Background
He was born in Girgir village, in Jakusko, present day Yobe State, Nigeria.
He was born in Girgir village, in Jakusko, present day Yobe State, Nigeria.
He founded the militant Islamist group Boko Haram in 2002 and was its spiritual leader until he was killed in the 2009 Boko Haram uprising. 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 Prophet"s Teachings and Jihad". The police then summarily executed him in public view outside the police headquarters in Maiduguri.
Police officials initially claimed that either Yusuf was shot while trying to escape or died of wounds he sustained during a gunbattle with the military.
According to the University of California at Santa Cruz"s Paul Lubeck, Yusuf received instruction in Salafism and was strongly influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah.
In a 2009 British Broadcasting Corporation interview, Yusuf stated his belief that the concept of a spherical Earth is contrary to Islamic teaching and should be rejected, along with Darwinian evolution, and the concept of rain originating from water evaporated by the sun. In the interview he said:
"There are prominent Islamic preachers who have seen and understood that the present Western-style education is mixed with issues that run contrary to our beliefs in Islam," he said.
"Like rain. We believe it is a creation 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 lieutenant We also reject the theory of Darwinism.".
Quotations: "There are prominent Islamic preachers who have seen and understood that the present Western-style education is mixed with issues that run contrary to our beliefs in Islam,".