The Islamic State’s Fourth Bayat Campaign

Previously, I tracked the bayat campaign for Abu Ibrahim after Abu Bakr’s death, then for Abu al-Hasan after Abu Ibrahim’s death, and then for Abu al-Husayn after Abu al-Hasan’s death. This post will do the same with the announcement of Abu al-Husayn’s death and Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Quarashi as the new leader of the Islamic State. As I said in the original post:

There are two main reasons for this: 1. pledges are leader-specific rather than group-specific and thus need to be renewed with each succession and 2. it is a way to legitimize al-Qurashi’s rule and create a media event so that the group can promote itself as it transitions to a new phase.

The first reason is also something that IS pointed to when it began to overtly feud with al-Qaeda (AQ) in 2013, by saying that following Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi’s death, his successor Abu Hamzah al-Muhajir gave baya to the newly created Islamic State of Iraq’s leader Abu ‘Umar al-Baghdadi and even after Abu ‘Umar was killed, when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi took over in 2010 and then Usamah Bin Laden was killed in 2011, Abu Bakr never publicly gave baya to Ayman al-Zawahiri, even if al-Zawahiri claims he gave it to him privately. Therefore, from the perspective of IS this whole process is not trivial, but important for legitimacy of its leadership and to potentially weed out any insubordination before it manifests into something larger as it already did in the past vis-a-vis AQ.

This post will be updated with the latest official pledges.

August 5, 2023:

Wilāyat al-‘Irāq

Wilāyat Gharb Ifrīqīyah – Krenoa Region

August 6, 2023:

Wilāyat al-Ṣūmāl

Wilāyat al-Yaman

August 7, 2023:

Wilāyat al-Sāḥil – Tri-Border Area

Wilāyat Bākistān

August 8, 2023:

Wilāyat Wasaṭ Ifrīqīyah

Wilāyat al-‘Irāq

Wilāyat Gharb Ifrīqīyah – al-Buhayrah Region

Wilāyat al-Sāḥil – Anderamboukane

August 9, 2023:

Wilāyat Khurāsān

Wilāyat Gharb Ifrīqīyah – Sambisa Region

Wilāyat al-Sāḥil – Azawagh

August 10, 2023:

Wilāyat al-Shām

Wilāyat Gharb Ifrīqīyah – al-Faruq Region and Banki Region

August 11, 2023:

Wilāyat al-‘Irāq

August 12, 2023:

Wilāyat Sharq Asīā

August 14, 2023:

Wilāyat Mūzambīq

Wilāyat Bākistān

Wilāyat Sāḥil – Burkina Faso

August 16, 2023:

Wilāyat al-‘Irāq

Wilāyat al-Shām

New release from Hay’at Taḥrīr al-Shām’s Abū Mārīyah al-Qaḥṭānī: “Sectarian Tweet”

z3fyyopy

Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: Abū Mārīyah al-Qaḥṭānī — Sectarian Tweet

________________

Source: Telegram

To inquire about a translation for this release for a fee email: [email protected]

New video message from The Islamic State: “So Wait; Indeed We, Along With You, Are Waiting Wilāyat al-‘Irāq”

The title of this release is in reference to Qur’anic verse 9:52. Here it is in full: “Say, ‘Do you await for us except one of the two best things while we await for you that God will afflict you with punishment from Himself or at our hands? So wait; indeed we, along with you, are waiting.'”

_________________

Source: RocketChat

To inquire about a translation for this video message for a fee email: [email protected]

New statement from Katā’ib al-Kurdistān in Iraq and Iran: “Congratulations to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”

Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: Katā’ib al-Kurdistān in Iraq and Iran — Congratulations to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

_______________

Source: Telegram

To inquire about a translation for this statement for a fee email: [email protected]