Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) in the latest edition of its Urdu-language journal Nawa-i-Ghazra-e-Hind has called upon its followers and members for “universal mobilization of Musms” stating “those who can get explosives or biological weapons, use them” and also said “those who can use knife or Kalashnikov, attack the unbelievers”, reports Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Declaring jihad against Zionists, AQIS further said, “The entire world is the battlefield. No Israeli, no American, no European and non-European Zionist is safe”.
The Urdu-language magazine, known for scholarly articles on jihad-related developments, especially the jihad in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been published for 16 years, with some interruptions that were accounted for in combined issues. Its latest issue – Issue Seven, Volume 16 – is a combined issue covering the two months Rabi-us-Sani and Jamadi-ul-Awwal, 1445, in the Hijri calendar, which correspond with the two lunar months from October 16 to December 13, 2023. A PDF copy of the 179-page magazine was posted on the website of AQIS.
MEMRI said, the latest issue includes Urdu-language translations of almost all the major articles and statements published by Al-Qaeda’s branches regarding the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel and its strategic implications for the liberation of Jerusalem. It also includes articles about the issue of Jerusalem generally that were published before October 7 in the previous editions of the magazine. A list of all these articles can be found toward the end of this report.
The magazine’s cover features the silhouette of a child looking at a scene of destruction with heavy smoke rising into the sky, while the Urdu text, which is also the title of the editorial, reads: “ I Am Thinking, How Cold Is The Blood Of Our People.” The cover is followed by a three-paragraph excerpt from an Urdu-language book titled Tareekh Dawat-o-Azeemat, Vol. 1, which is the first in a series of five volumes by Maulana Syed Abul Hasan Nadwi, a late Islamic religious scholar from India.
The excerpt is titled “The Victor of Jerusalem – the Jihadi Characteristics of Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi.” It discusses the beliefs of Saladin, the 12th-century Muslim military leader who conquered Jerusalem during the Crusades. It says Saladin “spent all his effort… to establish an Islamic sultanate that has the full capability to expel unbelievers from the country” and therefore on one occasion he said: “When Allah gave me Egypt, then I understood that Allah is willing to hand over Palestine”. The author of the book says: “From then onward, the goal of Salahuddin’s life, until its final day, was to aid and support Islam, and he pledged to wage jihad against the unbelievers”.
The author quotes Qazi ibn Shaddad, the teacher of Saladin, as saying: “The love of jihad and passion of jihad seeped into his veins and enveloped his heart and mind. This was the topic of his conversation, he used to prepare materials and weapons for it, to think about its means and resources, to search for people who shared this vocation, to pay attention to those who would discuss it and teach about it. For this Jihad fi Sabeelillah [jihad in the path of Allah], he said goodbye to his children, members of his family and nation and homeland…”
Before the editorial, the magazine has a page titled “Al-Aqsa Storm [i.e., the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel].” This page contains quotes about Jerusalem from four former jihadi leaders: Afghan Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, and Al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
Mullah Mohammad Omar is quoted as saying: “I appeal to the entire Islamic world, especially the Muslims of Arab countries… to aid with life and property the sincere mujahideen of Palestine and at this sensitive turn in Islamic history to play fully their role according to shari’a. It is especially incumbent upon educated people to patronize and lead the mujahideen. I am certain that as it was in Afghanistan, there too, with the blessing of jihad, very soon the oppressed will benefit from freedom and Islamic shari’a”.
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin is quoted as saying: “Oh, sons of Islam across the entire world! Jihad is obligatory for establishing the system of Islam on earth and for freeing yourself and your countries from the occupation of America and its Zionist allies. This is your war! Its end will be victory or martyrdom.” Osama bin Laden is quoted as saying: “I swear by Allah who is above all, who raised these skies without pillars. America and those inhabiting it will not even dream of peace until we begin to really live in peace in Palestine, and until the unbeliever armies leave the Arabian Peninsula of Prophet Muhammad!”
Ayman Al-Zawahiri is quoted as saying: “The entire Ummah should come out of their homes for the sake of Palestine. Muslims should not wait for the governments thrust upon their countries; these governments can never help liberate Palestine. Know that the dream of liberation of Palestine can never be realized without the attacks by the mujahideen in the path of Allah and especially the youth of the Ummah against Israeli interests and those backing them”.
The magazine’s editorial is titled: “[I] Am Thinking, How Cold Is The Blood, Of Our People.” It begins with these words: “The sun of October 7, 2023, rose with the invitation of victory and triumph for the Muslim Ummah. That day, in the homeland and habitation of the prophets and First Qibla and Al-Aqsa Mosque where Prophet Muhammad led nearly 125,000 prophets in prayer, the pious land that the worshippers of Zionists and Crusaders have been trampling under their dirty feet, a storm erupted, such a storm that was a blessing for the inhabitants of faith and Islam… The mujahideen of Palestine called this storm the ‘Al-Aqsa Storm’ and the Crusaders and Zionists of the entire world came into the path of this storm and began crying”.
The editorial goes on to stress that in addition to being Allah’s punishment for non-Muslims and blessing for Muslims, Al-Aqsa Storm “is also the name of a strong trial” for the Muslim Ummah”. It says it is a trial for the writer and the reader, for the rich and the poor, for the listener and the speaker, and for the scholar and the common man.
“Al-Aqsa Storm is, in fact, a universal call [to mobilize]; a universal call for jihad being an obligatory duty. The territories are occupied. The Islamic Caliphate has fallen. The numbers and resources are not on the border. They have enforced their ‘New World Order’ on the capitals of our countries. Calls are coming from Guantanamo. Al-Aqsa Mosque is in the cordons of the Jews”, it says.
In a summary commentary, the editorial also mentions that Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani neuroscientist currently serving an 86-year prison term in a Texas prison for trying to kill US military personnel in Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda links, and other sisters like her are forced “naked in the prisons of kuffar [unbelievers]”.
The editorial expresses formal support for “the mujahideen of Palestine, especially the mujahideen of Al-Qassam Brigades and Al-Quds Brigades” and says that the magazine’s special issue on Al-Aqsa Storm is a call for Muslims to join “the international war” in Gaza, arguing that there is no justification left for sitting at home when the United States and the world of unbelief have come out in support of Israel.
“We give nafeer [a call for universal mobilization] for every individual of the Muslim Ummah, every man and every woman to say Labbaik [yes] to the battle cry of jihad. The war against Israel and America will not be waged just in Israel and America, the entire world is the battlefield. And in this world today, no Israeli, no American, no European and non-European Zionist is safe; there is no protection for the embassies of these warring unbelievers; there is no protection for their civilians; wherever you find them, turn them into the fuel of hell.
“Those who can get explosives or biological weapons, use them; those who can use knife or Kalashnikov, attack the unbelievers; those who can use hammers and chains should use them to crush their heads; those who cannot do these should use the weapon of writing and speaking, and even if this is not possible, then it is required by shari’a to pray,” the editorial observes.
The following articles and statements by Al-Qaeda’s branches appear in the magazine, as translated into Urdu: “The Aid [of Allah] for the Holy City!”; “”; “Indeed, Allah’s Help is Always Near”; “The Pious Operation of Al-Aqsa Storm”; “Expressions of Joy and Greetings on the Battle of Al-Aqsa Storm”; “Seeing the Outcome In Front, The Jews Trembled!”; “Khyber, Khyber, Oh Jews!”; “The Endorsement from Afghanistan”; “The Press Release Regarding Operation Al-Aqsa Storm”; “The Fatwa by the Ummah’s Religious Scholars in Support and Endorsement of Al-Aqsa Storm”; “Some Snapshots of the Battle of Al-Aqsa Storm (Picture Album)”; “Oh the Scholars of The Ummah, Lest [You] be Left by the Caravan”; “The Awakening of Ummah and the Decisive Turning Point in The Ummah’s Jihad”; ” Palestine is Calling!”; “The Work That Remains is a Debt on You!”; “Why was the Decision Taken to Launch the Attack Despite Being Aware of the [Expected Israeli] Reaction?”; “The Liberation of Quds [i.e., Palestine or Jerusalem] has Begun”; “Al-Aqsa Storm and Muslim Countries”; “Al-Aqsa Storm – the Storm of Ummah!”; “If These Protests Were Not to Happen?”; “Al-Aqsa and I (Poem in Free Verse)”; “And Then a Debate Ended!”; “The Battlefield of Good and Evil Has Been Unleashed Anew”; ” These Youths are the Honor of My Ummah!”; “The Souls of Al-Aqsa”; “The Fear of Bad Consequence”; “WCNSF – The Children of Gaza”; “The Last Words of The Martyrs of Gaza”; “Al-Aqsa Storm – A Review of Opinions in Global Media”; “The Two-State Solution”; “Now, It’s Your Turn”; “The Bloody Moon, Israel and Muslims”; “The Story of Gaza – In the Words of Quran”; “The Voice of Palestine (Poem)”; “Israeli Aggression And Inhabitants of Palestine (Infographics)”; and “Some Pictures of Gaza (Picture Album)”.
