The Archivist: 'Go Forth, Lightly and Heavily Armed': New Mobilization Calls By the Islamic State in Aleppo Province
29 November 2015By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Introduction: Context and Analysis
With the intensification of Russia's overt intervention inside Syria, regime
forces and allied militias have launched multiple offensives in the north of
Syria. One of these offensives is taking place in Aleppo province and has
three primary aims: to expand the line of control to the southwest of Aleppo
city, to attempt (again) to complete the encirclement of Aleppo city and
break the rebel sieges of the Shi'a villages of Nubl and Zahara' to the
northwest of Aleppo city, and finally to push eastwards against the Islamic
State [IS] and break IS' long-standing siege of Kweiris military airbase.
The question of the Iranian involvement in the new Aleppo offensives is the
subject of some debate. Though there have been reports of deployments of
thousands of Iranian ground troops, it should be noted that such a move does
not suit Iranian modus operandi in Syria, which prefers to rely on proxies to
supply the bulk of manpower under elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps
supervision. Note the following post from the main Facebook page for Quwat
al-Ridha (native Syrian Hezbollah primarily recruiting from the Shi'a in Homs
province) on 18 October, which leaves no doubt as to who the main ground
commander of the new Aleppo operations is:
"Kweiris airbase, in front of the Commander Qasim Suleimani's eye. The plans
have been put in place, the equipment and munitions have been prepared, and
the soldiers have entered the operation stage. The leader of the Quds Force,
General Qasim Suleimani, is beginning his path to liberate and break the
siege of the legendary airbase, Kweiris airbase. And participating in this
operation are Quwat al-Ridha from Homs al-Abiya, Quwat al-Nujaba' [Harakat
al-Nujaba', an Iraqi Shi'a militia], the Iranian Revolutionary Guards forces
and forces from the Syrian Arab Army, under air-cover from the Russian Bear.
My friends in Kweiris airbase, Suleimani is coming for you."
Besides Harakat al-Nujaba', which has been a long-established player on the
Aleppo fronts, an official from Kata'ib Hezbollah– another Iraqi proxy of
Iran- claimed to the Washington Post that 1000 fighters have been sent as
part of Suleimani's Aleppo offensive. Newer, more obscure Iraqi militias that
have been advertising recruitment to fight in Syria in recent months may also
be supplying manpower to the Aleppo area. The Assad Allah al-Ghalib Forces,
an Iraqi Shi'a militia that initially operated in the Damascus area as part
of Liwa Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas, also appears to have a presence in the Aleppo
area.
The combination of manpower boosts and Russian air support helped score gains
against both rebels and IS, but as shown by the unseen documents I have
obtained, IS has responded to the eastward push by launching new mobilization
calls within Aleppo province (Wilayat Halab), including the opening of new
training camps. Linked to these mobilization calls has been the launch of IS
counter-offensives that are threatening to cut regime supply lines to Aleppo
city, including ongoing clashes in the vicinity of the regime stronghold of
al-Safira and IS assaults further southward along the Khanaser-Athariya road
heading into Hama province.
Previously, the last major mobilization call that produced results for IS
took place in late April, with an internal directive issued by Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi throughout the Syrian provinces to reinforce the fighting fronts
in Salah ad-Din and Anbar provinces [archive: Specimen 3E], with particular
emphasis on recruitment of suicide bombers and commandoes. Some weeks later,
the mobilization call took the form of an official al-Furqan Media speech
from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The aims of IS were clear: continue the stalemate
in Baiji in northern Salah ad-Din province and pin down Iraqi forces, while
intensifying the assaults on Ramadi, where Shi'a militia deployments were
very limited, in a bid to take control of the city. After all, as the
provincial capital of Anbar province, Ramadi undoubtedly has greater value
than Baiji, where the oil refinery and town infrastructure have largely been
destroyed.
In the overall analysis, one should not overstate the IS capacity to mobilize
and launch new offensives. It is impossible to commit with the same degree of
intensity on every front where IS faces enemy forces. That said, for Aleppo
province at least, IS' enemies- rebels and regime forces- do not have the
ability to pose a serious threat to IS' main strongholds. With the rebels in
particular, disorganization in the ranks (witness the case of the Shami Front
and its multiple fractures) and a two-way war have meant that the overall
trend is that IS has pushed ever further westward, though it is unlikely that
the international coalition will allow IS to reclaim its one-time 'Emirate of
Azaz.'
Among the specimen documents of the new mobilization call are the first
documents I have seen from an IS "Shari'a Committee" since the declaration of
the Caliphate. The Aleppo province Shari'a Committee may be a provincial
manifestation of IS' greater Shari'a Council. On this analytical reading, the
Diwan al-'Eftaa wa al-Buhuth (fatwa issuing and research department: also
Diwan al-Buhuth wa al-'Eftaa) in Aleppo province may be a subset of the
Aleppo province Shari'a Committee, just as the greater Diwan al-'Eftaa wa al-Buhuth
is reportedly asubset of the greater Shari'a Council.
Perhaps in support of this reading, one can note that based on the dates
given, the mobilization call from the Aleppo province Shari'a Committee comes
first (1 Muharram 1437 AH) and then further details- including specifics on
locations- are given by the Diwan al-'Eftaa wa al-Buhuth statements, one of
which is dated 6 Muharram 1437 AH.
On a final note, it is interesting that although IS officially changed the
name of the Aleppo province locality of Deir Hafer to Dar al-Fatah, it still
refers to the place by its old name in these documents.
Specimen A: Mobilization Call from Wilayat Halab Shari'a Committee
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Wilayat Halab
Shari'a Committee
Go forth, lightly and heavily armed [cf. Qur'an 9:41]
1 Muharram 1437 AH [15 October 2015]
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Wilayat Halab
Shari'a Committee
Go forth, lightly and heavily armed
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
By the fact that the day is upon us all, and that the enemy has begun
devising all machinations against Islam, and that the protocols and lines of
the greatest epic battles have appeared, and that today is the day of the
true sword, and that the promise of God is coming with no escape from it,
don't be those who have forgotten God, for He has made them forget themselves
[cf. Qur'an 59:19].
The Almighty has said: "Those who believe and those who migrate and wage
jihad in God's path, they hope for God's mercy. And God is forgiving,
merciful" [Qur'an 2:218].
Ibn al-Qayyim said- after his citing of the words of Ibn Zayd: "And the
wondrous thing is that the degrees are mentioned in a hadith of Abu Huraira,
and which al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih collection, on the authority of
the Prophet (SAWS)- that he said: 'Whoever believes in God and His Messenger,
establishes prayer and fasts in Ramadan, it is an obligatory right upon God
that He should enter him into Paradise, whether he migrated in God's path or
sat in his land on which he was born,' They said: 'Oh Messenger of God,
should we not inform the people of that?' He said: 'Indeed in Paradise are a
hundred degrees that God has prepared for the mujahideen in His path: every
two steps is as the distance between the heavens and the earth, so if you ask
something of God, ask Him for Firdous, for it is the last and highest part of
Paradise, above which is the throne of the Compassionate, and from it gush
the rivers of Paradise'- narrated by al-Bukhari."
The Almighty has said: "Indeed God has purchased from the believers their
souls and wealth, for that Paradise is for them fighting in the path of God.
They kill and are killed: a true promise upon Him in the Torah, Gospel and
Qur'an. And who is truer in his promise than God? So rejoice in your
transaction you have transacted. That is the great attainment" [Qur'an
9:111].
He has transacted this pact with them and confirmed it with various types of
confirmation:
The first of them: the Almighty and Exalted's communication in the form of
confirmed news with the particle 'indeed' [Arabic: 'inna].
The second: Informing of that in the past form that had been transacted- it
was both confirmed and established.
The third: the addition of this pact to Himself- the Exalted- and that He is
the One who has purchased this transaction.
The fourth: that He has conveyed that He has promised to deliver this reward-
a promise that He cannot go back on or abandon.
The fifth: that He has conveyed the form 'ala' [Arabic: lit. 'upon'] that is
meant for obligation: declaring to His servants that it is a true promise
upon Him, its promise being upon Himself.
The sixth: that He has confirmed that because it is a true promise upon Him.
How does He encourage those who are afraid with the greatest encouragement to
the recompense of wars, and meet death with a welcome chest and courageous
heart? By making clear to them that death will overtake them inevitably and
that if they die as mujahideen, they will be compensated for the worldly life
with the greatest recompense, and they will not be wronged in a state of
being killed. This is a wide door, and there has not come in the reward for
deeds and their virtues the likes of what has come in it [enlistment for
jihad]. And thus it has been the most preferable thing into which man can
enlist. And enlistment has been- by the agreement of the 'ulama- more
preferable than the Hajj and Umra [minor pilgrimage], prayer and fasting, as
shown by the Book [Qur'an] and the Sunna, and it is something openly
expressed.
For indeed the benefit of jihad is all-encompassing for the one who carries
it out and those besides him in religion and this world, including all types
of inward and outward acts of worship. The Messenger of God (SAWS) said: "And
by the One in whose hand my soul is, were it not that there were men from the
believers who cannot stand to remain behind me and I do not find what can
convey them, I would not remain behind a squadron launching an expedition in
God's path. And by the One in whose hand is my soul, I should wish that I be
killed in the path of God, then be revived, then be killed, then be revived,
then be killed, then be revived, then be killed."
In conclusion
Indeed the jihad today is in greater need of us as the Ummah of Islam than
ever before. No excuse is accepted for the one who has migrated from the land
of Islam to the land of disbelief, and there is no excuse for the one who has
abandoned jihad on the pretext of fitna. Indeed the Russian, American,
Nusayri and Shi'i enemy has begun threatening the centres of Islam and its
sole power in the land.
And God is predominant over His affair but most people don't know it [Qur'an
12:21].
Specimen B: Mobilization call from Wilayat Halab Diwan al-Buhuth wa al-'Eftaa
Islamic State
Diwan al-Buhuth wa al-'Eftaa
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
"If you do not go forth, He will torment you with a painful torment and will
replace you with a people besides you and you cannot harm him at all. And God
is capable over everything" [Qur'an 9:39].
Now the fighting has come.
Brothers in Wilayat Halab- the eastern countryside.
The Nusayri regime is trying to strive to reach Kweiris military airbase
which has made our people in the past years taste the woes of bombing. And
the Nusayri regime is trying with the aid of the disbelieving Russian
alliance to reach the airbase with the defence facilities, which will
facilitate for it the bombing of the inhabitants of the Dawla [IS] at peace
in al-Bab, Manbij and Deir Hafer as well as the Muslim populaces in the
region. So every capable Muslim must bear arms and join the camps of the
Islamic State and its soldiers in the first ranks or aid them with weapons,
wealth and prayers.
Wilayat Halab
Specimen C: Mobilization call from Wilayat Halab Diwan al-Buhuth wa al-'Eftaa
Islamic State
Diwan al-Buhuth wa al-'Eftaa
Wilayat Halab
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The obligation of fighting:
Everyone has begun to know the extent of the international conspiracy of the
mushrikeen [idolators], Nusayris and apostates against the Islamic State- may
God glorify it. And in the shadow of the ferocious Russian and American
attack to which the Islamic State and its inhabitants at peace are being
exposed, indeed fighting in the rank of the Islamic State is fard ayn [an
individual obligation] on every Muslim, and no excuse is to be accepted for
any free individual capable of bearing arms as far as he can. And may all
wage jihad with the force God has granted him. There is no excuse for you
today in your refraining from supporting this religion.
The Almighty has said:
"Oh you who believe, what is for you when it is said to you, 'Go forth in the
path of God,' and you adhere to the land? Have you preferred the life of this
world to the Hereafter? But the enjoyment of the life of this world in
comparison with the Hereafter is but a little" [Qur'an 9:38].
Wilayat Halab
6 Muharram 1437 AH [20 October 2015]
Specimen D: Opening of new training camp
Islamic State
Wilayat Halab
Camps Administration
Date: 3 Muharram 1437 AH [17 October 2015]
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
"And prepare for them what you can from force and bonds of horses, by which
you may terrify the enemy of God and your enemy."
By God's help, the opening of the 'Jund al-Malahem' [Soldiers of the Epic
Battles] camps has been completed, in order to respond to the Russian and
Nusayri aggression against the villages at in Wilayat Halab.
Joining applications will be accepted in all of Akhtarin, Deir Hafer, al-Bab
and Manbij.
Wilayat Halab
Specimen E: General note
Muslim brother,
Your work in digging trenches, raising fences and fortifying the mujahideen's
defences is not a consequence of suffering for you but cleansing you of your
sins. And we ask God for whoever has made these preparations that he should
already have realized the pleasure of jihad in His path.
©
EsinIslam.Com
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