See below for translations of the first two lessons in the official Shari’a textbook for recruits in IS training camps. |
Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, a research fellow at Middle East Forum’s Jihad Intel project, is one of world’s leading experts on the Islamic State (IS) group terrorizing the Middle East. The overwhelming majority of his writings and translations are too detailed or esoteric for distribution to a general audience, so instead MEF compiles periodic updates providing links and summaries for those who wish to follow the groundbreaking work of this prolific researcher.
For more general interest writings by Jawad al-Tamimi, click here.
Articles
Enemy of my enemy: Re-evaluating the Islamic State’s Relationship with the Ba’athist JRTN (June)
IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Monitor
Jawad al-Tamimi disputes the common belief that the Baathist Jaish Rijaal al-Tariqa al-Naqshabandiyya (JRTN), led by former Saddam Hussein loyalists, is a “hidden hand” responsible for IS battlefield success. Although JRTN helped create the conditions of instability and insecurity in Sunni areas of Iraq that paved the way for the rapid expansion of IS last year, its operations remain small-scale and unsophisticated. The group has now “become totally marginalized.”
Muhammad Sharif Aqfali, one of 23 Druze victims of the Qalb Lawza massacre |
New Salafi Jihadi Group in Gaza: The Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade (June 2)
Jihad Intel
Examination of a new Salafi jihadi group in Gaza that claimed credit for rocket attacks on Ashdod in late May. Named after Omar Hadid, a legendary leader of Iraq’s insurgency against U.S.-led coalition forces a decade ago, the statement strongly criticizes Hamas for collaborating with Israel and unjustly imprisoning Salafis.
The Massacre of Druze Villagers in Qalb Lawza, Idlib Province (June 15)
Syria Comment
An examination the June 10 killing of 23 Druze villagers from Qalb Lawza, Idlib province, by members of Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate. Although Jabhat al-Nusra called the killings an “unjustified error that occurred without the leadership’s knowledge,” Jawad al-Tamimi notes that the group forced residents of Qalb Lawza to renounce their Druze faith at the beginning of the year, and that its confiscation of property in the village ignited the clashes.
Translations
A lone JAI-Syria fighter poses for the camera in Latakia province. |
Jamaat Ansar al-Islam Statement: Fighting in North Aleppo Countryside (June 3)
A statement from the Syrian branch of Jamaat Ansar al-Islam (JAI), a Sunni group whose Iraqi parent branch was effectively absorbed into IS in 2014, denouncing a new IS offensive against other Sunni rebel groups in Syria. It condemns Islamic State’s “betrayal and striking at the expense of the mujahideen in north Aleppo countryside,” as well as its “false and corrupt interpretations.” The statement, which Jawad al-Tamimi calls “predictable” and “unsurprising,” does not signify a new posture.
Islamic State Training Camps and Military Divisions (June 24)
Translation and analysis of testimony from a pro-IS source in Mosul known as Omar Fawaz. According to Fawaz, IS recruits train for different lengths of time depending on whether they are ansar (native Iraqis and Syrians, 30 to 50 days) or muhajireen (foreigners, 90 days or more), a discrepancy that Jawad al-Tamimi attributes to the former’s familiarity with the local environment and tendency to have more military experience. Fawaz explains that ansar recruits undergo the same basic regimen of fitness exercises, combat training, and religious instruction during the first week, after which delegates from different branches of IS “select and screen out trainees and pick out those with special abilities,” such as marksmanship for snipers and good eyesight for air defense personnel.
Islamic State Training Camp Textbook: Part I (June 29)
Translation and analysis of Lesson 1 from Muqarrar fi al-Tawhid (Course/Stipulations in Tawhid [Monotheism]) by IS cleric Turki Binali, the primary textbook for the Shari’a education of recruits in IS training camps. Lesson 1 is notable for its extensive quotation of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of Saudi Arabia’s extreme Wahhabi brand of Islamism.
“Our Shari’a"- Nasheed from Islamic State’s Ajnad Media (June 29)
Translation of a musical chant (nasheed) produced by IS’s Ajnad Media Foundation. One of its less bellicose nasheeds, it focuses on praise of Shari’a as, inter alia, “the truth that has made darkness die” and “security for those whose vessels and wealth have perished.”
Islamic State Training Camp Textbook: Part II (June 30)
Translation of Lesson 2 from Muqarrar fi al-Tawhid, the primary textbook for the Shari’a education of recruits in IS training camps. Sections include “Three Principles Every Muslim and Muslim Woman Must Learn” and “Tawhid [oneness]: Three Types.”
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a research fellow at Middle East Forum’s Jihad Intel project.
