Controversial Islamic cleric shot dead in northern Nigeria

ByMansur Abubakar Reporting fromAbuja.

Key points

• For Masussuka's efforts, Nigeria's Network for Good Governance and Transparency honoured him with a Peace Ambassador Award last year.
• Thousands of Christians and Muslims have been killed in ethnic and religious violence here over the past 25 years.
• A controversial Islamic cleric in Nigeria has been murdered outside his home in the northern state of Katsina.
• This understanding comes from what is known as the Hadith, a collection of texts believed to be the spoken words and actions of the Prophet Muhammad.
• This serves as a key source of Islamic knowledge to support interpret the Quran, the central religious text of Islam.

For context, a controversial Islamic cleric in Nigeria has been murdered outside his home in the northern state of Katsina.

Two assailants arrived on a motorcycle and shot Yahaya Masussuka in the town of Dutsin-Ma as he was saying goodbye to visitors on Monday evening, sources informed the BBC.

Notably, the 47-year-old preacher and one of his guests. This person was additionally shot, were rushed to hospital but both were pronounced dead by the attending doctor, police stated.

It is not clear why Masussuka was targeted, but the cleric had received death threats on social media where he posted videos in which he rejected some elements of mainstream Islam, including what happens to individuals after their death.

It is widely believed in Islam that a person's soul will be questioned in the grave by two angels. If they answer correctly, their soul sleeps peacefully until the day of judgement – if not it will be tormented.

But Masussuka based his teachings mainly on what was in Islam's holy book, questioned some of the hadiths – and did not believe that the dead were reawakened and questioned.

He was once jailed for nine months since he teased some respected scholars over their belief in this hadith and other teachings.

Masussuka, who had two wives and seven children, began preaching at the age of 13 in Quranic schools.

He afterwards attended Al-Azhar University in Egypt and afterwards went to Oman for further studies.

At his home, he had a studio where he would record videos of his teachings for broadcast on social media for his followers.

For context, the cleric was additionally outspoken concerning violent extremism, radicalisation and openly advocated for interfaith dialogue and peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians. This person create up almost equal parts of Nigeria's population.

Six other prominent Muslim preachers have been murdered over the last two decades in northern Nigeria – a number of targeted by Boko Haram for criticising the jihadist group that began its insurgency in 2009.

Founded in north-eastern Nigeria, it opposes Western culture, education, the secular administration – and its political goal is the creation of an Islamic state. Extra reporting by BBC Pidgin. You may additionally be interested in. The kidnap gangs, jihadists and separatists wreaking havoc in Nigeria.

'If you began running, they shot you' – inside Nigeria's growing kidnapping crisis.

'They sent a letter asking to preach. Then they massacred us' – Nigerians on jihadist attack.

'Peace is a gradual thing': How land, cattle and identity fuel a deadly Nigerian conflict.

Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

Taken together, the developments around controversial Islamic cleric shot dead in northern Nigeria point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.