Following October 7 Hamas pogrom in Israel, Islamist militancy outfits such as Al Qaeda, Islamic State etcetera are showing signs of feeling energized while these notorious terrorist entities are using October 7 pogrom as a sign of their agenda of Islamic conquest targeting Western and “non-Muslim” nations.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) in a recent report said, in an Urdu-language statement released on November 25, 2023, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) called on “common Muslims” in the West and elsewhere to attack Israelis and Americans with knives and guns and has outlined a five-point strategy to expand the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza globally.
According to MEMRI, a key point of the AQIS strategy seems to be to direct anti-Israel protests worldwide toward the embassies of Israel and the countries supporting Israel. It says that “peaceful protests are effective only if they are achieving their goals, but when goals are not being achieved through them, then it becomes inevitable to give them the face of war”.
The eight-page Urdu-language statement, titled “The Aid of Gaza and Liberation of Aqsa is Obligatory on Every Muslim”, is authored by Maulana Muhammad Musanna Hasaan, a cleric associated with Al Qaeda. The statement is dated Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1445, in the Hijri calendar, which corresponds with the lunar month beginning November 15, 2023, and was issued by Al-Sahab Media for the Subcontinent, the media arm of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent.
The statement begins: “All praise is due to Allah, who bound all Muslims [together] in a bond of brotherhood, made it a duty for all Muslims to aid their Muslim brothers, and made the liberation of his Sacred Places [such as Jerusalem] obligatory”.
After some words in the honor of Prophet Muhamad, the writer observes: “The current situation in Gaza requires no narration [as] every person in the world is seeing it on screens in front of him and in his hand. Israel’s oppression, whose illegitimate occupation of Palestine is accepted by more than two-thirds of the people of the world, is growing with every rising sun”.
AQIS statement said, “America is the oppressor that has decided that it will call every Israeli crime ‘justice’ and every lie ‘truth’ because its history is itself derived from it, whether it be the oppressed Palestinians, or the Muslims of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia, or the non-Muslims of Japan, Cuba, and Mexico”.
The statement accuses ‘oppressor Israel’ of considering the bombing of civilian areas the killing of people in their homes and hospitals, the depriving of patients of medicines, and the displacing of unarmed people from their homes all to be “justice”.
Amid this oppression and barbarity, the author says, “the Muslim Ummah is standing by the people of Gaza and Palestine against this oppression and terror,” while “people muddied in the dirt of Zionism and Crusaderism are openly becoming guilty of this crime or are supporters of this oppression”.
After having made this statement, the writer poses a series of questions before “every person, especially Muslims”: “Has anything happened yet against this despicable Israeli war that [has caused] Israel and its supporters to desist from this oppression and barbarity, or are desisting from it? Has there been any confrontation of the oppression in this war, or is about to be? Can shedding tears over the deaths of more than 10,000 innocent humans stop this oppression?
“Can being saddened after viewing the pictures and viral videos of thousands of wounded and hundreds of thousands of homeless people stop this crime? Has the protesting stopped this oppression? Is this barbarism ceasing by speaking against this oppression on social media? Or, is confronting this oppression the responsibility of the Palestinian resistance alone, that they fight against these usurpers and oppressors, and stop their path?”
Lamenting that Muslims have become insensitive to the developments in Palestine, Maulana Muhammad Musanna Hasaan, the writer, says: “The issue has become very sensitive. We are in peace with our wives and children in our homes, while our brothers and sisters are giving up their lives buried under the debris of buildings”.
The writer argues that this matter is not something to be decided by shari’a alone: “[The matter of] upon which Muslims it is obligatory to aid the Muslims of Gaza and wage the war for the liberation of Aqsa – is it only obligatory upon the Muslims of Palestine and its neighboring countries; or is it obligatory upon the rulers and armed forces only the Muslim countries, etc., is not only an issue for Islamic jurisprudence. The matter is not only a juristic issue, but more than that it is of self-respect and dignity. The question arises: Is your life and mine more precious than those Muslims dying in Gaza? Are we sitting here protecting [our lives] and they are losing their lives there?”
Maulana Muhammad Musanna Hasaan tells Muslims that “the lives of the Muslims of Gaza and Palestine are [considered] more precious than your life and mine” and asks: “If the lives of Muslims there are being lost, then by saving our own lives, can we remain at peace?”
Noting that “the real issue is how to stop Israeli oppression and barbarism” and to make the Muslims of Gaza and Palestine successful, he says that in such a task, midnight prayers, social media, and protests by the hundreds of thousands will be helpful “when the weapon of armed fighting against Israel and America are used. Without doubt, iron cuts iron. The most important need is that military attacks be carried out against Israel and America and every force standing with them in the Israeli war”.
The statement calls for Muslims to join the jihad: “This jihad and struggle is obligatory upon every Muslim. Whoever says that it is obligatory only on Palestine and its neighboring countries or only on the rulers and armed forces of Muslim countries only is misleading [you]. The statements of fuqaha [Islamic jurists] also say that in such a situation that confronts us, jihad becomes obligatory upon Muslims of the East and the West”, it declares.
“Its form is not simply that every Muslim from among us wants to reach Gaza and wage war against Israel by joining the resistance there while this longing cannot become anything more than a thought. Its form is also not that you and I simply stoke only the rulers and armed forces of the Muslim-majority countries, whom Muslims have fed billions of dollars to nurture, so that they will go there and wage jihad, though we know that before and since the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate they have never become active against unbelievers and when they did, then fled in defeat. [We further know that] when they do become active, it is only within their countries against the lovers of Islam [i.e., jihadis and Islamists]”, the statement says.
In this context, the question arises as to what will be the form of the attack against Israel? The AQIS statement answers: “Its form is that the Muslims of the entire world should expand the sphere of this war against Israel and America in the whole world. And every Muslim should consider this [goal] as his shari’a obligation and moral responsibility”.
Toward this goal, the AQIS outlines a five-point strategy:
The first point of this strategy is that the Muslims inhabiting the Western world and Muslims inhabiting in those countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel “and where there are Zionists, should attack the ‘Zionists'”. It explains: “One who has a knife or dagger should use it, and one who has a gun, should use it – until attacks against Zionists present in the whole world outside Israel and the Zionists of the whole world come under the flame of war. This task is possible for every common Muslim who gets this opportunity, and the opportunity will come to the one who is in search of the opportunity”.
The second point of this strategy is to launch attacks on Americans worldwide. It states: “Attacks [should] be launched on American officials around the world. American diplomatic personnel are present in all countries of the world and American bases are present at multiple places. Every common Muslims present there [should] search for the opportunity and target and kill American officials and soldiers”.
The third point of this strategy states that jihadi organizations and resistance movements of the world have “a clear obligation” to plan for military operations against Israel and America to help the mujahideen of Gaza in the Israeli war. It says: “The Ummah is battling against all its enemies at the same time, and this is a comprehensive war that has many battles. And at this time, the most important battle is being fought against the Zionist-Crusader enemy in Palestine. Therefore, for the victory of the inhabitant of Islam in this battle, it is necessary to target on priority the Zionist and American targets”.
The fourth point of this strategy is a boycott of companies that are helping Israel, but not to target their franchises and staff unless they are Zionists and supporters of Zionists. “Along with their productions, their assets should also be targeted. These people [companies] are equally participants in this war and they are greedy about their assets. So, when they come under the flame of war, they will on their own stop their financial aid to Israel, Allah willing”.
The fifth point of the strategy recommends that anti-Israel protests be given a direction, leading to mass attacks on embassies and other such buildings. It states: “These protests be given a new direction. And an invasion in the form of protests [ahouls] be launched on the embassies of Israel, America, and every Wuropean country… their personnel [should be] killed and their buildings set on fire.” It also notes that “peaceful protests are effective only if they are achieving their goals, but when goals are not being achieved through them, then it becomes inevitable to give them the face of war”. However, it also cautions that only Zionists and those who help Zionists should be targeted and “only as much confrontation with the administration of Muslim countries should happen as is necessary to reach the Zionist and American embassies”.
Toward the end, the author of the statement, who expresses the desire for all Muslims to offer a prayer of victory at in Al-Aqsa Mosque of Jerusalem, says: “We are sure that this battle is the last battle of Israel, and this battle is the battle for the freedom of Aqsa and all of Palestine, on the condition that we all become fighters in this battle”.
He says in prayer: “Oh Allah, This Aqsa is your sacred place of worship, only you have to defend it. Oh Allah, make us the means for it, Amen! O Allah, strengthen the feet of the Palestinian resistance and keep them steadfast till victory, Amen!” The statement’s last page has a series of Quran verses that stress the need for steadfastness, trust in Allah, and aid from Allah on the path of victory.
With such extremely disturbing and dangerous provocations, shall the governments in South Asian region and the world start worrying about possible rise of jihadist madness?
