{"id":156974,"date":"2019-10-02T14:44:35","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T13:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/?p=156974"},"modified":"2019-10-02T14:50:04","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T13:50:04","slug":"exclusive-buhari-boko-haram-shekau-named-among-worlds-most-powerful-muslims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/?p=156974","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Buhari, Boko Haram Shekau Named Among World\u2019s Most Powerful Muslims"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\"\"<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For the fourth consecutive year, President Muhammadu Buhari, the
\nSultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III, and the infamous Boko
\nHaram leader, Abubakar Shekau, have been listed among the most
\npowerful Muslims in the world.<\/p>\n

This is contained in a Muslim publication, The Muslim500 in its 2020
\nedition, an annual compilation of the good, the bad, and the ugly in
\nthe Islamic world, which was obtained by SaharaReporters today
\n(Wednesday).<\/p>\n

Buhari is listed 17th and the Sultan, 20th most powerful Muslims and
\nAbubakar Shekau, Boko Haram leader, is listed as one of the seven most
\npowerful Muslim extremists in the world, in the latest report.<\/p>\n

Billionaire businessman and philanthropist, Aliko Dangote, and the
\nEmir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, also made the list.<\/p>\n

Others are Egypt and Liverpool\u2019s star player, Mohammed Salah; Real
\nMadrid coach, Zinedine Zidane; and Manchester United\u2019s Paul Pogba.<\/p>\n

According to the publication released on the Muslim500 website, Buhari
\nhas achieved much progress in the areas of corruption, economy, and
\nsecurity in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

President Buhari, who has always been accused by his critics of being
\na religious bigot, was described in glowing terms in the Muslim500
\nreport.<\/p>\n

The publication said of the president: \u201cPresident Muhammadu Buhari won
\nhis second term as President of Nigeria in February 2019, beating his
\nrival by more than three million votes.\u201d<\/p>\n

It noted further: \u201cPresident Buhari began his military career at the
\nNigerian Military Training School of Kaduna in 1963. He was involved
\nin military counter-coups in 1966 and 1975, and the coup of 1983 which
\noverthrew the democratically-elected government and resulted in him
\nbeing head of state for two years. During these years, he gained fame
\nfor his all-out war against corruption and indiscipline, a reputation
\nhe has since kept. In 1985 he was overthrown and kept in detention for
\nthree years.<\/p>\n

“President Buhari ran as the main opposition candidate in the
\npresidential elections of 2003, 2007 and 2011, all ending in defeat,
\nbefore winning in 2015. His platform was built around his image as a
\nstaunch anti-corruption fighter and his reputation for honesty and
\nincorruptibility. He is considered an icon by the Muslims of northern
\nNigeria, but enjoys nationwide respect due to his stance on
\ncorruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of Shekau, the publication said, “Shekau is the head of Boko Haram, a
\nterrorist group in Nigeria that has carried out a number of
\natrocities. He speaks Hausa, Arabic, and English, and claims to have
\nundergone theological training. He has appeared in videos posted
\nonline, most notably after the kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls in
\nApril 2014.<\/p>\n

“In March 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to DA\u2019ISH and stepped up
\ntheir terror attacks, including a massacre of over 150 Muslims praying
\nin mosques during Ramadan. In August 2016, DA\u2019ISH appointed Abu Musab
\nAl-Barnawi as the group\u2019s new leader, but Shekau refused to recognize
\nBarnawi\u2019s authority. Unconfirmed reports of Shekau\u2019s death are
\nregularly disproved every few months.”<\/p>\n

While commenting on the influence the Sultan wields in Nigeria, the
\nMuslim500 report noted: \u201cAmirul Mu\u2019minin Sheikh as Sultan Muhammadu
\nSa\u2019adu Abubakar III is the 20th Sultan of Sokoto. As Sultan of Sokoto,
\nhe is considered the spiritual leader of Nigeria\u2019s 85.5 million
\nMuslims, who account for roughly 50 percent of the nation\u2019s
\npopulation. Although the position of Sultan of Sokoto has become
\nlargely ceremonial, the holder is still a central figure for Nigerian
\nMuslims.\u201d<\/p>\n

It added, “Abubakar holds important administrative influence in
\nNigerian religious life. Abubakar is the titular ruler of Sokoto in
\nnorthern Nigeria and is also the head of the Nigerian National Supreme
\nCouncil for Islamic Affairs.<\/p>\n

“The leadership of this council means that the Sultan of Sokoto
\nremains the only figure that can legitimately claim to speak on behalf
\nof all Nigerian Muslims. This role has become increasingly influential
\nover the years with a rise in interreligious tensions between
\nNigeria\u2019s Muslim majority north and Christian-majority south.”<\/p>\n

The latest report described Sanusi, the14th Fulani Emir of Kano, as
\nthe second-highest “Muslim authority in the land (the Sultan of Sokoto
\nbeing the first)”.<\/p>\n

Sanusi succeeded his late uncle Dr. Ado Bayero in 2014.<\/p>\n

“He is the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and a
\nrespected Islamic scholar who has won numerous awards. He has pointed
\nout corruption in previous governments, pushed for an end to child
\nmarriage and been a target for Boko Haram,” said the publication.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the fourth consecutive year, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Saad Abubakar III, and the infamous Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, have been listed among the most powerful Muslims in the world. This is contained in a Muslim publication, The Muslim500 in its 2020 edition, an annual compilation of the good, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3773,1,3],"tags":[11480,30,37,13348,10678,13349,9247],"class_list":["post-156974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-more","category-news","tag-nigeria-2","tag-arewa","tag-boko-haram","tag-boko-haram-leader","tag-crimes","tag-powerful-muslim","tag-world-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=156974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/156975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=156974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=156974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arewa.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=156974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}