Shiekh Ja'afar Mahmud Adampronunciation^ⓘ (February 12, 1960 – April 13, 2007) was a Salafist Islamic scholar and member of Nigeria's Jama’at Izalat al Bid’a Wa Iqamat as Sunna, a religio-political organisation with headquarters in Abuja. He lived primarily in Kano and went to Maiduguri for his annual Ramadan Tafsir.^[1][2]

Sheikh Ja'afar was assassinated in his mosque during Subh prayer in the northern city of Kano in April 2007.^[3][4] Opinions were split at that time regarding the perpetrators of the crime. While some said that Boko Haram, an extremist organisation, killed the sheikh, others said that Mr. Shekarau, the governor of Kano at the time, may have been responsible because the cleric was one of his major critics.^[5]