Syria and Russia Feature: Caucasus Emirate Qadi “Wage Jihad, But Do It At Home”

Abu Mohammad, the Qadi of the Imarat Kavkaz (Caucasus Emirate, IK), has issued a statement saying that Muslims in the region need to create a “jamaat” as well as an Emirate, and calling on Muslims to join the jamaat and wage jihad at home rather than taking up arms “in the forests”.

IK, considered a terrorist organization by Russia and the US, is a Sunni jihadi separatist group that has proclaimed a virtual State in the North Caucasus encompassing Chechnya, Dagestan and other areas.

In his statement, Abu Mohammad al-Dagestani — a Dagestani militant appointed as Supreme Qadi of the IK in 2010 and who heads the group’s Sharia Court — explains the need as he sees it for Muslims in the North Caucasus to strengthen their sense of belonging to an Islamic community and to wage jihad, noting that “jihad” does not need to mean “going to the forests and taking up arms”.

Abu Mohammad also talks about the concept of swearing an oath of allegiance to the Emir of the Jamaat — in this case, to Dokku Umarov.

WHAT IS A JAMAAT?

The concept of the jamaat in the North Caucasus has several, related meanings. In Dagestan it has the meaning of a community and does not necessarily have religious or jihadi overtones. During the First Chechen War, the term developed a new meaning in Chechnya, relating to the formation of military units led by a military leader or Emir. Later on, other jamaats developed that had no connection with military actions, but which were based on belief.

We have translated key points of the address below.

This address is dedicated to the theme of the need to create an Emirate and a Jamaat. Because everyone says that that they belong to the Ahlus Sunnah wal -Jama’a even those like the Sufis, the Murjites, the Madkhalites (a strand of Salafist thinking), and so on. The position of these people is understandable for the Muslims, but there is a problem with our brother monotheists who claim that they are part of the jamaat but do not have any connection with the jamaat. So I decided to make this appeal, with the help of Allah, explaining the situation of these people, maybe it will benefit the Muslim believers .

There are very many (Quranic) verrses and hadith that indicate the need for the Emirate and Jamaat, but we will list some of them.

(Here Abu Mohammad lists several verses and also quotes from books by scholars including Muhammad ash-Shawkani’s Nayl al-Awtar.)

And it is said that the Prophet, may Allah bless him, said: “Allah has demanded from me five things, and I demand the same from you:create a Jamaat, listen and obey the amir and do hijra and jihad.”

That is, the first thing is the creation of the Jamaat, and it is a requirement of Allah and his Prophet…

So what then is the issue with, and how are we to understand, those brothers who say they are from the Jamaat but are not in any Jamaat. Especially when there is such a Jamaat, and its leaders encourage them day and night to join them.

And if they say that “Ahlus -Sunnah wa al – Jama’a” means living by the tradition of the Salafis of the Ummah, it automatically raises the question : “Did our Salafi live sometime without an Emir, without swearing him an oath of allegiance except in exceptional cases ?” No, a thousand times no! If they do not belong to any Jamaat and not live under any oath of allegiance, why shout so loud that they are of the Jamaat?

And so it’s surprising, when they say: “Come to Jihad” and everyone thinks that they have to immediately take up arms and go to the forest. And who do you think needs you in the forest? Especially when the actual Mujahideen themselves are ready to leave these woods for the animals…

The infidels themselves have long wanted to drive the Mujahideen far into the forests, and isolate them from society, and they have achieved that goal in some places. Praise be to Allah, the Mujahideen have realized this, and with the help of Allah, they will work closely with the people, because the Muslims began to understand and support the Mujahideen…

An “unreliable” Mujahid, dear brothers, is a burden, regardless whether he is in the city or in the forest. He has to have all the necessities provided for him: food, clothing, ammunition, etc., etc. And his possibilities are limited, and, naturally, he can not move freely. As for the “not unreliable” Mujahid, it is just the opposite, he can provide for himself, and he can move freely, and naturally we can benefit more from him.

Therefore, my dear brothers, we encourage you to go out for jihad, it does not mean taking up arms right away, but rather it is a call to work for the cause of Allah, competently, together with the Jamaat, obeying his Emir, so that no one suspected him. Praise be to Allah, many brothers work this way. And, of course, they are very, very useful for jihad. We do not need you exiled in the forest, and there is no need for this, as Jihad knocks on the door of every Muslim.

On the contrary, we must wage jihad while staying at home, but being in the Jamaat. Because jihad is the duty of every Muslim at the time. We need to set our system against the system of the infidels in all areas, in the political, economic, informational, and other fields, and we need to be experts in all these areas.

And let us, brothers, fight against this system of the infidels all together, just as they are fighting against us. The only way we can beat the infidels.

When we speak with these brothers and encourage them to work together in one Jamaat, they say, “Is not it better to work each of us separately, because it is safer than working in the Jamaat and being on show once again?”. As for requiring knowledge, they say: “Is not it better to do da’wa and work with people who are not going into the Jamaat than to take up arms and to deprive ourselves of this opportunity?”. But they do not understand. Who is going to deprive you of this possibility?

….

Because jihad is also worship, and worship without the right knowledge is misleading. Therefore, there can be no jihad without knowledge, and no correct knowledge without the support of jihad. And who separates knowledge from jihad is making an error. And so the leadership of the Jamaat sees who to send to learn and whom to leave to do du’a , and whom to leave to teach others. Everyone works at his trade and opportunities as we need everyone.

….

Therefore, my dear brothers, wage jihad and join the Jamaat. It is better for you both in this and in the next life, if you only knew. I often ask the brothers the same question: “Here there are two Jamaats, or you can say two systems, in the former Soviet Union: the Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, which calls for the Tawhid, and the infidel system of Russia, which calls for unbelief, and there is no third way, so which Jamaat do you belong to?”