Mohammed Yusuf (29 January 1970 – 30 July 2009), also known as Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf, was a Nigerian

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

and founder of the terrorist Islamist group

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...

in 2002. He was its leader until he was killed in the 2009 Boko Haram uprising.Boko Haram: The Emerging Jihadist Threat in West Africa – Background
Anti-Defamation League, 12 December 2011. The group's official name is ''Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad,'' which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Teachings and Jihad". Born in Girgir village, in

Jakusko Jakusko is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Jakusko in the west of the area at. It has an area of 3,941 km and a population of 229,083 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 631 ...

, present-day

Yobe State Yobe is a state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Potisku ...

, Nigeria, Yusuf received a local education. Later he studied more of Islam and became a

Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...

Education and beliefs

According to scholar Paul Lubeck of the

University of California at Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge o ...

, as a young man Yusuf was instructed in Shiasm and erroneously associated with

Salafism The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islah, reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three g ...

and the teachings of

Ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyyah (January 22, 1263 – September 26, 1328; ar, ابن تيمية), birth name Taqī ad-Dīn ʾAḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām al-Numayrī al-Ḥarrānī ( ar, تقي الدين أحمد بن عبد الحليم � ...

. He had the equivalent of a graduate education, according to Nigerian academic Hussain Zakaria. Yusuf was never as proficient in English as was reported. He believed in strict application of Islamic law, which represented his ideal of justice according to the teachings of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Boko Haram hitmen would murder members of other Muslim sects like the Salafist Izala and the Sufi Tidjaniyya and Qadiriya fraternities. In a 2009 BBC interview, Yusuf stated his belief that the concept of a spherical Earth is contrary to

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

teaching and should be

rejected ''Rejected'' is an animated film directed by Don Hertzfeldt that was released in 2000. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film the following year at the 73rd Academy Awards, and received 27 awards from film festivals ...

. He also rejected

Darwinian evolution Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that ...

, and the concept of the condensation cycle that produces rain. In the interview he said:

"There are prominent Islamic preachers who have seen and understood that the present Western-style
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
is mixed with issues that run contrary to our beliefs in Islam," he said. "Like
rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
. We believe it is a
creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...
of God rather than an evaporation caused by the sun that condenses and becomes rain. "Like saying the world is a sphere. If it runs contrary to the teachings of Allah, we reject it. We also reject the theory of Darwinism."

Personal life

Yusuf had four wives and 12 children, one of them being

Abu Musab al-Barnawi Abu Musab al-Barnawi, born Habib Yusuf, is or was a Nigerian Islamic militant who served as the leader of the Islamic State's branch in West Africa (ISWAP) between August 2016 and March 2019, and again around May 2021. He also served in various ...

, who claimed since 2016 to be the rightful leader of Boko Haram, opposing

Abubakar Shekau Abu Mohammed Abubakar al-Sheikawi (also known by the alias ''Darul Akeem wa Zamunda Tawheed'', or ''Darul Tawheed''; "the abode of monotheism"; born 1965, 1969 or 1975 – 19 May 2021) was a Kanuri man known as the leader of Boko Haram, a Niger ...

. He was reported as living a lavish lifestyle, which included ownership and driving of a

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

Death

Following the July 2009 Boko Haram uprising, the Nigerian military captured Yusuf at his parents-in-law's house. They transferred him to the custody of the Nigerian police force. The police summarily executed Yusuf in public view outside the police headquarters in

Maiduguri Maiduguri is the capital and the largest city of Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border form ...

. Police officials initially claimed either that Yusuf was shot while trying to escape, or died of wounds he sustained during a gun battle with the military.

References

External links

* ''Al Jazeera'' (9 February 2010)
Video shows Nigeria 'executions'
* Duodu, Cameron (6 August 2009)
"Mohammed Yusuf's final days"
''The Guardian'' * Human Rights Watch (2012)
"Spiraling Violence: Boko Haram Attacks and Security Force Abuses in Nigeria"
11 October 2012 * Murtada, Ahmad (2013)
''Boko Haram: Its Beginnings, Principles and Activities in Nigeria''
Islamic Studies Department, University of Bayero, Kano, Nigeria {{DEFAULTSORT:Yusuf, Mohammed 1970 births 2009 deaths Boko Haram members Deaths by firearm in Nigeria People shot dead by law enforcement officers Prisoners who died in Nigerian detention Nigerian people who died in prison custody People from Yobe State Leaders of Islamic terror groups Nigerian Salafis Flat Earth proponents Muslim creationists Nigerian conspiracy theorists Boko Haram