بيشتر بخوانيد حالا به انگليسی بخوانيد... Abu Bakr al-Baghdadis Message as Caliph by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi Gatestone Institute July 2, 2014 meforum.org/4744/abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-message-as-caliph [F]ear Allah as he should be feared and do not die except as Muslims.... Go forth, O mujahidin in the path of Allah. Terrify the enemies of Allah and seek death.... for the dunyā [worldly life] will come to an end, and the hereafter will last forever. Abu Bakr al-Husayni al-Baghdadi, Caliph, The Islamic State [aka ISIS] Marking the beginning of Ramadan, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State (formerly ISIS: the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) and declared Caliph Ibrahim, released a new audio message addressed to the Muslim world. The new speech is most notable for being forthright about Baghdadis message on the global nature of the Islamic States struggle. Baghdadi touched on issues regarding the persecution of Muslims in Burma and the Philippines as well as the French restrictions on the wearing of the veil, and he responded to accusations that the Islamic State engages in irhab [terrorism]. Ominously, Baghdadi concluded his speech with aspirations for the Islamic States conquest of Rome and the whole world. Such emphasis on the transnational nature of the Islamic States project corroborates Baghdadis projection of himself as the caliph and sole representative of Islamic rule on earth to whom all Muslims must pledge allegiance. While these explicit proclamations, however, may come across as new in the Islamic States messaging, the reality is that emphasis on worldwide ambitions has actually been a part of the groups propaganda since at least last summer when it was still known as ISIS. This distinguished ISIS early on from its al-Qaida competitor Jabhat al-Nusra, which prefers a more gradualist approach of hearts and minds as advocated by jihadist thinker Abu Musab al-Suri. This approach aims to have locals first become accustomed to the norms of Sharia law, with ambitions for a global Caliphate not expressed openly except in unofficial videos primarily put out by members of Jabhat al-Nusras foreign contingent. Only more recently, in response to the dispute with ISIS, has Jabhat al-Nusra in any of its official media outlets explicitly affirmed the Caliphate ambition, specifically in Sharia official Sheikh Abu Sulayman al-Muhajirs interview featured this year by al-Basira media (an outlet set up by Jabhat al-Nusra to counter ISIS). In contrast, in a video released by ISIS media wing al-Furqan Media in August 2013, an elderly native Syrian fighter for ISIS, who had participated in the ISIS-led takeover of Mannagh airbase in Aleppo province, affirmed that jihad is farḍ ul-ayn [an obligation on every individual Muslim] and that it is necessary for an Islamic state to be established over the entire world, beginning with victory in Bilad ash-Sham [Syria]. Also within the realm of official media, one of ISIS early slogans was the promised project of the Caliphate, featured on a billboard ISIS erected in the northern Aleppo town of Azaz, bordering Turkey, after seizing control of it from a rival group -- Northern Storm -- in September. Elsewhere, one could observe long-standing ISIS billboards in Syria carrying statements like Together we cultivate the tree of the Caliphate and a Caliphate pleasing to the Lord is better than democracy pleasing to the West. Besides these explicit affirmations, Baghdadi was projecting himself as a de facto caliph, taking the names of al-Qurayshi (indicating descent from Muhammads tribe) and al-Husseyni (to indicate lineage from Muhammads family), enhancing legitimacy to claims of being a caliph. The reference to Rome in Baghdadis latest message might seem odd at first sight too, but that has also been part of Baghdadis de facto caliph image for months, as was apparent in his imposition of the dhimmi [second-class, tolerated non-Muslim residents] pact on Christians in Raqqa in March. Dhimmi status, in traditional theology as expounded in the Umdat al-Salik manual, is to be imposed by a caliph. ISIS official Raqqa province news feed expressed hope that tomorrow (not literally, but at some point in the future) the dhimmi pact would be imposed in Rome. While no one expects the vast majority of Muslims worldwide to migrate to Baghdadis state, or caliphate, in Iraq and Syria to build up from there to take over the whole world, the question does arise of what implications there are for Baghdadis project and how it plays out on the ground. The first implication is that these most explicit affirmations yet send a clear message to the other insurgent groups in Iraq in particular that there is no room for power-sharing, significantly increasing the prospect of wider fighting with groups like the Baathist Naqshbandi Army and the Islamic Army of Iraq, both of which have previously fought with ISIS predecessor, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). Optimists, however, who are hoping that the infighting might roll back the Islamic State are likely mistaken: the insurgency is significantly different from the days of the Iraq War, precisely because the insurgency is much more dominated by the Islamic State, which has vastly superior financial and arms resources spanning borders. The second implication is that, internationally, existing trends will most likely be strengthened: those already sympathetic to ISIS will be the ones most likely to heed Baghdadis call, including jihadists in Gaza, Sinai, Libya and most notably Tunisia. In contrast, the ever pro-Nusra Maldivian fighters and Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the latter of which has its own affiliated armed contingents in Syria, are predictably in opposition. At the same time, the Islamic States project, in actually existing on the ground with a network of contiguous strongholds and the workings of an actual state, can have wider ideological appeal, in contrast to an al-Qaida in the Afghanistan-Pakistan area that lacks the showings of real strength. If the Islamic State ultimately goes into decline, it looks as if it will happen only in years, not months. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University, a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, and a Shillman/Ginsburg Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum. His articles have been published, among other places, in the Middle East Quarterly, BBC News, al-Ayyam (Damascus), the American Spectator, Daily Star (Beirut), Haaretz, Jerusalem Post, and Kurdish Globe (Arbil, Iraqi Kurdistan). He has been widely cited in international media outlets for his insight on developments in Iraq and Syria, including Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, The Daily Telegraph, New York Times, and Washington Post.
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 22:45:38 +0000
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