Pro-ISIS Video Incites Sunnis Against Houthi Shi'ites, Accuses Shi'ites Of Deceiving Sunnis, Indoctrinating Children

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A pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Telegram channel released a two-part video series aimed at inciting Yemen's Sunni Muslims against the country's primary political actors: the Shi'ite Houthis, the internationally-recognized Republic of Yemen Government (RoYG), and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), as well as regional and international actors involved in the country's conflict, including the Saudi-led Arab Coalition in Yemen, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the U.S.

The video series, titled "Oh, Sunnis In Yemen: Where Are You Going?" was published by the pro-ISIS "Voice of Faith and Wisdom" Telegram channel in two parts on July 29 and August 15, 2022, respectively. The two-part series seeks to portray Yemen's Sunni populace as victim to two conspiracies: firstly, one by regional Shi'ites and the Houthis in particular, who covertly aim to oppress the Sunnis and convert their children, and secondly, a conspiracy by Arab Gulf States and the U.S., who seek to plunder Yemen's resources and ravage the country.

The following MEMRI JTTM report reviews the first videos in the pro-ISIS video series "Oh Sunnis In Yemen: Where Are You Going?"

Sunnis Have Been Forced "To Drink From The Cups Of Humiliation And Bitterness"

Released on July 29, 2022,[1] the first video in the two-part series opened with a prologue that pitted Yemen's Sunnis against all the country's major powerbrokers. It read:

"The Sunnis in Yemen have tasted despair. The polytheist Rafidite[2] Houthis, the unbelieving Arab Coalition led by Al-Salul[3] [Al-Saud], the statelet of the Emirates and its proxies[4] in the Yemeni Army and the Security Belt forces, as well as the [Southern] Transitional [Council] have forced them to drink from the cups of humiliation and bitterness, stole their money, pillaged the country's resources, attempted to corrupt them, and led them to apostasy in droves. But there is no power nor strength except by Allah."

The 'Twelver Shi'ite Houthis View Sunnis As Unbelievers

Following the prologue, the video focused almost exclusively on inciting Yemen's Sunnis against the country's Houthi movement. It denounced the Houthis as "Twelver Shi'ite"[5] polytheists who practice taqiyah – or the practice of concealing one's belief and foregoing ordinary religious duties when under threat of death or injury.[6] It also accused them of seeking to proselytize to Yemeni Sunni children and disparaging the companions of the Prophet Mohammad.

The video interspersed a series of rhetorical questions addressed to Yemen's Sunnis alongside video and audio clips meant to expose the alleged malign practices of the Houthis against the beliefs and livelihood of Sunnis.

"Oh, people of Yemen, how can you be satisfied with being ruled by the polytheist Rafidite Houthis? Is their condition, their polytheism, their unbelief, and the extent of their animosity towards the Sunnis hidden from you?" the video asked, "Or have you learned, oh, Sunnis in Yemen, [of the nature] of the ruling of the Rafidite Twelver Shi'ite Houthis toward the Sunnis?"

A video clip taken from an Al-Kawthari TV interview with Kamal Al-Haydari – an Iraqi Shi'ite marja' – in which he claimed that Shi'ite scholars excommunicated "all [Sunni] Muslims" was used in the pro-ISIS video to illustrate the alleged view held by Shi'ites of the Sunnis. "This is the real religion of the Rafidite Houthis in Yemen, even though they still practice taqiyah," the video said, commenting on Al-Haydari's remarks.

The Houthis Deceive You, Indoctrinate Your Children, Desecrate Mosques

The video also included excerpts from a speech by Abu Bilal Al-Harbi – a slain Saudi ISIS operative and the former Wali [governor] of ISIS's Yemen Province – in which he urged Sunnis not to be deceived by the Houthis, who he claimed practice taqiyah.

"The ummah [historically] agreed to excommunicate the Imamate, which is the Rafidite Twelver Shi'ites. Now, the Houthis – who are the Rafidite Twelver Shi'ites – be careful [of them], oh, brothers. The Houthis have a hadith which says: 'There is no religion for he who does not practice taqiyah for it'... do not let them deceive you."

The video argued that the Houthis seek to "spread their Rafidite creed" throughout Yemen, primarily through indoctrinating Sunni children. "Their war is a war of creed," it warned, before showing a video clip of Yemeni schoolchildren performing latmiya, a Shi'ite ritual in which performers recite poetry and beat their chests in a symbolic expression of grief.

"Oh, Sunnis, look how the Rafidites seek to teach your children the Rafidite Twelver Shi'ite creed," it commented.

The result of further Houthi indoctrination and control of Sunnis would be dismal, the video argued; to illustrate this, it included footage showing Houthis dancing in mosques and speaking against the companions of the Prophet, in an effort to offend and provoke Yemen's Sunnis.

Call To Execute Shi'ites Who Practice Taqiyah

The appropriate Sunni response to Shi'ite taqiyah, according to the video, was illustrated with graphic footage; the video concluded with a video clip showing a slain Iraqi ISIS operative – Abu Wahib Al-Iraqi, referred to in the clip as "the lion of Anbar" – executing three Alawite[7] truck drivers in Iraq's Anbar Governorate after they attempted to "pretend they were Sunnis," or practice taqiyah.

In the clip, Al-Iraqi is seen stopping the truck drivers at an ISIS checkpoint and interrogating them: "Do you pray?" he asks. "How many rakat [supplications during prayer] do you perform at Salat Al-Fajr?" After the Alawites fail the interrogation, one of them confesses that they are Alawites.

Lining them up on the side of the road, Al-Iraqi executed them. "This is how the Rafidites are taught the Sunnah that they disavow," the video asserted.