Midnight Echoes (ONLY PREVIEW)

Chapter 35

"There're moments which mark your life. Moments when you realize nothing will ever be the same, and time is divided into two parts- before this, and after this."
~Unknown

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Nasir would never understand how Boko Haram works. Or as his Uncle Daud always insisted he referred to the group- Jamā'atu Ahli is-Sunnah lid-Da'wati wal-Jihād. Group of the People of Sunnah for preaching and Jihaf. Perhaps he did understand how it worked, at least after five years of being a member. But years of direct participation with the group had made him question its ideologies. It was for this same reason, this sickening habit of his questioning, that made Daud, the Commandant, to imprison him for Attempted Desertion, pending when he'd 'come back to his senses.'

"You see this boko (western education)? It's the root of all evil." Nasir recalled his uncle Daud telling him as he placed a gentle but firm arm on Nasir's shoulders, as they walked to the Bama Jumu'ah mosque to pray Asr on a dusty harmattan evening in 2008. As a young boy of seventeen, Nasir's interest was piqued by Daud's statement. Naturally.

Eventhough Daud had not married Laylah by then and was only courting her, he was still Nasir's biggest role model. Daud was a hafiz- a memorizer of the Qur'an. Nasir often viewed him as a walking Qur'an eventhough in their Bama neighbourhood, it was common to find hafizs. A lot of them. But even then, Daud had always been unique, stood out amongst his peers. For apart from the Qur'an, he had deep knowledge of the deen, and was extremely modest even at that. It was these qualities that drew Nasir to him, hoping that one day, he could be like his Uncle Daud and earn Allah's favor and that of his parents.

Nasir had frowned a little at Daud's statement. Root of all evil? He found that slightly disturbing. How was that possible, when all his life, he'd been taught that education was what makes a person, what gives one the opportunity to be whatever they wanted to be? At that time, Nasir was aware of the existence of the sect group which believed that western education and westernization was a sin, a sacrilege. It was common knowledge in Borno and parts or other North-eastern states like Adamawa and Gombe. The group's leader, Muhammad Yusuf, had in various interviews, expressed how they reject the western-style of education, being contrary to Islamic beliefs.

But Nasir's family had never, in any way accepted the group's ideologies. If anything, his parents, especially his father, openly condemned it. The few times that the conversation had sprung up in Nasir's family, often during dinner, Yusuf would casually dismiss it. "Muhammad Yusuf and his followers are unimaginably too ambitious," Yusuf would comment. "How do they seek to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria when Nigeria is not occupied by only Muslims?"

Other times, it was the disapproving lamentation of the group's whole ideology that came from practical happenings in their community. "Our deputy director tendered his resignation letter today," Yusuf narrated once. "I also heard that he's removed all his children from their various schools. How do you deny your own children the right to education?" Then subhanallahs and oh my Gods would follow, mostly from Zaituna and Azizah. While Nasir and Jawahir would shrug it off. To them, it was just another boring news for boring people.

Yet, when Uncle Daud mentioned that boko was the root of all evil, Nasir couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart. How could Uncle Daud believe that, when his father had constantly condemmed that reasoning. Even mocked it.

"Do you know why, Nasir?" Uncle Daud's voice drew him back from his trance. Nasir shook his head, conciously.

"Good. I'll tell you why," Daud said. "First, it's unislamic. It's unknown to Islam. The prophet and his companions did no such thing. All they knew was the Qur'an and the prophet's tradition." Daud had picked a stone off the road and threw it into the dry bushes. "For centuries, that is what the Muslims did. Then the white man came and brought Boko."