Exploring the Nexus Between Faith-Based Education and Violent Conflict: Islamic Education and Northeast Nigeria’s Boko Haram Crisis

Connecting the field of conflict and education studies with scholarship on Islamic education, this proposed research sheds new light on the nexus between faith-based education and violent conflict, while providing urgently needed insights into the dynamics of Nigeria’s Boko Haram conflict. After a decade of violence, this remains one of the world’s least understood conflicts. In a global context of widespread fears over Islamic militancy, Islamic schools have often been met with suspicion. Few scholars have investigated how such schools are affected by violence, or how they could help prevent conflict and contribute to peacebuilding. Drawing on in-depth interviews, focus groups and participatory research with relevant stakeholders and key informants, this research elucidates how education-related injustices have contributed to the Boko Haram conflict. It documents the legacies of decade-long violence for faith-based education and develops propositions, drawing on existing initiatives and ‘best practices’, for faith-based education for sustainable peace.

Dr Hannah Hoechner, University of East Anglia; Dr Yagana Bukar, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria