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Jihadists React with Rhetoric to America’s Israel Embassy Move

1 DecamFri, 08 Dec 2017 09:52:35 -06002017-12-08T09:52:35-06:0009 2009 – 09:52

by Christopher W. Holton

Many believe that the best way to judge someone is not just by their friends, but by their enemies.

If that axiom is true, then America must be doing something right, because the lowest of the low in the human race are coming forth with their venom and threats in the wake of President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. will move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Just about every Jihadist organization on the planet has chimed in.

Before you assume that President Trump’s announcement will touch off attacks of retaliation, you should realize that all of these organizations have already carried out atrocities and attacks. Moving the embassy to Jerusalem will not change them. It merely draws them out into the open with their disgusting rhetoric:

• Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan “spokesman” Mohammad Khorasani issued a statement condemning President Trump’s decision and called for “all Muslims to unite against kufr (non-believers).”

• The founder and leader of the UN- designated terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed, Maulana Masood Azhar, released a threatening statement against President Trump’s decision.

• In a statement posted on on the Ikhwanonline.info website, the Muslim Brotherhood declared the U.S. an “enemy” and “Jerusalem is an Islamic and Arab land, for which we will shed our blood, freedom and life, and we fight every aggressor and every supporter of aggression. This is the way of our Jihad.”

• Al Qaeda released the following statement: “Recognition of Jerusalem as capital of the Zionist entity is blatant aggression by Crusader Trump against the sanctities of Muslims. The surest and shortest way to confront the aggression and arrogance of the Pharaoh of this age, the U.S., is Jihad in the Way of Allah, by targeting its vital interests and the interests of its Zionist and Crusader allies everywhere.”

• Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb: “We call on every mujahid to support the liberation of Palestine, the victory of the Palestinians to purge al-Aqsa of Jewish filth.”

• Kashmir-based Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind: “It is a duty upon Muslims to come forth with urgency and do everything needed to stop the madman sitting in the White House and stop him from dishonoring the sacred land of Bayt al-Maqdis and to storm and burn the embassies of the U.S. and Israel to demolish them. We urge honorable Muslims across the world to attack and harm U.S. and Israeli companies and financial and commercial interests. The honor of Bayt al-Maqdis will be restored by shedding the blood of Americans and Israelis. It is the duty of every Muslim, no matter where, to restore the honor of Bayt al-Maqdis. The Holy Land must be made the graveyard for Jews.”

• The Hasam Movement (Arms of Egypt Movement) released a written statement calling for an uprising in response to the decision.

• Hezbollah: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Nasrallah spoke and said that the most important reactions that must be made are a new Intifada and a new Arab summit. He also said the decision was a legitimate reason to target U.S. forces.

• Al Shabaab: “Trump’s decision to relocate the U.S. embassy is evidence of aggression against Islam and Muslims. We urge all Muslims to take up weapons and defend al-Aqsa from the American-backed Zionist occupation.”

• The Taliban: “The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns recognition of Muslims’ first Qibla Baital Maqdas, as the capital of occupying Israel by the president of America. We consider this anti-Muslim bigotry and a reckless step. The decision by Trump will fan the flames of conflict in the entire world, especially in the Middle East.”

By terrortrends | Posted in Al Qaeda, al Shabaab, Al Shahab, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Hezbollah, Israel, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Jihad, Muslim Brotherhood, Taliban | Also tagged al shabaab, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, Hasam Movement, Hezbollah, Jaish-e-Mohammed, muslim brotherhood, Taliban, Tehreek-i-Taliban | Comments (0)

What do the Islamic State and the Muslim Brotherhood Have in Common? Islamic Doctrine

1 DecpmWed, 06 Dec 2017 13:20:23 -06002017-12-06T13:20:23-06:0001 2009 – 13:20

by Christopher W. Holton

The folks over at the Clarion Project have a review of a new report published by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. The report is entitled: “Struggle Over Scripture: Charting the Rift Between Islamist Extremism and Mainstream Islam.”

On the one hand, the report recognizes the close affiliation between the ideas of the Islamic State and other violent Jihadists and the Muslim Brotherhood, which some describe as “Islamist” in that it promotes an Islamic political agenda.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the report refuses to recognize the “elephant in the room,” namely why the Islamic State and the Muslim Brotherhood are so closely aligned.

“The evidence now shows that there is considerable ideological overlap in how Islamic scripture is used by Islamists, like the Muslim Brotherhood, and violent jihadists, such as ISIS and Al Qaeda,” said Dr Emman El-Badawy, head of research at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

Clarion adds the following commentary:

The findings of the study about the close ideological connection between jihadists and the Muslim Brotherhood were borne out historically as well as noted in current events.

In the recently released CIA documents seized during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, papers show bin Laden’s ideology from the beginning was affiliated with the Brotherhood.

“I was committed to the Muslim Brotherhood, despite their limited curriculum,” bin Laden said in hand-written notes. “I was religious from a young age…There was no one guiding me like the Brotherhood was. It was just natural instinct.”

In a recent appearance, Palestinian-Jordanian historian Husni Ayesh, a former member of Jordan’s Board of Education, said ISIS and al-Qaeda developed from the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The leader of al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen also recently said in a statement that his group has formed alliances with other Sunni jihadists in the country, including the Muslim Brotherhood.

In addition, despite Hamas’ apparent attempt to distance itself from its own terrorist past and its parent body, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Brotherhood insists the two are still connected.

The report notes that claims by groups such as the Islamic State and Al Qaeda to have theological backing for their violence are going unchallenged by mainstream Islamic scholars.

Now we get to the crux of the matter.

First of all, let’s point out that the term “Islamist” is basically flawed redundancy because mainstream Islamic doctrine has no recognition of secular government or politics. It has always been assumed in Islamic history that the government must govern by Allah’s law.

We don’t object strenuously to the use of this term though because we do not believe it covers up anything and mainly because the Ayatollah Khomeini, certainly one of the most infamous Islamic leaders of all time on at least one occasion referred to himself as an “Islamist.” At TTB we don’t believe in making up terms to describe the enemy, but if the enemy uses a term himself, then we see no problem in its usage.

There is a reason why the Muslim Brotherhood’s philosophy is so close to that of the Islamic State and Al Qaeda and it has been known for decades to those paying attention: they all base their activities on Islamic doctrine.

It is mainstream Islamic doctrine that all Muslims must strive for the formation of the caliphate so that Allah’s religion is supreme over all other religions and so that Allah’s law rules over all (Allah’s law being shariah).This is not Jihadist ideology. It is not Islamist philosophy. It is mainstream Islamic doctrine, which forms the foundation for ideologies and philosophies. (More on the relationship between Islamic doctrine and Jihadist ideology in an upcoming article soon.)

The Islamic State, Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood are all fighting and working toward establishing a caliphate ruled by shariah. That is why they seem so similar in philosophy–they have the same doctrine and goal.

This is not new, though we welcome the Tony Blair Institute in recognizing it.

Now, this brings us to the question of why these groups’ justification for their actions are going “unchallenged by mainstream Islamic scholars.”

The reason is simple once again. No Islamic scholar can challenge their goals because their stated goals of establishing a caliphate and establishing rule by shariah is mainstream Islamic doctrine.

There is no disagreement. There may be disagreement on methodology from time to time but the doctrine is clear. And make no mistake, organizations like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State base all their actions with copious quotation and interpretation of Islamic scripture, either the Quran or the just as important Sunnah of Mohammed.

The Sunnah of Mohammed is the doctrine that the Prophet Mohammed was considered the perfect example for all Muslims to follow and all Muslims should do their best to emulate him in every way. The Sunnah of Mohammed comes from the Hadith (stories and sayings about his life) and the Sira, which is his biography.

Believe it or not, from a practical standpoint, the Sunnah of Mohammed is more important than even the Quran because there is simply not enough information in the Quran to learn to be a pious, devout Muslim. But the Quran does command Muslims to do as Mohammed did, so they go to the Hadith and the Sira to find out what to do.

Mohammed waged violent jihad–often. Mohammed killed Jews–on a mass scale. Mohammed married a 6 year old girl. Mohammed had multiple wives. Mohammed owned many slaves, including concumbines–Christian sex slaves. All of this is part of Islamic doctrine because Mohammed did it and no one is authorized to change that.

You won’t hear a mainstream Islamic scholar criticize anything Mohammed did. To do so would amount to apostasy, for which he can be put to death.

https://clarionproject.org/ideology-links-brotherhood-isis-tony-blair-study/

https://www.thenational.ae/world/islamic-scholars-failing-to-challenge-isil-narrative-1.681784

By terrortrends | Posted in Al Qaeda, ISIS, Islam, Islamic State, Jihad, Muslim Brotherhood, Quran, Sharia, Shariah | Also tagged Clarion Project, ISIS, Islamic State, muslim brotherhood, Sharia, Shariah, Tony Blair | Comments (0)

More on the Jihad Threat this Christmas and New Year’s Season

1 NovamThu, 30 Nov 2017 10:54:29 -06002017-11-30T10:54:29-06:0010 2009 – 10:54

by Christopher W. Holton

Christmas-markets_shutterstock_224875129_resized

Both the Islamic State and Al Qaeda have issued audio, video or online threats to attack the West this Christmas.

These threats focus on European population centers, such as Paris and London, and New York City in America, though the possibility of Jihadi attacks in other places in the West can certainly not be discounted. History has shown that places as diverse geographically as Brussels, Berlin and San Bernardino have all been targeted, especially at Christmas time.

Lone Wolf or Individual Jihad?

The possible attacks in the West could take the form of organized, planned attacks directed from Jihadi leaders overseas or inside Europe or America, or they could be carried out by individuals “inspired” by Jihadist ideology.

Ironically, very often, Western media and officials seem to take some form of weird comfort when a deadly attack ends up being the work of an individual jihadi, as opposed to an organized cell or affiliate of a known terrorist group.

In reality, the opposite should be the case.

First of all, none of the Jihadist groups–Islamic State, Al Qaeda, HAMAS, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, Lashkar e Taiba, Ansar al-Sharia, Abu Sayyef, Jemaah Islamiyeh–issue membership cards or wear uniforms. So a case can be made that classification of an attacker as “inspired” or “directed” could be a distinction without a difference.

But there is a difference between a cell such as the 19 hijackers who carried out the September 11 attacks after training and planning conducted by Al Qaeda’s leadership and infrastructure, and the husband and wife team who shot up a Christmas party of people they knew and worked with in San Bernardino. (Though it is vital that we understand that their acts are based on the same Islamic doctrine and they are tied together by the same Jihadist ideology.)

So which flavor of Jihadi is more dangerous?

If you’re on the receiving end of an attack, it makes no difference to you, but by casualty count, the cell would appear to pose a greater threat. On the other hand, the inspired attacks seem to happen much more frequently.

A case can be made that individual Jihadis pose a greater challenge for our intelligence and law enforcement communities.

Cells have to be organized, trained and communicated back and forth with. All of this provides opportunities for detection and even infiltration.

Individual jihadis don’t offer any of these potential vulnerabilities. One can infiltrate a cell, especially one in which members are using cell phones and email to contact each other and leaders elsewhere. How does one infiltrate one guy, like the Chattanooga, Tennessee shooter, the Orlando shooter or the Uzbeki vehicle jihad attacker in New York City?

If the individual jihadi isn’t communicating with others and no one is aware of his or her plans, how are our intelligence and law enforcement assets supposed to detect them “left of bang” (before the attack)?

Unfortunately, here in the West, and the U.S. in particular, we have failed to even properly identify the nature of the threat. A popular term in Western vernacular to describe the threat of individual jihad is the term “lone wolf.”

The term “lone wolf” does not appear in Islamic doctrine, nor is it part of any Jihadist group ideology.

What is part of Islamic doctrine and Jihadist ideology is the concept of Jihad as an individual obligation. So what we have been seeing around the world are acts of individual jihad based on Islamic doctrine and Jihadist ideology. Given the basis for these attacks, they are not “senseless violence.” We can explain and understand these attacks based upon Islamic doctrine and Jihadist ideology.

Most importantly, the wave of individual jihadi attacks in recent years is all part of plans articulated by Jihadi ideologues:

Successful jihad will only happen within an ummah [Islamic nation or community] in which the fighting creed is firmly established and clarified. This must happen in order to attain the “Revolutionary Jihadist Climate” that will spontaneously give rise to instruments of resistance.

Violent jihad is as an individual duty obligatory upon every Muslim. All the ulema have said this…”

The Call to Global Islamic Resistance
Abu Musab al-Suri
Al Qaeda propagandist
Captured in Pakistan 2005

We are now seeing this “Revolutionary Jihadist Climate” in the West as evidenced by the rise of seemingly spontaneous acts of Jihad carried out by individual Muslims with no known direct contacts with Jihadist organizations.

It is this threat that we are most likely to see this Christmas.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from your Local Jihadi

Warnings in Jihadist literature and on Jihadi social media aren’t meant to give us a heads up. They are meant to inspire individual Jihadis to rise up and attack, in this case during the Christmas season. If recent history is any indication, we will see an act of deadly jihad somewhere in the West as a result of these communications.

The Christmas and New Year season is a particularly high-risk period as it offers unusually large numbers of potentially high-value and high-casualty targets, not just in places like New York, London, Paris and Berlin, but in just about every major city in the West.

The holiday season brings large crowds at sporting events, Christmas celebrations and ceremonies, churches, parks, restaurants and other gathering locations. In addition, the holiday season is also characterized by high volumes of leisure travel leading to large numbers of travellers in airports and train depots. The vast number of potential targets makes it virtually impossible for homeland security and law enforcement agencies to deploy enough personnel to successfully prevent every possible attack.

The Western holiday season is particularly attractive to Islamic jihadists because any successful attack, even a minor one, becomes a propaganda victory that can inspire others to follow suit and aid in Jihadist organization recruitment (despite what the U.S. government has said, Jihadis don’t recruit based on the prison at Gitmo; they recruit based on their successful attacks).

Jihadists have repeatedly demonstrated their will and capacity to plan and execute attacks during high-profile events. The Nice (July 216), Berlin (December 2016) and Manchester (May 2017) attacks show how individual jihadis and small cells can successfully carry out mass-casualty attacks. Despite their resounding defeats in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State continues to benefit from supporters in the West, which means there is a greater risk of terrorist attacks in the West during the holiday season.

We are most likely to see vehicle jihad using large trucks, knife jihad (stabbings) and shooting attacks, but improvised explosive device (IED) attacks are certainly also a possibility using pressure cookers (Boston marathon bombing), fertilizer and diesel fuel (1993 World Trade Center bombing) or propane tanks (failed Time Square VBIED attack).

This is why intelligence services and foreign service offices continue to issue bulletins almost on a daily basis for Europe. As Christmas nears, we should expect to see such alerts issued for major events in the U.S. as well.

By terrortrends | Posted in airport security, Al Qaeda, Christmas threats, Europe, France, Great Britain, Homegrown Jihad, Homeland Security, IEDs, ISIS, Islamic State, Jihad, New York, Possible terror attack, terrorist plot, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, Vehicle Jihad | Also tagged Berlin, Christmas, Europe, ISIS, Islamic State, London, New Years, New York, Paris, Times Square | Comments (2)

The Muslim Brotherhood: the Grandfather of all Sunni Jihadist Groups

1 NovpmThu, 23 Nov 2017 16:51:42 -06002017-11-23T16:51:42-06:0004 2009 – 16:51

muslimbrotherhood2

posted by Christopher W. Holton

The Muslim Brotherhood is the forerunner of all modern Jihadist terror organizations: HAMAS, Al Qaeda, the Islamic State all can trace their origins to the Muslim Brotherhood.

In the case of HAMAS, it is in actuality THE Muslim Brotherhood in the West Bank and Gaza.

Islam provides the doctrinal basis for the Muslim Brotherhood and its modern offspring. But it is largely the Muslim Brotherhood and its ideologues–Qutb, al Banna and others–that provided the ideological underpinnings for Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and others.

Arab media is increasingly addressing the insidious role of the Muslim Brotherhood. The article excerpted and linked below would have been unheard of a dozen years ago.

The fight to uproot terrorism and extremism begins at its Muslim Brotherhood roots, with that organisation’s structure, doctrines and ideologues.

The US government has recently released to the public a large batch of documents that were recovered in the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011. What strikes one immediately, in these documents, is how the terrorist ideology that obsessed Bin Laden was rooted in Muslim Brotherhood ideology. The Al-Qaeda leader was steeped in the literature published by the Muslim Brotherhood’s founders and ideologues…

This phenomenon is hardly unique among prominent terrorists and their organisations. The Muslim Brotherhood had always served as the “incubator” and the primary school in which terrorists take their first steps towards embracing extremist thought and its violent applications. Leaders of such organisations as Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya and the Islamic Jihad in Egypt emerged directly from the folds of Muslim Brotherhood thought and practice. Among the star students were current Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahri, Mohamed Ata, who led that terrorist attack against the World Trade Center in New York on 11 September 2001, and the mastermind of the whole operation, Khaled Sheikh Mohamed. Although some of those individuals and organisations had their differences with the Muslim Brotherhood at some later juncture, their collective “jihadist” thought had its origins with the founders of the Muslim Brotherhood, whether in its first edition (Hassan Al-Banna) or its second edition (Sayed Qotb). While Qotb is always regarded as the father of contemporary terrorists, his ideas and outlooks can be traced to Al-Banna and the birth of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928.

Read the rest of this important article…

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/23056.aspx

By terrortrends | Posted in Al Qaeda, Egypt, HAMAS, ISIS, Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood, Uncategorized | Also tagged HAMAS, ISIS, Islamic State, Jihad, muslim brotherhood, terrorism | Comments (1)

British step up counterterrorism measures as threat of jihad looms

1 NovpmThu, 23 Nov 2017 16:23:13 -06002017-11-23T16:23:13-06:0004 2009 – 16:23

posted by Christopher W. Holton

British security services are preparing a new crackdown on terrorism as the threat against the UK continues to grow.

Ben Wallace, the security minister, said a total of eight planned attacks have now been thwarted since the Isis-inspired massacre in Westminster in March, bringing the total to 21 since 2013.

“Nearly 600 investigative leads are ongoing, covering about 3,000 people and approximately another 20,000 people who we have at some stage had concern about,” he told the Westminster Counter-terrorism Conference.

Around 850 people travelled from the UK to join Isis and al-Qaeda in Syria, with 15 per cent killed and half returned home, according to Government figures.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-terror-attacks-isis-threat-rising-new-terrorism-strategy-propaganda-online-islamic-state-a8072641.html

By terrortrends | Posted in Al Qaeda, Great Britain, ISIS, Islamic State, Jihad, terrorist plot, United Kingdom | Also tagged ISIS, Islamic State, Jihad, terrorism, UK, United Kingdom | Comments (0)

And Now Jihad in Australia…

1 JunpmMon, 05 Jun 2017 19:17:00 -06002017-06-05T19:17:00-06:0007 2009 – 19:17

Jihadist Yacqub Khayre, KIA by Australian police

by Christopher Holton

We can now add Melbourne, Australia to the long list of Western cities victimized by jihad during the Muslim “holy” month of Ramadan.

Late yesterday afternoon, Yacqub Khayre, 29, an Australian citizen of Somali descent–who came to Australia as a child refugee at the age of 4–killed one innocent victim and took another hostage before being killed by police in a shootout and siege that lasted some 2 hours.

Khayre killed a Chinese-Australian man in the lobby of an apartment building in the affluent Brighton area of Melbourne. He then took a woman hostage in the building. Within two hours he was shot dead by police after opening fire on them.

Initial reports of the incident indicated that it was not “terrorist-related,” however those reports turned out to be inaccurate.

It turns out that Khayre called a local television station during the stand-off stating, “This is for the Islamic State, this is for Al-Qaeda.”

Subsequently, the Islamic State media arm, Amaq, claimed credit for the attack, stating,””The executor of the Melbourne attack in Australia is a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried out the attack in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition states.”

Once again, it turns out that Yacqub Khayre was known to authorities, had a long history of violence, had previously been charged with a terror offense but acquitted and was known to have connections in the past, with “violent extremists,” (which is of course a misnomer for Jihadists)

By terrortrends | Posted in Al Qaeda, Australia, Hostage taking, Islamic State, Kidnapping & Hostage-taking, Terrorist attack | Also tagged Australia, Brighton, Islamic State, Melbourne, Refugee, Yacqub Khayre | Comments (0)

Homeland Security Advisory Council: Covering for the Enemy Threat Doctrine

1 JunpmSat, 18 Jun 2016 18:19:59 -06002016-06-18T18:19:59-06:0006 2009 – 18:19

by Christopher W. Holton

America is at war and we continue to be prevented from identifying and understanding our enemies as a result of influence operations targeting our bureaucratized counterterrorism apparatus.

The latest evidence of this long-standing and, unfortunately, very effective influence campaign comes from the revelation that the “Countering Violent Extremism Subcommittee” of the Homeland Security Advisory Council to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued a recommendation that urges rejecting use of Islamic terms such as “jihad” and “shariah” in communications about the threats that we face….

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/homeland-security-report-calls-rejecting-terms-jihad-sharia/

This is nothing new. We have heard CIA director John Brennan reject the term “jihadist” and the State Department under Condoleezza Rice rejected the use of the term as well.

We have covered the damaging efforts by our enemies to prevent the actual correct use of the term “jihad” extensively here on Terror Trends Bulletin in the past…

https://terrortrendsbulletin.com/2013/01/13/cairs-new-disinformation-campaign-on-jihad/

But the effort to suppress even mere mention of the word “shariah” is actually much more damaging than the suppression of the word “jihad.” That’s because shariah is THE enemy threat doctrine.

To understand our enemies, their motivations, their intentions and their strategy, one must study shariah. Shariah is everything to the jihadists. It is the code that they follow and its full implementation is their goal.

Forbidding the use of the term shariah, much less suppressing study of shariah in the present conflict is the equivalent of forbidding intelligence agencies from studying Mein Kampf in World War II or the works and words of Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Mao during the Cold War.

Anyone who would recommend that we avoid studying and talking about shariah simply must have a nefarious purpose.

By way of review, shariah is Islamic law. The terms shariah and Islamic law are completely interchangeable; they refer to exactly the same thing. Shariah is an immutable theo-political-legal-military code derived from the Islamic doctrinal trilogy, made up of the Quran, the Sirah (the biography of the prophet Mohammed) and the Hadith (traditions, sayings and stories compiled about the life of Mohammed).

Every single Jihadist terrorist group in the world–without exception–has as its stated goal the imposition of shariah: the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, HAMAS, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Lashkar e Taiba, Abu Sayyef, Jemaah Islamiyah, Boko Haram, the Taliban, Al Shabaab–all of them.

So, while the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be carefully avoiding the use of the term shariah, our enemies have been using it quite commonly, frequently and prominently, as if to illustrate the absurdity of the DHS recommendation.

What follows is a compilation of quotes from jihadi leaders and Al Qaeda and Islamic State documents that reveal the central importance of shariah to their movement. This is why Americans must familiarize themselves with shariah.

SHARIAH ACCORDING TO THE JIHADISTS THEMSELVES

• The sharia has forbidden us from taking infidels as confidants, inducting them into our secrets.
• The sharia forbids us from appointing infidels to important posts.
• The sharia forbids us from adopting or praising the beliefs and views of the infidels.
• The sharia forbids us from assisting infidels against Muslims; even the one who is coerced has o excuse to fight under the banner of infidels.
• The sharia commands us to battle infidels—both original infidels and apostates, as well as hypocrites. As for waging jihad against the infidels who have usurped the lands of Islam, this is a duty considered second only to faith, by ulemaic consensus.
• The sharia does not accept the excuses made by hypocrites—that they befriend the infidels because they fear the vicissitudes of time.
• We are duty-bound by the sharia to help Muslims overcome the infidels.

Ayman al-Zawahiri
Al Qaeda leader

Osama bin Laden (L) sits with his eventual successor Ayman al-Zawahiri

Democracy is based on the principle of the power of creatures over other creatures, and rejects the principle of God’s absolute power over all creatures; it is also based on the idea the men’s desires, whatever they may be, replace God absolutely, and on the refusal to obey God’s law. In Islam, when there is a disagreement or a difference of opinion, one refers to God, his Prophet, and the commands of sharia.

Ayman al-Zawahiri
Al Qaeda leader

Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah

From the point of view of ideology and sharia, we are required to establish God’s rule over any part of this earth, regardless of particularities and details. This can only happen, however, if the nation adopts this ideology and safeguards it.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
Leader of Hezbollah

The laws of the shari’a embrace a diverse body of laws and regulations, which amounts to a complete social system. In this system of laws, all the needs of man have been met: his dealings with his neighbors, fellow citizens, and clan, as well as children and relatives; the concerns of private and material life; regulations concerning war and peace and intercourse with other nations; penal and commercial law; and regulations pertaining to trade and agriculture.

Ayatollah Khomeini
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic
Of Iran 1979-1989

Reason also dictates that we establish a government in order to be able to ward off aggression and to defend the honor of the Muslims in case of attack. The shari’a, for its part, instructs us to be constantly ready to defend ourselves against those who wish to attack us.

Ayatollah Khomeini
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic
Of Iran 1979-1989

It will be the duty of the Muslims to engage in an armed jihad against the ruling group in order to make the policies ruling society and the norms of government conform to the principles and ordinances of Islam.

Ayatollah Khomeini
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic
Of Iran 1979-1989

Regarding which shared understandings, exactly, is it possible that we agree with the immoral West?… What commonalities, if our foundations contradict, rendering useless the shared extremities—if they even exist? For practically everything valued by the immoral West is condemned under sharia law. As for this atmosphere of shared understandings, what evidence is there for Muslims to strive for this? What did the Prophet, the Companions after him, and the righteous forebears do? Did they wage jihad against infidels, attacking them all over earth, in order to place them under the suzerainty of Islam in great humility and submission? Or did they send messages to discover “shared understandings” between themselves and the infidels in order that they may reach an understanding whereby universal peace, security, and natural relations would spread—in such a satanic manner as this? The sharia provides a true and just path, securing Muslims, and providing peace to the world.

… Offensive Jihadis (are) an established and basic tenet of this religion. It is a religious duty rejected only by the most deluded. So how can they call off this religious obligation [Offensive Jihad], while imploring the West to understandings and talks “under the umbrella of justice, morality, and rights”? The essence of all this comes from right inside the halls of the United Nations, instead of the Divine foundations that are built upon hating the infidels, repudiating them with tongue and teeth till they embrace Islam or pay the jizya [tribute] with willing submission and humility… Muslims, and especially the learned among them, should spread sharia law to the world—that and nothing else. Not laws under the “umbrella of justice, morality, and rights” as understood by the masses. No, the sharia of Islam is the foundation.

They say that our sharia does not impose our particular beliefs upon others; this is a false assertion. For it is, in fact , part of our religion to impose our particular beliefs upon others.

Thus whoever refuses the principle of terror[ism] against the enemy also refuses the commandment of Allah the Exalted, the Most High, and His sharia.

Osama Bin Laden

Succession, establishment, and safety – a promise from Allah reserved for the Muslims…is not simply kingship, subjugation, dominance, and rule. Rather, succession is to utilize all that for the purpose of compelling the people to do what the Sharia (Allah’s law) requires of them concerning their interests in the hereafter and worldly life, which can only be achieved by carrying out the command of Allah, establishing His religion, and referring to His law for judgment.

“This is the Promise of Allah”
Islamic State Al Hayat Media Center
2014

…terrorism is to disbelieve in those slogans and to believe in Allah. Terrorism is to refer to Allah’s law for judgment. Terrorism is to worship Allah as He ordered you.

“A Message to Mujahidin and the Muslim Ummah in the Month of Ramadan”
Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

So seek shelter – after Allah – with the Islamic State. What do you wait for after the truth has become clearer than the day and after the spiteful Rāfidah exposed their reality? Here they are today slaughtering everyone considered from Ahlus-Sunnah in Baghdad and elsewhere. No one was saved from them, even their allies, supporters, aids, tails, and dogs from the apostates who had once belonged to Ahlus-Sunnah, those in the Sahwah, army, police, and elsewhere, those whom the evil scholars confused into fleeing the implementation of Allah’s law in the territory of the Islamic State. So they became homeless, humiliated, fearful, and worrisome of the Rāfidah’s cruelty, whereas the Muslims live in the territory of the Islamic State with might and honor, secure by Allah’s bounty alone, with a life of comfort, going about the affairs of their business, livelihood, and trade, enjoying the grace of living under the rule of their Lord’s law, and all praise and grace is Allah’s. Therefore, O Muslims, seek shelter – after Allah – with the Islamic State.

Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Speech recorded on 14 May 2015

Indeed, every Muslim is intended by this war. And he is obliged to defend the religion of Allah and His Sharī‟ah…There is no good in living if we do not live under the rule of Allah and in the shade of His Sharī‟ah. And how sweet a death it is to die while supporting Allah‟s religion and defending His Sharī‟ah and His rule.

Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Speech delivered December 2015

The religion of Allah, the Exalted, will not be implemented, and this goal cannot be achieved, for which Allah created us, except by the implementation of the Sharia of Allah, and appealing to him, and the application of Islamic law. This can only be achieved by force and power.

Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Sermon delivered July 2014

The death of a single Muslim, no matter his role in society, is more grave to the believer than the massacre of every kāfir on earth. And while the Sharī’ah calls for the invasion of all kāfir lands, certainly the aggressors are dealt with before those nations not actively waging war against the Khilāfah. This is an obvious reality. Any disbeliever standing in the way of the Islamic State will be killed, without pity or remorse, until governance is entirely for Allah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 14

Democracy is a religion that gives supreme authority to people rather than Allah In it, the right to legislate is distributed amongst mankind so that they thereby determine what laws are to be ruled by in the lands. If the majority decide sodomy is legal, it is legalized even though it contradicts Allah’s Sharī’ah. And if the majority decide to illegalize sodomy, it is made illegal, not because it is Allah’s legislation, but because supreme power is that of mankind, above and beyond the authority of Allah! How wicked a religion is one where all its members consider themselves “gods” besides Allah!

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 14

Jihad in this era is an obligation upon each and every Muslim as numerous
lands of the Muslims have been usurped by the kufār and numerous parties of apostasy have arisen therein. Until all these lands are retaken, cleansed of apostates, and ruled by the Sharī’ah, the obligation does not drop.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 14

We clarify to all that the Islamic State’s position is clear concerning the ruling on these factions, and it is that they are groups that have apostatized from the religion of Allah and have committed numerous deeds that have nullified the fundamentals of the religion. From amongst these deeds is that they fight a state that rules by the Sharī’ah of Allah while these factions are in one trench and one coalition with other factions that have resisted the implementation of the Shari’ah and declared their efforts to build a ‘democratic, civil, pluralistic’ state that removes the law of Allah from the lands of the Islamic State and replaces it with jāhilī laws. All this is done with support and direct air cover from the American-led crusader coalition that only strives to destroy the mission of the Khilāfah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 13

So adhere to and be diligent in obedience and don’t get tired. Listen both in times of dislike and delight, Unless the leader’s order is against the Sharī’ah, for there is no obedience to the leader in such.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

We likewise renew our call to the soldiers of the factions in Shām and Libya. We call on them to think long before embarking to ght the Islamic State, which rules by that which Allah revealed. Remember, O you afflicted by fitnah, before embarking to fight the Islamic State, that there is no place on the face of the Earth where the Sharī’ah of Allah is implemented and the rule is entirely for Allah except for the lands of the Islamic State. Remember that if you were able to capture one hand span, one village, or one city from it, the law of Allah in that area would be replaced with the laws of men. Then ask yourself, ‘What is the ruling on someone who replaces or is a cause for the replacement of the law of Allah with the law of man?’ Yes, you commit kufr by such. So beware, for by fighting the Islamic State you fall into kufr whether you realize it or not.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

Then the Sharī’ah of Islam came and deemed a specific number of wives that no Muslim is allowed to exceed, that number being four. As for concubines, then there is no limit.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

And isn’t polygamy a part of this Sharī’ah? Know then that the One who has honored the Muslim woman and has given her rights that protect her from the plots of the wicked is the very One who has permitted for the man to marry those that please him of women. And based on that, it is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to argue concerning the Sharī’ah of Allah.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

…the Islamic State will continue to strike Russia until Sharī’ah returns to all the lands of the Muslims usurped by the crusader Russians and until Russia pays the jizyah in humiliation.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 12

…we reassure the Muslims in the eastern and western extents of the Earth that Libya will not be ruled except by Allah’s Sharī’ah and that the Islamic State by Allah’s grace will pave its way quickly towards consolidation and expansion.

Islamic State Dabiq magazine
No. 11