The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
A featured article in the current issue of the "Voice of Khurasan," an English-language monthly magazine published by Al-Azaim Media Foundation, a media outlet linked to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which defines itself as a supporting entity for the Islamic State (ISIS), discusses the mission of slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the origins of the Islamic State (ISIS), and seeks to answer allegations against the Islamic State.
The article, "On The Path Of Being A Faithful Servant – 6," is Part Six of a series that eulogizes jihadi fighters. The article appears in Issue 39 of the magazine, which is dated Rabi-ul-Awwal 1446, in the Hijri calendar, which corresponds with the lunar month beginning September 4, 2024.[1]
Part Five of this series, which eulogized bin Laden, stated: "Osama risked burning like a candle to illuminate his surroundings. Those who strip religion of its seriousness, who abolish the concept of jihad and enslave Muslims, should not forget that their masters will be humiliated with the help of Allah."[2]
The sixth part of the series warns rival jihadi groups and, commenting on bin Laden's message of jihad in the light of early Islamic teachings, tells them that ISIS follows true jihad: "Osama had now put his so-called faith in the homeland, the nation and the land under his feet, trampled on tribalism and surrendered to his Lord with complete submission. Allah knows best, but without the Islamic State, Osama may not have been able to persevere in guidance and fully understand the Quran and Sunnah."
Following are excerpts from the sixth article in the series.
"Sheikh Osama Bin Laden Was Labeled The Same Way [As ISIS Was Denigrated]; Who On Earth Would Give Up Billions Of Dollars, Pleasure, Comfort, And Palaces To Become A Crusader Project And Starve In The Mountains?"
"Osama (may Allah forgive him) was in a state of paradox and dilemma before he became a believer. His hatred of Muslims at that time was not because of his lack of faith, but because he was not comfortable and free like other people, because outside Islam there was no privacy. And Osama did not like this. This was one of the moments when Satan approached. He made Osama forget about death and occupied him with pleasure and enjoyment. However, in this world Osama was a speck.
"Osama had no importance in the world. His thoughts did not matter because his thoughts were un-Islamic. He couldn't get rid of the symptoms of the West, and he was preoccupied with the Western folly that penetrated his bones. One day he heard the announcement of a state called the Islamic State and began to see everyone criticizing them. The critics were bearded women who had shielded themselves with the name of Islam and decorated hundreds of books they had not read. Before Osama became a believer, he was like a knife against these merchants of religion. Because everyone, infidel or Muslim, knows that the only concern of the sectarians in Turkey is the merchants of religion.
"He began to inquire about this state before he believed. In the early days, he hated this state for practicing wala (friendship) and bara (hostility) as Allah had commanded on the path to Hidayah [guidance]. Looking at the glass half empty, Osama decided to research the concept of jihad in Islam to understand why this state emerged and what its purpose was. Yes, jihad was the concept that the so-called Muslims in Turkey feared the most.
"The religious merchants and sects who have made thousands of theories about jihad and imposed on the nation that jihad is only done by sitting down, know that it is not the invitation that spreads Islam to large geographies, but the sword together with the invitation. There were thousands of theories about the Islamic State [ISIS] and the nation's minds were sufficiently degenerated. Some called it a Jewish project, some called it an American project, some called it a mercenary group formed by a few prisoners.
"We all know that if Mossad, CIA, MI6, or KGB puts an agent in the field and he is successful in the field, they will do their best to protect him. They would not form a coalition against it, at first 60 and then 80 states, and attack it. This state had already been extremely successful. In any ideology, success after so much effort is not attacked.
"Sheikh Osama bin Laden was labeled the same way [as ISIS was]. Who on earth would give up billions of dollars, pleasure, comfort and palaces to become a Crusader project and starve in the mountains? Who would bequeath the $26 million he inherited to be spent on jihad in the way of Allah? If it was a project, why was he killed? There were many ways to protect it. The name was changed and hidden. It could still rule behind closed doors."
"[Osama Bin Laden] Had Heard The Verse Of Allah: 'Jihad Is Obligatory On You, Even If You Do Not Like It'
"These project appellations were the favorite excuse of cowardly people, people who were afraid to pick up a gun. Osama was now satisfied. He had heard the verse of Allah, 'Jihad is obligatory on you, even if you do not like it.' He had also heard the verse of his Lord, 'Fight them until Fitna [strife] is eradicated from the face of the earth.' Because he had heard the Prophet's hadith [saying or deed], 'Paradise is under the shadow of the sword.' He had also heard the hadith of the honorable Prophet, 'The unbeliever and the one who kills him will not be together in Hell.'
"After these verses and hadiths, he realized that he had studied Islam from the wrong place and that an impure state like Turkey had destroyed all the hardness of Islam. He learned another concept called being a mujahid. He liked this concept very much. The Islamic State had another discourse: 'We are the children of Anfal and Tawbah.' Osama started to read [Quran's] Surahs al-Anfal and Al-Tawbah. He did not forget to look at their interpretations. No Muslim who understood these Surahs, which were revealed by the sword, could sit still. Prophet Muhammad, the imam [leader] of the mujahideen, was the prophet of mercy and war. The only thing that could stop oppression were the mujahideen, the men of war with swords in their hands, and the children of hardship.
"Then there was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who laid the foundations of the Islamic State. This brave man was a leader who listened to the cries of Muslim women for help. He was a brave man who stood against the torture of Muslims by the filthy Rawafidhs [rejectionist, a pejorative term for Shi'ite]. It was necessary to understand the psychology and ideology of this man. Why did this leader who rescued Muslims from Abu Ghraib Prison attack that particular prison and rescue his brothers?
"He was accompanied by another man who had almost reached the peak of knowledge: Abu Anas Ash-Shami. He was a mujtahid and one of the rare people who practiced his knowledge, which is still remembered with fondness today. This man had more knowledge than all the people in Turkey who were carrying microphones in front of the cameras. Didn't this man know how to wage jihad from his seat? He did not choose this; he wanted to be one of the honorable martyrs in the way of Allah and Allah confirmed him in this path. May Allah accept him among the martyrs.
"The 'Days of Zarqawi' that the Rawafidhs feared were not far away. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a man of great intelligence in terms of strategy and politics, and he was able to manipulate the enemy very easily. This man, whom Osama admired as he studied him, had fought barefoot in the desert against the enemy and had touched and mobilized the hearts of many Muslims with a few speeches. After a few years of leadership, nothing would ever be the same again. The days to come would be more bitter. There were many theories about his identity and many attempts to slander his name. But anyone who spent a few hours could see the truth."
"Why Don't Those Who Denigrate And Criticize The Islamic State Today Criticize The Persecution Of Muslims?"; "In East Turkestan [Xinjiang, China], In Myanmar, In Africa, In The Middle East, In Sudan, In Egypt, And All Over The World, No Other Community Was Being Persecuted Except Muslims"
"Why don't those who denigrate and criticize the Islamic State today criticize the persecution of Muslims? Why don't they talk about what the Crusaders did in the lands of Islam instead of criticizing the Islamic State, the only state that strikes fear into the hearts of the Jews? The number of dumb devils had increased considerably. Osama's mind began to see the truth in this transparency.
"In East Turkestan [Xinjiang of China], in Myanmar, in Africa, in the Middle East, in Sudan, in Egypt and all over the world, no other community was being persecuted except Muslims. The so-called Muslims are also deformed. The only concern of the sects in Turkey is to get into luxury cars and get their followers drunk with nonsense meditations. If a person's thoughts are enslaved, his body can be as free as he wants, but he is still a slave.
"Osama began to break all the chains in his mind. In this world created by Allah, Allah's will would be done, and the hands that reached out to Muslims and the heads that carried them would be cut off one by one. And the descendants of Walid and Siddiq would do it.
This series of articles is set to continue in future issues of the magazine.
"Osama continued his investigations. After Zarqawi was martyred, the Shura Council of al-Qaeda in Iraq [the predecessor to ISIS] elected Abu Hamza al-Muhajir as its leader. It was an unexpected move. Again, this figure, who was at the top of science, dissolved the entire Shura Council and pledged allegiance to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. He stunned the world and handed over 12,000 mujahideen, and more than 10,000 mujahideen who could not emigrate, to the authority of the Islamic State of Iraq.
"He pledged allegiance to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, with that sentence that Muaz said to the Prophet: 'If you show us the sea and dive in, we will dive in with you and no man will be left behind.' Immediately after the pledge of allegiance, 'You can put us through any hardship you wish, you will find us listening to what you say and obeying your orders.' Allahu Akbar, what a beautiful allegiance this is.
"This pledge, which marked a de facto complete break with al-Qaeda, was no ordinary pledge.
It was a pledge that shocked the world, made by a scholar-turned-leader, a descendant of the Prophet, without arrogance, without vested interests. Perhaps after the Companions, there had never been such an allegiance in death.
"Osama judged his ego in the court of conscience of his heart. If you are human, who are these people, Osama? Who are these people, Osama, when you don't even understand why you live and what your purpose is? These people don't have billions of dollars. Are your brothers who hug each other with smiles when you watch videos of the mujahideen project? Are they the ones who painfully hold the barrel of a mortar with bare feet or are you suffering in pleasure, Osama? Do you listen to the Muslims suffering in dungeons, Osama, and not them? Are you an orphan? Is your wife widowed? Has your child been taken away from you? For the first time in years, sincere tears began to flow from Osama's eyes. He could no longer be deaf to the naked and dumb to oppression."
"In A Short Period Of Time, This State [ISIS] Had Reached The Level Of Printing Its Own Money, And The Infidels' Sleep Was Disturbed; Islam Went Beyond Its Own Borders And Began To Make The Infidels Pay A Price All Over The World"
"Here is the birth of the Islamic State, and the children of true Islam that Osama sought out after his conversion. At the time of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's leadership, this state [ISIS] was down to a thousand mujahideen, and the persecution of Sunnis in northern Iraq had increased. He was surrounded by traitors like [HTS leader Abu Muhammad Al-]Joulani, as well as loyal men and military geniuses. These so-called project men launched fidayeen [martyrdom-seeking] attacks and brought the Sunnis to prosperity, in a short time.
"Again, there were victories by the sword. This is what Islam could not be. Islam could not be a nonsensical meditation inhabited by sentimental boys like in Turkey, and by religious merchants who were slaves to authority. Soon the mujahideen swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Alongside this sheikh were men like Abu Ali Al-Anbari, an honorable man and a distinguished figure who repented from being a general and became the general qadi [judge] of the Islamic State.
"In Iraq, the footsteps of the mujahideen began to ring out. When Syria became involved, Jabhat al-Nusra was formed under the leadership of Joulani and sent to Syria. The borders were removed under the leadership of Abu Muhammad Adnani and the silhouette of the Khilafah [Islamic State] was slowly becoming clear. For years, people had been looking for brave men to stand against op-pression, and Allah brought such brave men to the field. These leaders and their leaders obeyed Allah's verse, 'Let them find in you a hardness.' The women who were made to drink semen, the children who were slaughtered, and the braves who were driven mad by oppression would be avenged.
A poster included in the magazine.
"After the declaration of the Khilafah, jihadi groups that were scattered in many countries gathered under one flag and pledged their allegiance to 'La ilaha illallah' [There is no deity, but Allah]. While this state was fighting the whole world from outside, it was also fighting a world of traitors from within. This so-called project state had never killed women, children, harmed trees, destroyed rivers, or oppressed the elderly. Even the killing was done with mercy, and the infidels' lives were ended without suffering.
"Osama now felt the sincerity down to his cells and realized that this state, which he had prejudged, was one hundred percent sincere in implementing the laws of Allah. This state, which did not compromise on the aqeedah [belief], and did not deviate even an inch from the Quran and Sunnah, was bound to be slandered. Even the Prophet [Muhammad] was slandered.
"In fact, if slanders had not been made, if everyone had approved of it, then all kinds of doubts would have been raised against this state. In a short period of time, this state had reached the level of printing its own money and the infidels' sleep was disturbed. Islam went beyond its own borders and began to make the infidels pay a price all over the world, especially in Europe. When the decision was taken [by ISIS] to attack Israel and the operations against the Jews started, at that time a coalition of 60 countries was formed against this so-called Jewish project, and the number of countries that voluntarily joined this coalition reached 80."
"Turkey Cooperated With Its So-Called Enemies, The PKK And YPG"; "You Are Cruel, Turkey. But There Is No Doubt That Even If Osama Is An Insignificant Person, Allah Will Turn Your Days Into Nights With Just One Mujahid"
"At the time of the fitna, Osama chose to look where the enemy's arrows were pointing. What kind of a righteous cause is this that has brought 80 countries together? What kind of progress is this that it was listed as a terrorist organization all over the world? What kind of fear is this, that the whole world forgot to sleep with a few thousand mujahideen? Turkey was among them.
"Turkey cooperated with its so-called enemies, the PKK and YPG, and bombed the northern part of Syria and Raqqa day and night. Thousands of Muslims, children, women, old people, were massacred. The people of this country with blood on their hands were again deceived with heroic stories. Osama had now put his so-called faith in the homeland, the nation and the land under his feet, trampled on tribalism, and surrendered to his Lord with complete submission. Allah knows best, but without the Islamic State, Osama may not have been able to persevere in guidance and fully understand the Quran and Sunnah. In fact, if he had looked at the sects in Turkey, he would never have become a Muslim.
"Osama vowed to cut the tongues that reach out to them in Turkey, the ears that deliver news to the enemy, the heads that come out of the holes, even if he could not reach his brothers who were hungry in the mountains, his brothers who were thirsty in the deserts, his brothers in the aqeedah who are struggling with trials. You are cruel, Turkey. But there is no doubt that even if Osama is an insignificant person, Allah will turn your days into nights with just one mujahid. Many Osamas will come and go, but the descendants of Islam never forget.
The magazine's table of contents page.
"All those truths that are rejected by ears that should hear them will be pierced into your hearts with piercing blows and you will hear the footsteps of the mujahideen in your comfortable beds at dawn. People forget, but Allah never forgets oppression. All we ask is that this revenge be with our hands. Muslim braves who cannot spend anything but their tears and blood in the way of Allah, remember Allah's verse: 'Surely you will die, and they will die.' You will die even if you are in your bed, you will die even if you are in the field of jihad. If you cannot travel to jihad, turn your home lands into battlefields.
"We are all Islam, we are all Khalid bin Walid, we are all Bera bin Malik, we are all Umar [ibn Khattab], we are all Osama, we are all Abu Bakr, we are all one, we are all children of Anfal and Tawbah. If the time for swords has come, the time has come for the neck to be filled with blood. Pharaoh's palace will no longer be stoned – it will be entered and razed to the ground. With Allah's permission and the strength that He has bestowed."
[1] Archive.org (U.S.), September 20, 2024. The original English of the article has been lightly edited for clarity and standardization.
