ji·had·ica

Abu Qatada Released

Abu Qatada, one of the most influential Jihadi ideologues, has just been released on bail in the U.K.  The Jordanian cleric is an extremely unsavory character and played a huge role in the development of contemporary takfirism.  Still, it’s a little over the top for Steven Wright of The Mail to claim this: Suspected Al Qaeda leader Abu Qatada is celebrating his release from prison with the release of a book in which he urges Muslims to commit terrorist attacks in the West. Abu Qatada has not written any book in a long time, so Wright must be referring to one of the many translations of his works that circulate online.  And sure enough, if you scroll to the very bottom of Wright’s article, you’ll find that Abu Qatada has not released a book at all; rather, Tibyan (an anonymous group that translates Jihadi texts into English) has translated one

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New Jihadi Magazine

A new Jihadi magazine has been released: Munasir (Defender).  It’s mostly a rehash of old material posted online, which is becoming a common trend.  Several years ago, there were fewer magazines, but they had a lot of original content. Now there are plenty of magazines, but very little original content. Document (Arabic): 6-19-08-monaser-magazine-issue-1

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Jihadi Observations Raid

Ekhlaas member Battar16 is calling others to participate in the awkwardly titled “Jihadi Observations Raid.” The object of the raid is to blast text messages (the “jihadi observations”) to people on their cell phones using Bluetooth. Battar16 has supplied two messages to kick off the campaign: The first, “Know the Truth” by the prolific Jihadi author Husayn b. Mahmud, is a short rundown of all the dastardly things the Jews are up to in the Middle East; it ranges from the creation of Freemasonry and the Baha’i religion to the bombardment of Nahr al-Barid. The second text is “They say…we say,” which employs a dialectic format and is very succinct. For example: They say: Where is Usama and his companions regarding Palestine! We say: Is Usama closer (to Palestine) or you with respect to the individual duty! [ie if you are closer to Palestine than Usama, then it is more

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A Jihadi By Any Other Name…

Ekhlaas member Brayif74 has posted a short summary of the recent Homeland Security memo on what to call Jihadis.  He notes that the new terms, like “terrorist” and “violent extremist,” are meant to discredit his comrades in the eyes of the public. What interested me about Brayif74’s post is not that he noticed the memo–Jihadis read a lot of Western news.  Rather, it’s that he is indifferent to the whole discussion.  The response from the forum members is muted as well.  That’s sort of how I feel about the issue. Document (Arabic): 6-18-08-ekhlaas-us-terminology-for-jihadis

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Response to Hamas Truce

There’s disagreement about the Israel-Hamas truce on Ekhlaas today.  Ekhlaas member Hafid al-Faruq thinks it squanders the blood of the martyrs who died to lift the siege.  Asad al-Islam counters that there is no harm in a truce as long as the mujahids accept it; after all, Bin Laden himself offered a truce to Europe.  Hafid counters that Bin Laden offered the truce to the Europeans from a position of strength. The rest of the responses line up with one or the other. Document (Arabic): 6-18-08-ekhlaas-response-to-hamas-truce

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Al-Qaeda and the Battle for Oil

Algihadya, an Egyptian Jihadi blogger, has posted an essay by Zadi al-Taqwa titled “Al-Qaeda and the Battle for Oil.” I don’t know where Zadi usually hangs his electronic hat, but his essay is making the rounds on the forums. Zadi argues that AQ has focused on attacking U.S. oil interests since its inception in 1998 because it understands that oil is vital to the U.S. economy, which it wants to damage. This is one of the main reasons it went into Iraq, where it could thwart U.S. plains to obtain cheap oil and where it could damage the oil infrastructure of a major oil producer. There is no mention of religious justifications or Prophetic precedents for attacking oil; it’s purely economic in Zadi’s analysis. According to Zadi, the price of oil is sky high today because of a variety of factors (quoting): 1) Reduction of the level of oil production

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New Issue of Sada al-Jihad

A new issue of Sada al-Jihad (Echo of Jihad) is out (issue number 26): Topics include: The Islamic State of Iraq and Distinguishing Jihad from Resistance Applying the Sharia…Whose Responsibility? Commanders Seeking Martyrdom: The Sunna and Principle (Behind It) The Crime of Killing a Muslim Individual The Two Agreements in Lebanon and Pakistan Are Not the Same Document (Arabic): 6-8-2008-firdaws-issue-26-of-sada-al-jihad

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Jihadi Book Club: Thirty-Six Stratagems

Firdaws forum member Sawt al-Firdaws (“Voice of Paradise”) has posted a series of audio commentaries on the Chinese book Thirty-Six Stratagems (or as he calls it, “Thirty-Six Chinese Strategies”). Sawt writes:

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Prospects for Jihadis in Lebanon

Mahan Abedin has a revealing interview with Omar Bakri Muhammad in Asia Times Online. Omar Bakri was the head of al-Muhajiroun, a Jihadi group in the U.K. Soon after the 7/7 attacks, he left the U.K. for his home country of Lebanon, where he settled in Tripoli and now directs the Iqra Islamic Trust. Since Omar Bakri is an old hand in the Jihadi movement and plugged into the militant scene in Lebanon, his speculation on the prospects for transnational Sunni militants there is worth considering. Omar Bakri doesn’t think Lebanon is a good environment for al-Qaeda for the following reasons:

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Al-Qaeda’s Ethics in War

An English-speaking woman, Umm Saad, has been translating some documents for the members of Ekhlaas. One of them is a story recounted by `Abd al-Rahman al-Faqir, a popular member of al-Hesbah. Faqir argues that what sets al-Qaeda apart from other insurgents is its obedience to Islamic law, even during warfare. To prove his point, he tells the story of an al-Qaeda commander (perhaps in Iraq) who schools a new recruit on the operational restrictions that Jihadis have to abide by. Of course, this doesn’t often happen on the ground, which is while al-Qaeda has been taking a public relations beating lately and why Faqir relates his story. Document (English): 6-11-2008-ekhlaas-abd-al-rahman-al-faqir-ethics-of-war-followed-by-al-qaeda

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