The Perpetuation of Jihad: Boko Haram, Charismatic Constructions of Jihadist Ideology and the Rise of Abubakar Shekau

Abstract: The Nigerian jihadist-terrorist movement Boko Haram reached international notoriety especially after the bombing of an UN-headquarters in Abuja in 2011 and after the kidnappings of 276 schoolgirls in 2014. But these events are minor parts of rapid evolutionary ideological developments and expansion. In 2009 Boko Haram´s leader, Mohammad Yusuf, was killed by Nigerian forces and the movement was considered defeated. But it resurfaced under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau and rapid transnational expansion followed, along significant medial presence through Shekau´s published sermons, exhortations and threats against western and domestic leaders. These internet-published messages reach world-wide audiences and constitute platforms for dissemination and constructions of jihadist-ideology. This thesis studies the construction and intermediation of jihadist-ideology by Shekau, through his video-messages. Shekau is investigated through TCP-theory, regarding him as a charismatic leader who in that capacity constructs jihadist-ideology, and develops it in relation to specific contextual crisis-points. The thesis shows that Shekau constructs jihadist-ideological themes of apostate Muslim and Christian oppression and persecution in collaboration with the West. Two main lines of thought constructed are that the ideology of secular democracy is furthered by these actors in order to dominate and persecute Muslims world-wide, and that jihadists are victims instead of terrorists.