Category Archives: Jihadi Output

Islamist Clerics Give Permission to Work with Turkey Against ISIS and PKK

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By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on August 4, 2015

Just over a week ago, a new clerical body was formed, al-Majlis Shura Ahl al-ilm fil-Sham (Advisory Council of the People of Knowledge in Syria), which includes Islamists from within Syria and from outside. Among the notable foreigners are Umar al-Hadouchi, a Moroccan jihadi-salafist, and Muhammad Ould al-Dedew, a Mauritanian who is more in line with the Sururis. There is also Abdallah al-Muhaysini, the Saudi jihadi cleric who is very close to al-Qaeda’s leadership inside Syria. From among Syrians, there are two Ahrar al-Sham notables, Dr. Ayman al-Harush and Mohamed Ayman Aboul-Tout (Abu Abbas al-Shami); Sa’ad al-Uthman, the son of Abd al-Karim, a major figure in the Hama wing of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, and Ahmad al-Salum, a Sururi (an activist/political Salafi).

The Council’s first statement condemned the 25 July assassination of the Faylaq al-Sham commander Mazin al-Qassum by Islamic State (IS) operatives with Jund al-Aqsa, and demanded that all groups clarify their stance on IS and cleanse their ranks of IS agents and sympathizers. Today’s fatwa, “Concerning cooperation and coordination with the Turks in repelling Daesh and the PKK,” licensed Muslims to work with the Turkish government against IS and the PKK. The fatwa is reproduced below. Continue reading →

Islamic State Spokesman Calls For Immigration to the Caliphate, All Factions To Join

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By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on July 1, 2015

On June 23, 2015, the Islamic State (IS) spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani gave a speech, “O Our People, Respond to the Caller of Allah”. Al-Adnani, noting the coming of Ramadan, called on Muslims to journey to the caliphate, saying that hijra (emigration) in this month—and martyrdom—is the most blessed. Al-Adnani called on Muslims—specifically Iraqi Sunnis and Syrian rebel and Islamist insurgent groups—to unite around IS, which had no theological factions or ethnic distinctions among its membership, being the only pure expression of Islam, ruling by god’s law. Iraqi Sunni militias and Syrian rebels had betrayed the religion by seeking favour from, and even seeking alliance with, Western states. Al-Adnani threatened the town of Haditha, specifically the Jaghayfa clan, that if it surrendered now its repentance would be accepted, but if the town was overrun first then they would be slaughtered. Al-Adnani played heavily on the interlinked themes of anti-Shi’a sectarianism and the spreading influence of Iran and its proxies, repressing Sunnis. The old guard of the jihadi movement—clerics like Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi and al-Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (though neither are mentioned by name)—are attacked for not being on the battlefields. Al-Adnani also accepted the allegiance of the Russian-based faction that declared itself under the caliph’s authority, naming the group Wilayat al-Kavkaz. An English transcript of the speech was posted by IS and is reproduced below with some minor editions in transliteration and some interesting sections highlighted in bold. Continue reading →

Islamic State Claims the Attack on Muhammad Cartoon Event in Texas

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By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on May 22, 2015

Dabiq 9, page 4

The Islamic State released the ninth edition of Dabiq, its English-language magazine, on May 21, 2015. The Foreword, on pages 3 and 4, claims “credit” for the attempted terrorist attack against in Garland, Texas, on May 3. The two would-be killers, Elton Simpson and Nadir Hamid Soofi, were killed outside the Curtis Culwell Center, which was hosting a “draw (Prophet) Muhammad” cartoon contest, led by anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller, who was among the primary targets of the attack. The attack had been guided by Islamic State operative Junaid Hussain, a British hacker. The article is reproduced below with some edits for transliteration. Continue reading →

Islamic State Threatens Anti-Islam Activists, Claims A “Province” in America

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By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on May 6, 2015

Two American loyalists of the Islamic State, Elton Simpson and Nadir Hamid Soofi, were killed during an attempted attack—guided by the British Islamic State operative Junaid Husain—on the Curtis Culwell Centre in Garland, Texas, on 3 May 2015. The primary intent of Simpson and Soofi was to murder anti-Islam agitator Pamela Geller, who was among the chief sponsors of an event taking place in the Centre that day: The “First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest”.

A statement was circulated on 6 May 2017 by an American Islamic State supporter, “Abu Ibrahim al-Ameriki,” which claimed that Simpson and Soofi had been fully aware how well-guarded the Curtis Culwell Centre was but had intended “to show how easy we give our lives for the Sake of Allah”. Abu Ibrahim went on to threaten not only Geller but “[e]veryone who houses her events [or] gives her a platform”. Abu Ibrahim concluded by claiming that this attack was “only the beginning” of an Islamic State effort to establish a wilaya (province), as the Islamic State calls its foreign branches or affiliates, “in the heart of our enemy”. According to Abu Ibrahim, the Islamic State already has seventy-one “trained soldiers” in fifteen American states, including Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, California, and Michigan.

Abu Ibrahim’s full statement is reproduced below, with some important sections highlighted in bold. Continue reading →

Islamic State Spokesman Presents the Caliphate as Utopia, Says the Coalition War Against it is Failing

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By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on April 5, 2015

The spokesman of the Islamic State, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, gave a speech on 12 March 2015 entitled, “They Kill and Are Killed” (فيَقتلون ويُقتلون), a phrase drawn from the Qur’an [9:111]. A translation of the speech is given below.

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The Islamic State Officially Expands to Afghanistan

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By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 26 January 2015

The spokesman of the Islamic State (ISIS), Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, gave a speech today entitled, “Say, ‘Die in Your Rage’,” which is drawn from a Surah of the Qur’an [3:119]. The main announcement from Adnani is the acceptance of another wilayat (province), i.e. foreign branch of IS, this time in Afghanistan, led by Hafiz Saeed Khan, a former Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or “Pakistani Taliban” commander who broke away and formed a pro-ISIS faction in October. This follows the first declaration on this matter a month ago by IS’s caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, which accepted “provinces” from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, and Algeria. Adnani went on to make the foredoomed request that the Afghan jihadists “abandon disunity and factionalism” in order to join ISIS. Continue reading →

Jihadi Cleric Makes the Case for the Islamic State Leader as Caliph

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By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on January 8, 2015

Soon after the public emergence inside Syria of the then-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the spring of 2013, a treatise was published by the Bahraini jihadi scholar, Turki al-Binali, which is to date the only official biography of the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and piloted the idea that he was the caliph, i.e. the leader of Muslims worldwide. Al-Binali’s document, “Stretch [Out] the Hands to Give Allegiance to Al-Baghdadi”,[1] first published on August 5, 2013, would be amplified throughout late 2014 after ISIS declared that it had restored the caliphate last June and Abu Bakr took the mantle of caliph. An English translation of the document was produced on December 21, 2014, by someone using the name Ubaidullah ibn Adam al-Ibrahim on the pro-Islamic State Ansar al-Khilafa blog. It is reproduced below, with some editions for syntax and transliteration, to preserve it for study. Continue reading →

Al-Qaeda Issues Strategic Guidelines for Jihadist Warfare

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By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on January 7, 2015

Al-Qaeda’s emir, Ayman al-Zawahiri, released a document on 14 September 2013, entitled, Tawjihat ‘Amma lil-Amal al-Jihadi (توجيهات عامة للعمل الجهادي), variously translated as: “General Guidelines for the Work of Jihad” or “General Guidelines for Jihadist Action”. Al-Zawahiri’s document is reproduced below. Continue reading →

Former Islamic State Leader Advises on Jihadist Conduct

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By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on January 6, 2015

dabiq-6

The sixth edition of the Islamic State’s English-language magazine, Dabiq, published on 29 December 2014, reproduced a “speech” by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, entitled, “Advice for the Soldiers of the Islamic State”, which dates from 23 September 2007.[1] It is reproduced below with some editions in transliteration and some important sections highlighted in bold. Continue reading →

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Second Speech as Islamic State Leader

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By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on December 29, 2014

The current leader of the Islamic State (IS), Ibrahim al-Badri (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi), released his first “proper” speech on July 21, 2012. But this was, in fact, his second public statement: Al-Badri had mourned Usama bin Laden in an audio message released on 9 May 2011 and vowed “blood for blood and destruction for destruction”. The 2012 speech, entitled, “Allah Will Not Allow Except That His Light Should Be Perfected”, was released by Al-Furqan Media and an English transcript—reproduced below—was issued by Fursan al-Balagh Media. Some key parts are highlighted in bold.
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