By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 17 March 2018
A statement attributed to Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the official spokesman of Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia (AQM), was released on 15 January 2006 that announced AQM was being merged with five other Salafi insurgent groups to create the Mujahideen Shura Council (al-Majlis Shura al-Mujahideen). A translation of the statement is produced below.
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,
All praise is due to Allah who commanded with al-jama’a [the group] and was pleased with its people, and said—and He is the truest of speakers—“Truly, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in a row as though they are a [single] solid structure joined firmly” [Qur’an 61:4].
And prayers and peace be upon the leader of the mujahideen, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and Companions, who followed his path, supported his Sunnah, and adhered to al-jama’a in their jihad and da’wa [proselytism].
As for what follows:
After the hordes of the Cross and their allies from among the Rafidites and secularists stormed the abode of the Caliphate—Baghdad—and struck the Muslims with a single bow, seeking the victory of their disbelief and the fulfilment of the dreams of their masters, the Jews. Over the past two-and-a-half-plus years, the events in the Land of the Two Rivers [Iraq] have fluctuated, and their pace has accelerated upwards, after Allah blessed the jihad of the small band of the vanguard of this umma, until we finally stand before a gathering of a multi-sided kufri [disbelieving] coalition of various [ideological] tendencies.
Thus, it became obligatory upon the muwahideen [(strict) monotheists, i.e., Salafists] from the people of the Sunnah and al-jama’a—those who chose the path of jihad and confrontation against the kuffar in all their forms and types—to unite in support of the truth, in mutual affection and love, rejecting shirk [idolatry], seeking an objective from which there is no neutrality nor retreat: “And fight them until there is no fitna and the deen is entirely for Allah” [2:193, 8:39].
How far apart is the unity of the people of truth and the gathering of the people of falsehood: the first is love and support for the deen, and the second is greed for a fleeting gain and hatred for the tawhid [monotheism] of the Lord of the Worlds.
The following jihad groups:
- Tanzim al-Qaeda fi Bilad al-Rafidayn [Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Land of the Two Rivers or AQM]
- Jaysh al-Taifa al-Mansura [The Army of the Victorious Sect]
- Saraya Ansar al-Tawhid [The Supporters of Monotheism Company]
- Saraya al-Jihad al-Islami [The Islamic Holy War Company]
- Saraya al-Ghuraba [The Strangers’ Company]
- Kataib al-Ahwal [The Horrors’ Battalions]
have decided to form a council under the name of al-Majlis Shura al-Mujahideen fi al-Iraq [The Mujahideen Shura Council in Iraq], in order to achieve the following legitimate demands:
First: To lead the struggle in the battle of confrontation [ma’raka al-muwajaha], to repel the assaulting kuffar and their apostate agents.
Second: To unify the word of the mujahideen and unify their ranks, fulfilling the obligation of clinging to the rope of Allah, responding to His saying: “And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided” [3:103], and rejecting division and discord in order to preserve strength, obeying His saying: “And do not dispute and [thus] lose courage and [then] your strength would depart” [8:46].
Third: To announce the clear manhaj [methodology] of Islam in the jihad against the kuffar, which does not lay down arms until the meaning of Allah’s saying is fulfilled: “And fight them until there is no fitna and the deen is entirely for Allah” [2:193, 8:39].
Fourth: To stand together in aligned ranks, following the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in jihad, to elevate the word of the deen, to defeat the banner of the mushrikeen [idolaters, polytheists], and to cut off the path of the apostate secularists and others among the agents of the assaulting kuffar from reaping the fruits of jihad and the efforts of those who sacrificed themselves in the path of Allah. For the mujahideen have well understood the lessons of history, and they will expend their utmost effort to fight anyone who attempts to jump to the forefront—in governance or otherwise—in order to prevent the establishment of the shari’a and the empowerment of the Muslims. The mujahideen know well what is being plotted against the umma, and they affirm their refusal to differentiate between an Arab or non-Arab taghut [rulers using man-made laws], for the taghut is the same, regardless of his nationality or affiliation.
Fifth: To establish a clear position regarding the events and current calamities, so that confusion is removed from the eyes of the people, and the truth is not confused with falsehood, and so that it is known that the truth has mujahid men just as falsehood has its supportive followers.
Sixth: We point out that this Council calls upon its mujahideen brothers to unite and cooperate and to align their ranks, and we remind that the door is open to anyone seeking to join and support it—to anyone seeking to support the deen and to attain the love of the Lord of the Worlds, as Allah said: “Truly, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in a row as though they are a [single] solid structure joined firmly” [61:4].
Likewise, the Council calls upon the Muslims in the land of the Two Rivers and beyond, to join the caravan of jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers, in support of their deen, in defence of the oppressed, in establishing Dar al-Islam [the Abode of Islam], and in implementing the shari’a of Allah upon His earth, as He said: “[There are] those who, if We establish them [in power] upon the earth, [will] establish prayer and give zakat and command good [al-ma’ruf] and forbid wrong [al-munkar]; and to Allah belongs the outcome of all matters” [22:41].
Majlis Shura al-Mujahideen fi al-Iraq
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