Is education haram? How former members of northeast Nigeria's insurgency view and experience 'Western' education

Conflict related to the ‘Boko Haram’ insurgency has ravaged northeast Nigeria and its neighbouring countries for over a decade now. Much public and media attention has focused on the insurgents’ apparent hostility towards Western (boko) education. Yet, education has received relatively little attention within scholarship of the insurgency. Drawing on 18 interviews and group conversations with former members conducted in 2021 and 2024, we explore what role disenchantment with Western education played in the recruitment of members, and to what extent critical views were nurtured and perpetuated during the insurgency. Mobilising insights from education research, we highlight how Western knowledge occupied an ambiguous status among the insurgents. Avowed opposition to Western education was at loggerheads with the practical and tactical needs of the insurgency, which dominated decision making on the ground. Encounters and experiences after leaving the insurgency further convinced our respondents that Western education was useful. The article highlights that we cannot understand how violent jihadi groups view education by looking merely at their propaganda and tactics, but that we need to pay close attention to the on-the-ground experiences of ordinary members.