DAESH IN AFRICA: NEW BOGEYMAN OF THE BLACK CONTINENT?

By: Hossam al-Haddad

Now that the defeat of the self-proclaimed Daesh (ISIS) caliphate in Iraq and Syria has been declared and the large, populous swathes of the two countries, previously controlled by Daesh fighters, reduced to a small enclave in the desert, next destination of this terrorist organization is now anybody’s guess. Yet, reliable sources expect Dash to seek a new starting gate in Africa. The continent that has suffered, since the beginning of post-colonial times, from all sorts of dictators is now expecting a new kind of menace, the Daesh State in Africa.

A recent report on Takfiri groups, issued by Al-Azhar Observatory, asserts that the two largest (and most notorious for violence) pro-Daesh Takfiri organizations in Africa, Boko Haram in Nigeria and Somalia’s al-Shabab, are now vying for influence in the underground world of Takfiri terrorism. Each one of them sees itself as the heir apparent to Daesh in the black continent.

According to the Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Takfir is “Pronouncement that someone is an unbeliever (kafir) and no longer Muslim. Takfir is used in the modern era for sanctioning violence against leaders of Islamic states who are deemed insufficiently religious. It has become a central ideology of militant groups(…) which reflect the ideas of Sayyid Qotb, Mawdudi, Ibn Taymiyyah, and Ibn Kathir.”

According to Al-Azhar Observatory, the Ahlu Sunna for Preaching and Combat group, known as Boko Haram group “and similar terrorist groups that follow the same approach do not represent Islam.” Boko Haram has been conducting attacks against security forces in Northern Nigeria since 2009. In 2015, the group pleged allegiance to Daesh, positing itself as Daesh’s first affiliate in west Africa, slipping into its new brand of “the Islamic State West Africa Province”. In spite of the fact that Boko Haram has continued to carry out suicide attacks in Nigeria and in neighboring Cameroon, Niger and Chad, the group split into two main blocks in 2016,  after Daesh made clear its preference for Abu Musab al – Barnawi, over Abubakar Shekhu, as leader of this terrorist group which is known to have always been made up of different factions, anyway.

On the other hand, al-Shabab, which means The Youth in Arabic, emerged as a radical wing of Somalia’s now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts in 2006 and has since waged a bloody insurgency against the Somali and Kenyan governments. Informed sources assert that foreign young jihadists have been going to Somalia to join the ranks of al-Shabab, from neighboring countries, as well as the US and Europe. Al –Shabab is banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK and is said to have between 7,000 and 9,000 dighters. As a group embracing the Wahhabi version of Islam, while most Somalis are Sufis, al-Shabab has been using violence to propagate its dogmatic vision and to impose a strict version of Sharia law, which is, according to Oxford Living Dictionaries, “Islamic canonical law based on the teachings of the Koran and the traditions of the Prophet (Hadith and Sunna), prescribing both religious and secular duties and sometimes retributive penalties for lawbreaking”. These penalties include stoning to death women accused of adultery and amputating the hands of thieves.

Regardless of who will be chosen by Daesh as its successor in Africa, Al-Azhar Observatory says, as this terrorist organization crumbles in the Levant, it is highly probable that it will re-emerge in Africa where poverty, illiteracy and poor economic development are root causes for terrorism.

Because extremism is based on a perversion of religious belief, because it is a fanaticism that abuses faith to justify violence against innocent (Muslim and non-muslim) civilians, Al-Azhar Observatory says that combatting Daesh in its present as well as  future manifestations will have to be through education, since security measure will not succeed alone. What is needed here is educating young people about diversity and difference, tolerance and respect. The most critical component of this work will be imparting skills to make young people critical thinkers and give them incentives to reject attempts to enlist them in terrorist organzations.