This is the third part of a series of audio addresses made by Abu Jihad Shishani, the second-in-command to Umar Shishani of the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham.
See Syria: Umar Shishani’s Second-in-Command in ISIS Slams Scholars Who “Sow Discord” & Don’t Fight
Syria: Umar Shishani’s Right-Hand Man Explains ISIS-Insurgent Conflict
In this address, Abu Jihad turns to foreign fighters from the North Caucasus in Syria, and asks them why they are not supporting ISIS in its battle against the insurgents.
Abu Jihad says that the reason ISIS is being attacked is because it is close to its goal of establishing a Caliphate.
The Chechen jihadi specifically addresses the attack on ISIS by Abdullah al-Mohaisany, a Saudi jihadi preacher who first traveled to Syria in 2013 and who has carried out fundraising and propaganda efforts for Salafi jihadist factions in Syria including Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS.
On January 23, Mohaisany put forward a peace effort, the Umma Initiative, which was endorsed by all the main factions in Syria and some outside the country; however ISIS slammed the effort, saying insurgents first needed to distance themselves from democracy and Western-backed groups like the Free Syrian Army.
In an audio statement on February 2, Mohaisany said that certain ISIS groups had deviated from the Salafi-jihadist ideology and called on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to pack up and return to Iraq.
Address to Brother-Mujahideen In the Lands Of Sham
Brothers, really, can’t you see what’s going on around you? Brothers are being killed before your eyes, and you’re still participating with those devils in operations. Their leaders openly work with America and Saudi. We’ve said more than once that the day will come when there will only be two armies left – the army of Rahman and the army of the Devil. The Prophet, talking of trials and fitna, said, “They will continue until such time as everything is divided into two camps: the camp of faith, where there won’t be any infidels, and the camp of infidels where there won’t be any faithful”.
Brothers, those times are coming and it is time to chose your camp. Look, who is firing against us and to which camp do they belong?
That dog Hayani, who you yourself stormed yesterday with us, and whose crimes you saw with your own eyes. Now, when they and other dogs, like Afash, Ma’arouf, have attacked us, why has this suddenly turned into a fitna between Muslims, and you don’t want to take part in it?
I want to remind you of the story of the three oxen, who were eaten in turn by a lion. You all know that story really well, right? Now I want to ask you, “What, do you really think that your turn won’t come?” It is as clear as day that you’ve been left alone for now, so as not to fritter away strength. Do you really think that they won’t get to Jabhat al Nusra, whom they consider to be Al Qaeda?
Of course not, they don’t want to leave a single Mujahid on this Earth, who wants to establish Sharia. Just like they did in Bosnia, in Chechnya, in Tajikistan and other places of jihad. They used the Muhajireen (foreign fighters) for their own national interests, and after the victory they mopped them up and chucked them out.
And why? Well, because the Mujahideen who liberated territory from the infidels did not establish their authority on it, the authority of Sharia, but went on further to liberate new territories, leaving the establishment of Sharia until later. And in that time, the infidels sent hypocrites onto the liberated lands and they set up their laws through them. They stabbed the Mujahideen in the back and left them between two fires.
ISIS will not repeat those mistakes. We have started to try to establish Sharia on each bit of land on which it has authority. Exactly for that reason the whole world pounced on ISIS, because it took the right path toward establishing an Islamic State. And it is precisely that path that will lead to the establishment of a Caliphate, which is so hated by the infidels and hypocrites.
Therefore, brothers, let each of you remember Judgement Day, on which each of you will be asked about your actions, what you did and whether his brothers were killed before your eyes. What did he do to establish the Caliphate? And let no one thing that your Amir will reply for you, because on that terrible day even the prophets will say, Nafsi, Nafsi (myself, myself). And no one will be able to say, an Amir ordered us….
Allah ordered us in the Quran, saying: And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided.
How can this verse be revealed in our time, for ourselves? Look at our recent past in the Caucasus. We, really, were enemies with each other, we hated each other. The hatred was between the Karachays and the Cherkessys, between the Kabardians and Balkars, the Ingush and the Ossetians, and in Dagestan they had their own infighting. And all these disputes were used by the infidels to weaken our forces. According to the principle, divide and rule, that’s an old maxim, but they are still using it to this day.
And when we by the grace of Allah crossed these national barriers and became brothers, and we started fighting in one rank, satins from among the jinns and people came to use with another ploy, exactly the same, but they just changed it a bit . Now instead of nations they started to talk about lands, “don’t you have your own land, your own state, you need to fight there”.
Someone might say, but what about the verse: “Fight those polytheists who are closer to you?” Yes, with those who are closest to you. And who is closer to you right now? Does it say the polytheists of your nation, or those on your land? No, it says, “with those who are closest to you”. Someone tells you: “Look, they have an improper state.” You ask, how does it differ from ours in the Caucasus? If they say that they have made an improper oath, ask, and did we have a proper one at home? Anyone who tells you that at home he had an oath to fight is a liar. Because it is the same oath to the ruler of the state, and of the Emirate.
Someone will say, that they are fighting with the Muslims, you tell them, “and when you went to Dagestan, didn’t you fight the militias?”, all the more so give that there we attacked and here they attacked us.
They will say, “they are making takfir with the secular guys”. Ask them what they would say to the Ichkerians of Zakayev and his gang?
Brothers, we have never been so close to our goal of establishing the Caliphate, as we are now. The infidels understood that even faster than some Muslims, so everyone attacked us together. We need to stand. And if you do not support us in this battle, you will be judged for that on the Day of Judgement! And remember again, on that day no one will answer for you except yourself.
So let’s consider the road map of measures set out by Mohaisany.
First, who is Mohaisany?
This is a man who, as we have already mentioned, is of the category of those who are close to the border, who like to be photographed in trucks, with machine guns, grenade launchers, different kinds of weapons.
And on the battlefield for some reason they are not visible.
And we have not heard that he was somewhere nearer to the battlefields.
But he really likes to mention the errors of ISIS and to hide the mistakes of others. Though he is doing very nicely, and says he wants a truce, reconciliation, etc. but somehow in his map all the points are such that he wants to talk about mistakes and conceal some other errors.
It’s enough that he contradicted himself several times.
First, when the news spread that dishonored sisters, he came with the announcement that he personally went to the command of the FSA and asked, he was told that it was a lie, they do not have all the sisters. And on this basis, he made an appeal, it’s all lies, rumors , etc. That the FSA refuted this not confirmed.
Then, after a while on Twitter he refutes himself and says, ” No, really, there have been cases, I am sorry, and so on.” Then time passes, and now he makes his last appeal.
These troublemakers moved fast, 24 hours had not even passed, they made a translation and put on their site, in general, trying to be seen, trying to rekindle the fire of fitnah.
And they do it all with a regretful , compassionate view that here they are so worried about the fitnah and they themselves are sitting every second waiting on some news, some provocation. Sometimes throwing between the lines a bunch of information to make it appear that they are not only interested in this.
So what did he say in his last address? He says Dawla (ISIS) refused a truce, etc…
He made a condition for reconciliation — justice. The very conditions that they offer do not come anywhere close to justice. That’s one thing, the second is when they say stop the firing, stop the bloodshed. We have already offered it three times. I have said and I repeat again, because this is important…
As for reconciliation – that is the second question that needs to be studied and done right, you need to see who will do it, who will reconcile, and who will judge. For local judges , I already told you, who are the judges. I’m not saying that there is no one who can judge, but we must first see who will judge. That’s why ISIS put a condition to offer this Mohaisany. For which he said that ISIS set an impossible condition that is not in the Sharia, etc.
There were 2 conditions:
1. That all parties, including the party that called to judge between us, indicated their position relating to the West.
2. That they indicated their position to criminal regimes of the taghut Arabs, ie Saudi, Qatar and others.
With these two conditions their plans collapsed. Why , because they had to either say that they do not make takfir with taghut states or that they are their friends, not enemies. Either they had to say as it is, and then their cowboy leader would stop all the help and all will be against them. Naturally, they could not afford neither the one nor the other…
Abu Jihad says that the attempts at reconciliation are really an effort to expel ISIS from Syria.
He then adds that Russian-language sites such as Beladusham are really created by Israeli intelligence with Russian-speaking agents, who want to spread fitna in Syria.
Abu Jihad says that he has doubts about the veracity of other statements made by other jihadi leaders including Abu Qatada al-Filistini and Abu Mohammad al Maqdisi:
We have serious doubts that these references belong to them, as they are in prison in Jordan. And Jordan, as we know, it is the strongest among all the Mukhabarat Arab countries. It is difficult to imagine that they are almost daily spreading their thoughts, their letters, etc. and that there is no obstruction and interference.