ISIS Are Among Us: From Puppets in The Hands Of The Government To Rebels Against It All eyes have turned towards Bahrain as news emerged about Bahraini citizens drifting through the current of fiery events in the Middle East, with the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as ISIS taking the spotlight after seizing swathes of land in Iraq and Syria. Reports from both these countries have shown that there is a considerable rise in participation of Bahraini Jihadists1 in the terrorist groups operations, which has announced the establishment of an Islamic caliphate. About 7 Bahrainis were killed this year, 2014, in ISIS ranks along with six others who died in 2012 and 2013, during battles alongside offshoot extremist groups such as Nusra Front. Thus, the total number of Bahrainis killed since foreign militants began to join fighting in Syria and Iraq reached thirteen.2 It seemed noteworthy what Jihadi websites mentioned about a Bahrainis death in a targeted airstrike in Iraq (October 14th 2014). It was Ahmad Abdurrahman Shihab Ahmad Shihab, nicknamed as Abdurrahman Al-Sharqi, who was already added to the United States blacklist in 2012.He was one of the influential leaders in Al-Qaeda, as he was in charge of the foreign affairs of Afghanistans Al-Qaeda, i.e. similar to a foreign minister. On February 28th of this year, Jihadi social media accounts celebrated the arrival of Turki Al-Binali (30 years old) to Syria via Iraq, after tweeting Heading to Jihad in Syria on his Twitter account. Only a few weeks passed before it was revealed that he held a high-rank position in ISIS leadership; for he represents one of the three sides of the Legitimate Triangle responsible for issuing the groups Fatwas, alongside Abu Bakr Al-Qahtani (Saudi) and Othman Al Nazeh Al-Osayri (Saudi).Cole Bunzel, a PhD candidate at Princeton, described him as the Islamic Statesmost effective voice. The significance that Binali, who comes from a clan having close ties to the Al Khalifa Bahraini ruling family along which it traveled from Al-Zabara to Bahrain in 1783, has in the ranks of the extremist organization was underlined after his appearance (in July 2014) in a video, showing him teaching worshipers in one of the mosques of Syrias ISIS-controlled Raqqa province, the pledge of allegiance to the Baghdadi, who declared himself the Prince of Believers. As many of Al-Binalis publications gained popularity, the magnitude of his influence within the groups intellectual network emerged, some of which are: Raise your hands to pledge allegiance to Al-Baghdadi (2013)3, Obligations of joining the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (2013),The permissibility of declaring the caliphate before the achievement of full political capability (2014), Wording of Al-Adnani interpretation: The Islamic State catapult (2014),Demonstrating the arguments showing the difference between the men of the Islamic State and the Kharijites (2014), Brief statement on requesting the emirate rule (2014), and other works which he published after his arrival to Syria. His great intellectual influence within the ranks of the new group of Jihadists joining ISIS caught the attention of prominent theorists in the Jihadi Salafi movement, such as Abu Qatada Al-Filistini and his leader Asem Al-Barqawi, known as Abu Mohammed Al-Maqdesi, Omar Al-Hadoushi, Hani Al-Sibai, Tariq Abdulhalim, Abu Basir Al-Tartusi, Adam Ghaddan and Iyad Qenaybi, who reacted to his rising fame with reservation. Then they distributed publications in different times of this year, contesting and renouncing him. They blame him for many actions committed by ISIS, which they consider have marred the image of Islam and Jihad. Nonetheless, none of them were able to put an end to Al-Binalis power, who seemed to have cut all links to his previous Sheikhs (i.e. mentors) of Jihadist ideology, inclining towards another new version he has originated. He inked responses, regarded as extremely self-centered4 and arrogant. This could be seen in his response to Abu Qatada in his publication, entitled The Benefits of refuting Abu Qatada (April 29th 2014). Commenting on the latters statement, describing ISIS militants as Dogs of Hell, he said I see that Sheikh Abu Qatada Al-Filistini following these remarks of his-if proven- should be treated as misled scholars are treated (...) He has been misled after entering prison, so his Fatwas issued before he was misled-which conform with the truth-are accepted and the ones issued after that are not. He responded as well to his mentor Al-Maqdesi to whom he owes his position as Mufti in The Tawhid and Jihad Platform and as his successor in the Fatwa Committee, as he claims, saying in his book entitled My former Sheikh, we now go our separate ways (May 31st 2014), You are contesting and renouncing me without any reason! Todays Abu Sufyan is the same as yesterdays, as for my allegiance to the Islamic State, it is not something new (...) your stance towards it has, however, changed. So why the change of heart!. Jihadists Subject to the Authority Bahraini security forces have always boasted in front of foreign diplomats having control over the extremist Sunni ideology, which they depend on in order to build a wall of ethnic segregation to shun calls for democratic change. The events of February 14th 2011 represent a perfect workshop for testing the level of the authoritys efficacy in investing the policies of control and programming in favor of extremist Sunni groups. Reviewing the positions taken by the Jihadist movements two pillars in the Bahraini arena, Turki Al-Binali himself and Sheikh Adel Hassan Al-Hamad, the level of compliance to policies of control adopted by the authorities is shown. Here, we exclude from the examination, conventional Sunni movements, like Al-Asala Salafist group, the Brotherhood and the Assembly of National Unity, whose reconciliation with the authorities is an undisputable matter. Al-Binali drew a stance from the February 14 events, conforming greatly to the governments propaganda. A video of him dating back to March 15th 2011, one day before Saudi-backed Bahraini forces evacuated Pearl Square from protesters, shows to what extent he was involved in pro-government rallies, which represented a protective shield for the Busaiteen, which is a Sunni stronghold in eastern Manama, on the eve of what was known as the Busaiteen girl incident. Activists posted a video showing a pro-regime young woman running over a protester in the financial harbor neighborhood. State-run media outlets began to spread a rumor that the Shiites are planning to take revenge. In response to that, Al-Binali stood upon a platform during a pro-government rally, where demonstrators carried pictures of King Hamad along with swords and canes, and delivered a speech, saying: Whoever assaults you, assault him as he assaulted you. In an improvised speech, entitled Guiding and aiding Sunnis and Tawhid, he went on to say, amid chants of Allah is Great and pro-regime slogans, If we defend the honor of our women, our money, our roles and ourselves, then we are doing so to please Allah, the Almighty. Although Al-Binali issued a statement in which he declared that the government has associated partners with God by its rule and judiciary as Rafidis (Shiites) associated partners with God by their worship and rituals, he didnt mind supporting its security measures taken against the opposition. He even denounced what he described as leniency on the part of the government opposed to its strictness that it exercises on its own kin meaning the Sunnis. He also expressed in an article, entitled Between Qurmozi verses and Quranic verses which he posted on a special forum linked to the Al-Binali clan (July 14th 2014), his extreme opposition to the authorities release of the poet Ayat Al-Qurmozi, who was thrown in jail for three months over a poem she wrote that ridiculed the prime minister. Today, we are seeing and witnessing: that sentences are being implemented against the most honorable people of righteousness and religion, while exempting the most dishonorable, the lowest and most despicable people, she said. In this context, he added that the worthless, shameless people criticize who they please, whenever they please and by any means they please, without being watched or held accountable, while all eyes are cast towards the kin. The shackles of steel are for the Sunnis and people of Tawhid, yet the family of Qurmos and the sons of Kesra and Hormoz are granted amnesty and wellbeing, and are treated with utter friendliness! Al-Binali admits as well that there are common interests with the government; for if those who are aggrieved are the Shiites, then let Allah punish the oppressor by another oppressor. He also says in a statement, entitled Guidance of couchant lions if the rulers clash with the Rafidis (2011), We shall not advocate the Rafidis against the apostate rulers, and we shall not advocate the apostate rulers against the Rafidis. Let Allah punish the oppressors by other oppressors, unless one of them aims his rifle towards the Sunni public, then we shall stop him, even if it benefited the other party, because this is a matter of met interests between different camps. A Jihadist who has never mentioned his oppressor Since Al-Binali refrained from overtly issuing statements critical of the government during his stay in Bahrain, he was taken out from the circle of Al-Qaeda theorists linked to Al-Zawahiri. Doubts were also raised over why the Bahraini authorities turned a blind eye to his activities, despite his claims that he was pursued. The extremist preacher Tariq Abdulhalim (April 30th 2014) said: Where is this shameless man who encroached upon, the religion of Ibrahim; he has not uttered a word against his oppressor and leader the king of Bahrain to this day. Al-Binali travels across the world, safely and securely. Why not? For he has never mentioned, by name, his oppressor until this day, until this moment, not a single bad word, even when he gained prominence in Syria, he added. The truth is that Al-Binali previously worked as a religious education school teacher in Bahraini official schools (Omar Bin Abdelaziz School in Al-Hala city); over the past four years, which clearly assures that he was moving about smoothly in the country. He has traveled to Libya as well following the fall of Gadhafis regime. Many videos uploaded to YouTube shows his meetings with Jihadists in the city of Sert, where he delivered a series of lectures. He also flew to Morocco in order to preach and to Abyan in Yemen when Al-Qaeda militants gained control over some of its regions.He traveled to Syria at least twice since the launch of battles at the end of August 2013. His published messages in the first months of 2013, which he uses to finish with the phrase The blessed land of the Levant. He returned to Bahrain before announcing his final travel to the State of the caliphate in February 2014. Even after being banned from entering some Arab countries in preceding years, such as Tunisia, Egypt, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, he still had the freedom to travel from and to Bahrain until the beginning of 2014. It wasnt limited to his freedom to travel, he also freely expressed again and time again his inclination to Al-Qaeda. Al-Binali himself also admits in an article under an alias5 holding his stamp mark (October 20th 2013), in response to a series of accusations, that he on the level of Gulf countries, there is some sort of freedom in Bahrain and Kuwait which doesnt exist in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. He then explains why the authorities overlooked his activities, saying that since the Shiite revolution in Bahrain was launched, the Bahraini government focused all of its efforts and arrows towards the Shiites, and turned a blind eye to the activities of the followers of this movement, including Sheikh Turki Al-Binali, and this is what some people dont understand. This explanation is absolutely in accordance with the fact that the authorities refrained from questioning him about his appearances in rallies where Al-Qaeda flags were carried and his close connections to the leaders of The global Jihadi movement which he explicitly speaks of in his publications. Turki Al-Binali mentioned in one of his messages an incident holding significant indications that is when he interceded for a Christian in Saudi Arabia who was caught by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, after receiving a request from his leader Al-Maqdesi. In this respect, he stated: By Allah, if my Sheikh (leader) told me to free an army of Christians, I would have done that for him. The group leaders released him because of that. In another incident, Al-Binali made a speech in a pro-government rally (September 14th 2012) outside the US embassy in Manama, protesting the production of a movie by an American citizen of Egyptian origin, a Coptic, which was deemed insulting to the Prophet. He spoke before masked protesters, carrying Al-Qaeda flags and chanting: Obama, Obama, we are all Osama today. He warned that it is not acceptable to claim that you are criticizing what the Americans are doing by insulting the Prophet, and then not follow the Sharia. In 2012, Al-Binali welcomed the preacher Al-Hajaj Al-Ajami, who was added to the list of funders of terrorism in Iraq and Syria by the UN Security Council and US Treasury Department in August 2014, in his home in the Busaiteen, for the purpose of raising money for foreign fighters in Syria.The Al-Hayat newspaper which is close to the Saudi royal family, revealed in a report in advance (February 25th 2013) that one of the most prominent leaders of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant organization is a Bahraini known as Abu Hammam Al-Athri. At that time, he hadnt yet announced that he was leaving Bahrain. It doesnt seem that Al-Binali was questioned about any of these activities. The last interrogation he was subjected to, which he himself admitted, dates back to 2007, in regard to what was known as the Saqeefa cell with which he was accused of issuing Takfiri statements. He was then released after talks with Salafi Sheikhs having close ties with the Saudi religious institution, which the prison officers organized for him.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 22:45:00 +0000
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