overzealous,” and encouraged him to calm down. But Fatahi said Yusuf’s arrests “made him a hero” and increased his popularity. Likewise, Deputy Governor Dibal said “Yusuf was mystified to be a messiah.”
6. (C) Dibal claimed al Qaeda had ties to Boko Haram, but ceased support after deciding Yusuf was an unreliable person.
See related: The Emergence of Boko Haram: From Religious Intolerance to Religious Terrorism in Nigeria
“One will never understand the whys and how the so-called Taliban came into existence without knowing the history of the Izala movement in Nigeria.” by Oluwaseyi Oduyela (Investigative reporter, intelligence /linguist analyst)Read full
Related: Wall Street Journal, “Jihad Comes To Africa:”
A leading Izala-influenced sheik was Ja’afar Adam, a graduate of the Islamic University of Medina who presided over a popular mosque in the Nigerian city of Kano. One of his favorite pupils was Mohammed Yusuf, the preacher who would go on to establish today’s Boko Haram. Yusuf, who repeatedly traveled to Saudi Arabia, quickly became much more radical, seeking to destroy rather than to change existing African states such as Nigeria and rejecting any Western influence in the Muslim world. In 2007, after Adam publicly condemned his former student, Yusuf ordered the scholar’s assassination. Having spawned Boko Haram, the Izala Society has become one of its main targets, and several prominent Saudi-backed clerics have been gunned down since then.
“It’s one of the unintended consequences. People adopt the Saudi ideology and internalize it, and then they realize that Saudi Arabia itself is not living up to that ideology, and so it becomes their enemy,” said Jacob Zenn, a specialist on Nigeria and African security at the Jamestown Foundation. Read full http://www.wsj.com/articles/jihad-comes-to-africa-1454693025
Bala Lau Criticized The Treatment Of Boko Haram Terrorists
In a DailyTrust publication in July of 2011, Bala Lau, the then deputy national chairman of Jama’atul Izalatul Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS/Izala sect) while recommending a ministry of religion and canvassing for dialogue with Boko Haram, said:
Mohammed Yusuf extra judicially killed
“First, government has destroyed houses of Boko Haram members and their leader was arrested and killed without proper investigation. Secondly, those who killed him were not fished out not to talk of punishing them and finally, government has embarked on indiscriminate arrest of people, most of whom are innocent, in the name of Boko Haram.”
There has not been any notable Jihad against Boko Haram by the Izala sect.
While the Izala sect and Saudi government immediately made public statements encouraging the Nigerian government in its clampdown on Shia Muslims who it calls “terrorists,” both were observed to not have made similar statements condemning Boko Haram in its heyday when it killed tens of thousands of Nigerian Muslims in the northeast and destroyed the economy of the el-Kanemi empire.
Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari with Saudi King Salman as Saud
Till date there is no single known public statement from the Saudi kingdom condemning Boko Haram, Nigeria’s worst scourge.
Shia Islam seems to be the particular enemy of the Izala sect and its foreign partners and the Nigerian government seems to be now involved in this mostly political deadly adventure.
President Buhari receiving a gift presentation from the Executive Secretary World Muslim League (MWL) Saudi Arabia Dr Abdullah Bin Abdul Mohsin Al-Turki, during the Izala conference at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre Abuja on 17th Mar 2016 [Guardian]
In Partnership With Buhari And APC Govs, Izala Sect Revs Up Its Radicalism
While the Izala sect has now perpetually gotten a seat within the presidency, the group remains radical and in full gear is pursuing a Saudi agenda to eliminate Shia Islam, with the blessing and cooperation of the Nigerian government.
Takfiri Wahhabi/Izala thugs being transported in police vehicles to massacre Shia Muslims in Nigeria’s northIzala takfiri youth transported by Kaduna police to kill Shia Muslims October 2016
Sokoto University Izala Lecturer Brags About Sect’s Influence On APC Government
“Most Ahlussunnah have now realized that: Being close to the leadership for one year makes more impact than preaching of five years, you should give your Ulama the benefit of doubt and don’t loose confidence in them. One particular job that most of you are happy with today is made possible by them through underground moves.”
A video on youtube gives the voice of Sheikh Abubakar Gero Arugungu, in a recording made while he allegedly spoke to the Emir of Yauri, Kebbi state this April.
In the recording the cleric is heard describing secret meetings between wahhabi-Izala scholars and president Buhari as they orchestrated and promoted Saudi-fulfilling plots against Iran and Shia Islam, which were “agreed to by the president.”
Sheikh Abubakar Gero Arugungu
Anxiety In Nigeria
There is palpable anxiety as the Izala group and the current government clampdown on Shia Islam has the potential to burn Nigeria if and when the Shia Muslims lose their patience.
Since the crackdown, some Saudi-sponsored Salafi clerics have been expressing their support for the Nigerian military chief’s response to the IMN, and mounting sustained vitriolic attacks on Shia. One video clip shared in northern Nigeria shows the National Chairman of Jama’atul Izalatil Bid’ah Wa’iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS), a prominent conservative Islamic organisation, Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, saying “The Sunnis should rise up, as the emir of Kano said, this country is not a place where the companions of the Prophet would be insulted without generating any response.”
Such attacks have drowned the voices of more moderate Sunnis who call for understanding and sympathy with the IMN to avoid creating another insurgency similar to Boko Haram. On 14 December the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Saad Abubakar, the highest spiritual figure among Nigerian Muslims, issued a statement via the NSCIA, which he chairs, saying: “While there are claims and counter-claims on what actually precipitated the latest heart-rending incident, the NSCIA urges the authorities to exercise restraint.
Bala Lau in the video congratulated the el-Rufai Kaduna government and Nigerian army for killing and secretly burying hundreds of Shia Muslims December of 2016. As Aminu said, he went on to invite Sufis to join the Izala “chase and prosecute” Shia Muslims.
According to Pew polls, 38% of Nigerian Muslims claim to belong to the Sunnite sect; 12% identify as Shia Muslims and the majority, 42% identify as “just Muslims.” The Saudi wahhabi ideology and agenda aims at converting most groups to Sunnite sect and Sunnite radicalism(wahhabism) as against moderation.
President Muhammadu Buhari and Kaduna governor Nasir el-Rufai appear to have been towing the wahhabi script being laid down by Izala group in Nigeria by the letter, damning the global condemnation and consequences of their open persecution of the Shia minority sect and citizen’s complaints that this could potentially destroy Nigeria as has happened to the Middle East.
As described in our earlier article, Bala Lau’s Saudi satellite operated Manara TV and the March 2016 meeting in Abuja which declared the development of a Wahhabi “true Islam” propagation mega center in Nigeria, according to experts, are all part of a billions of dollars sponsored Saudi project to utilise the Buhari era to implant ideological and infrastructural wahhabization tools in Nigeria.
A NewsRescue editorial challenged President Buhari: will he follow them (wahhabis) or follow Allah(s) as this Hadith similarly challenged:
Narrated Abu Wail: When ‘Ali sent ‘Ammar and Al-Hasan to (the people of) Kufa to urge them to fight, ‘Ammar addressed them saying, “I know that she (i.e. ‘Aisha) is the wife of the Prophet in this world and in the Hereafter (world to come), but Allah has put you to test, whether you will follow Him (i.e. Allah) or her.”
![President Buhari receiving a gift presentation from the Executive Secretary World Muslim League Saudi Arabia Dr Abdullah Bin Abdul Mohsin Al-Turki, with him is Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar as President Buhari declares open the International Islamic Conference on Peace and Security at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre Abuja on 17th Mar 2016 [Guardian]](http://newsrescue.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/turki-buhari.jpg)
