By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on August 31, 2016

The United States reported yesterday that it had killed one of the most important officials in the Islamic State (IS), Taha Subhi Falaha, better known as Abu Muhammad al-Adnani. As the Pentagon statement noted, Falaha “served as principal architect of [IS’s] external operations and as [IS’s] chief spokesman.”

Within hours, IS issued the forty-fifth edition of its newsletter, Al-Naba. The cover of Al-Naba 45 (above) featured a photograph of Falaha, only the second one of him officially released by IS. The second page contained the only other official picture we have of Falaha—published in the second edition of Dabiq magazine on 27 July 2014—and a brief obituary. And the main editorial on page three was framed around Falaha.

Below is a translation of Al-Naba’s coverage of Falaha.

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Headline and subheading on the front cover of Al-Naba 45:

The Martyrdom of the Mujahid Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Adnani

Spokesman of the Islamic State .. while inspecting military operations in the Wilaya [Province] of Aleppo

Text under image of Falaha:

Rise and die upon that which your brothers died

(Not strictly relevant, but slightly amusing: at the bottom of the page, the white text in the black banner, reads, “This newspaper contains the words of God [al-Jalalah, ‘Majesty’], Qur’anic verses, and Prophetic hadiths, so beware of leaving it in a degrading place.” IS apparently does not regard it as proper for Al-Naba to be used as reading material in bathrooms.)

From the top of page two:

The Martyrdom of the Mujahid Shaykh

Abu Muhammad al-Adnani

Official Spokesman of the Islamic State

Main text on page two:

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and may blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his companions.

To proceed:

Allah the Exalted says: “If you have suffered a wound, the [disbelieving] people have already suffered a similar wound. These days [of varying fortunes] We alternate among mankind so that Allah may make evident those who believe and take to Himself from among you martyrs. Allah loveth not wrongdoers, and [inflicts these trials on men so] that Allah may purify the believers and destroy the disbelievers. Or did you think that you would enter Paradise even though Allah has not yet seen who among you who strove hard [in His cause] and remained steadfast?” [Al-Imran: 140-142]

After a journey filled with sacrifice and repelling disbelief and grief, the knight Abu Muhammad al-Adnani al-Shami dismounted, joining the procession of the martyr-leaders. He joined the heroes who strove and were steadfast upon the command of Allah, who were patient in the face of the enemies of Allah, who held fast upon the ramparts of Islam, who proclaimed the truth, and for whom death lay in wait.

The Shaykh was martyred during his supervision of military operations in the Wilaya of Aleppo. We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return. May Allah accept the Shaykh al-Husayni al-Qurayshi, and grant him rest in the abode of Paradise with the Prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous—what good company those are! We ask Allah not to deprive us of his reward, nor to lead us astray after him. May He honour the Shaykh with what he hoped for in martyrdom, and bestow upon him the reward and recompense, and grant his family and brothers solace.

The filthy cowards rejoice within the ranks of disbelief, carrying the banner of the cross, in a place where their sleep will be disturbed. For a generation has been born in the Islamic State that was raised on honour and pride, that does not accept humiliation; a generation that loves death more than the infidels love life. A generation that cast the world behind its back and placed its hope in what Allah has promised in the Hereafter. The blood of the shuyukh will only increase their steadfastness on the path of jihad and their determination to exact vengeance and brutally attack them.

Editorial (left-hand side) on page 3:

Rise and Die Upon That Which Your Brothers Died

The people of falsehood always try to make the death of the righteous, or their killing at the hands of the enemies of Islam among the mushrikeen [idolaters or polytheists] and murtadeen [apostates], appear to be a sign of the defeat for the muwahideen [strict monotheists]. But these foolish people do not realise that Allah has decreed a fixed term [of life] for every soul before the creation of the heavens and the earth. He said: “When their time comes, they cannot delay it by a single hour, nor can they advance it” [al-Araf: 34]. This rule of predestination applies equally to all people: no prophet, friend of Allah, infidel, or wretched soul is exempt from it.

These fools do not know that Allah preserves His deen [lifeway, i.e., Islam] however He wills. This deen will never cease to exist among people. Even if a calamity were to strike and the Prophet himself were killed, along with the best of the Companions, the deen would remain after them. Allah increases its strength, spreads it across the earth by His might, and chooses for its service righteous men who “do not fear the blame of any blamer. That is the favour of Allah that He bestows upon whom He wills” [Al-Maidah: 54].

As for the righteous, those who fear Allah with true fear and worship Him with true worship, their response when a righteous one among them dies is only to remind their brothers of what Abu Bakr al-Siddiq—may Allah be pleased with him—reminded his companions: “Whoever used to worship Muhammad, then Muhammad has indeed died. But whoever worships Allah, then Allah is Ever-Living and does not die.”

As for the mujahideen in the path of Allah, they are Allah’s chosen from His creation, those whom He selects from among His slaves to take from them martyrs and to test them with trials. The killing of their leaders and commanders, those who used to plunge into the thick of battle ahead of them, and who hurled themselves into destruction for the sake of their deen, only increases their steadfastness and courage in fighting the enemies of Allah. And their words are none other than the words of Anas ibn al-Nadr—may Allah be pleased with him—to the companions of the Messenger of Allah when he found them on the Day of Uhud, worn out by what they had heard from the idolaters’ propaganda claiming that the Messenger of Allah had been killed. He said: “What is making you sit?” They said: “The Messenger of Allah has been killed!” He said: “Then what will you do with life after him? Rise and die upon what the Messenger of Allah died upon!”

This is the Sunnah of the muwahideen in every time and place. Whenever one generation of them passes, another emerges, carrying the banner of monotheism [tawhid] and plunges anew into the ongoing furnace of the battle of Islam against shirk [idolatry] and its people. The motto of every one of them is always: “Rise and die upon that which your brothers who preceded you in iman [faith] died upon”.

The killing of our steadfast brothers who preceded us, like Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Adnani—may Allah accept him—does not harm Islam in the slightest, for it is preserved by the protection of Allah—exalted is He—and it does not harm our brothers in the least, for we consider them to have embarked on fighting in the path of Allah only in order to attain martyrdom, advancing [towards it] and not retreating. Allah the Exalted has said about them: “Never think those slain in the path of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving sustenance, rejoicing in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His bounty, jubilant for those who have not yet joined them that they have no cause for fear nor grief. They rejoice in the favour and bounty from Allah, and in the fact that Allah does not waste the reward of the believers” [Al-Imran: 169-171].

Indeed, their killing will not harm the Islamic State, by Allah’s permission, as long as it remains firm upon tawhid and the Sunnah. Allah will continue to bestow upon it men who enrage the hearts of the disbelievers and heal the hearts of believing people, just as He bestowed upon it men who established its foundations, raised its pillars, and elevated its structure, until it reached—by Allah’s grace—what it has attained today in honour and strength.

When the mushrikeen and apostates rejoiced at the killing of [IS’s founder] Shaykh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [in 2006]—may Allah accept him—it never occurred to them that Allah would appoint from among the shaykh’s soldiers and brothers those who would grind their noses into the ground and enrage their hearts, such as Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, may Allah accept him.

And today they rejoice at the killing of Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, may Allah accept him, but soon they will weep much when Allah appoints—by His permission—those who will subject them to the worst torment from among the soldiers of Abu Muhammad and his brothers.

“Verily, Allah will help those who will help Him. Indeed, Allah is Immensely Strong and Exalted in Might” [Al-Hajj: 40].