NOTE: This is the first time since late February that an issue of Vanguards of Khurāsān Magazine has been published.
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Vanguards of Khorasan Magazine #17
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Month: November 2010
New video message from Anwar al 'Awlaqī: "To make it known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it”
UPDATE 2: Here is an Urdu translation:
Anwar al ‘Awlaqī — “To make it known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it” (Urdu)
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UPDATE: Here is an English translation via Flashpoint Partners:
Anwar al ‘Awlaqī- “To make it known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it”
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NOTE: The below video was first previewed a few weeks ago on the forums and was covered by IntelWire’s J.M. Berger. The above title is in reference to the Qur’ānic verse 3:187 (HT Online Jihad):
“And remember Allah took a covenant from the People of the Book, to make it known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it; but they threw it away behind their backs, and purchased with it some miserable gain! And vile was the bargain they made!”
Unfortunately, the asbāb al-nuzūl (occasions of revelation) for this verse is not explained by al-Wāḥidī. That said, I thought it would be worthwhile to provide some tafāsīr (Qur’ānic exegesis) from some leading Muslim mufassirūn (those who conduct Qur’ānic exegesis) in Islamic history with regard to the above verse, which might provide added layer to our understanding of why al ‘Awlaqī decided to use it as his title:
al-Tustarī:
That is, they [The Jews and Christians] did not act by the Book, and purchased with it some miserable gain, that is, they bought in exchange for the everlasting Hereafter, the goods of this transitory world.
Jalālayn:
And, mention, when God made covenant with those who had been given the Scripture, that is, the pledge [taken] from them in the Torah, ‘You shall expound it (read tubayyinunnahu, or yubayyinunnahu, ‘they shall expound it’) the Book, to people, and not conceal it’ (read taktumūnahu, ‘you shall not conceal it’, or yaktumūnahu, ‘they shall not conceal it’). But they rejected it, they discarded the covenant, behind their backs, and so they did not act in accordance with it, and bought with it, they took in its place, a small price, of this world from the debased among them, enjoying supremacy over them in knowledge, and they concealed it, lest it [the supremacy] escape them; how evil is what they have bought, [how evil is] this purchase of theirs!
Ibn ‘Abbās:
Then Allah mentioned His covenant with the people of the Book in the Scripture, which required them to exposit the traits and description of His Prophet, saying: (And (remember) when Allah laid a charge on those who had received the Scripture) i.e. the Torah and the Gospel ((He said): Ye are to expound it) the trait and description of Muhammad (to mankind and not to hide it) not to hide these traits and description of Muhammad in their Scripture. (But they flung it behind their backs) and did not act upon it (and bought thereby a little gain) a paltry acquisition in their means of living by hiding the traits and description of Muhammad in their Scripture. (Verily evil is that which they have gained thereby) evil is that which they have chosen for themselves: Judaism and the concealment of the traits and description of Muhammad.
Ibn Kathīr:
(And remember) when Allah took a covenant from those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians) to make it (the truth) known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it, but they threw it away behind their backs, and purchased with it some miserable gain! And indeed worst is that which they bought.)
On the less esoteric front, one would be remiss not to mention that al ‘Awlaqī’s new video is not produced by al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) media outlet al-Malāḥim. Does this prove my point that he is not all that important to AQAP? I am always up for eating humble pie and though I still believe my argument is valid my colleague who goes under the pseudonym Mr. Orange’s War Tracker makes what I think is a valid counter-argument: “I’d say it’s the other way round. al ‘Awlaqī doesn’t need AQAP. And it’s still possible that he doesn’t even belong to their lot.” If his argument ends up being correct, as I responded to him, it could suggest that al ‘Awlaqī is trying to set himself up as a figure similar to Abū Muḥmmad al-Maqdisī. Interestingly, his speech is in Arabic and not English. Much of al ‘Awlaqī’s material in the past has been in English, as such, it could be argued that al ‘Awlaqī is trying to become more available to an Arab audience as well as gain more legitimacy. At the same time, al ‘Awlaqī calls for his video to be translated into English, therefore, he is trying to satiate his cult-like followers in the English-speaking world as well.
Here are some excerpts from the video via the BBC, AFP, CP, and CNN:
“Kings, emirs, and presidents are not now qualified to lead the nation, or even a flock of sheep. If the leaders are corrupt, the scholars have the responsibility to lead the nation.”
“Do not consult anyone in killing Americans. Killing the devil does not need any fatwā (legal ruling).”
“We reached that moment when it is either us or them. We are two opposites that will never meet. They want something that cannot happen unless they wipe us out. This is a decisive battle. This is the battle of Moses and pharaoh. This is the battle of righteousness and falsehood.”
“If we support the mujahedeen, we will win it all and if we let them down, we will lose it all.”
“There is an American political agenda that the Yemeni government is carrying out with a western funding in order to estrange the people of this country from their faith by all means.”
“These so called guardians of the Muslim nation are not fit to lead the people. They are not even qualified to lead a herd of sheep, so imagine the leadership of one billion Muslims. When the rulers become corrupt, the scholars have a duty to guide the masses.”
“The Sunni Muslims of the Gulf region will be the first victims of a nuclear strong Iran. I ask the Sunni scholars how will they do in fighting the rafidi [derogatory term for Shi’a] Shiite wave that is storming our region. By god, we are not calling for the killing of Muslims. We are only asking to defend our rights, the rights and the resources of our Muslim nation.”
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New statement from the Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan: "Open Letter From Qārī Moḥammad Yūsuf Aḥmadī To Members Of The American Congress"
NOTE: This message is from the Afghan Ṭālibān and unedited below.
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Zul Qadah 29, 1431 A.H, Sunday, November 07, 2010
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Open Letter of Qari Mohammad Yousuf Ahmadi, Spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, to Members of the American Congress
To Members of the American Congress:
Availing myself of this opportunity, I am pleased to share with you my views about certain issues that have become a cause of concern and resentments for many peace-loving people, not only in America, Afghanistan but for all people at the region and the world. They now openly say that the status quo is unbearable and that drastic measures must be taken to change it.
Messrs American Congressmen!
You certainly know that on June 7, the current year, the war of Afghanistan, surpassed that of Vietnam in terms of longevity–thus becoming the longest war in the history of America. Ironically, this war began on the basis of an event which in itself is a mystery to many people. But your government is bent on continuing the war further more on the same basis. However, we have made it clear from the day one that we have no role in this event, nor participation in operations on foreign soil is part of our policy.
It is also worth mentioning that, no neutral entity which is acceptable to all sides, has ever carried out investigation into the September Event. In short, the war started as you resorted to the usage of most sophisticated, lethal and latest weapons available at your arsenal. To confront this, our people had to put up resistance to your offensive out of sheer feeling of patriotism to defend the country and the religious sanctity. From the beginning of the war, your army, your coalition allies, the regional sycophants and proxies turned a blind eye to all universal norms and principles of the war, seeing that the Afghans were miserable and friendless.
Hence, a new trend set in where murdering, capturing, harassing and insulting the Afghans became not only legal but a commendable work. Entire villages of Afghanistan were razed to ground as a result of your heavy bombardment, ostensibly under the name of mopping-up havens of so-called terrorists. Not only that. Orchards were burnt down to ashes; mass murders were committed in northern and central Afghanistan, not once but recurrently. Houses of local people were destroyed, women raped and green field scorched by using daisy-cutter bombs. People were put under detention in the notorious Jouzajan, Guantanamo, Bagram and Kandahar prisons for many years on mere suspicions. All these were done under the name of war on terror!
Throughout the past nine years, the Afghans have been festering in the vortex of an imposed war. They have remained deprived of the delight and solace of a normal life. The apparition of mass murder, imprisonment, night house raids and plundering which has become the order of the day, constantly haunts them. Every morning, as the Afghan wake up from the bed, they do not know whether he or she will see the next sunset, thinking that they might fall prey to your blind bombardment or straying bullets. Some times, media reports highlight these events. But the real and gruesome picture of these horrendous events remains stored in the chests of our people. In face of all these adversities, our people remained firm as they were in the right. Ultimately, casualties of your troops and your material losses began to spiral up as the war hauled along with the passage of time. This naturally sparked off hot discussions among common Americans about the worthiness of this unjustified war. The worry and concern of people presumably found way to the echelons of the representatives of the people in your country and now it has become one of the most critical issues pending before you.
As we monitor the developments, we see that, after every few days, a military official submits you distorted information about Afghanistan. They want to keep you snarled up in an environ of a misleading optimism and are trying to give vent to their own grudges. By doing so, they want to show themselves victorious, to obtain financial gains and add fuel to the fire of the war.
Your defense Secretary, Robert Gates, whenever he takes the floor at the podium, he speaks of military advancement in Afghanistan. General Petreous says, the initiative of the war is in our hands. But in fact, in the last two years, your military high-ups implemented different strategies including troop’s surge, construction of new military bases, forming militias, boosting the Kabul mercenary army etc. However, all these steps have been taken without considering the ground realities. It is why they all failed. The resistance of our people easily thwarted all efforts of your military brasses. Last year, on the basis of Obama’s new strategy, the south of our country saw rise in troop’s deployment, but, on the contrary, we opened new fronts in the north and east of the country and beefed up our operations there.
You launched operations for the capture of rural areas, we infiltrated into different cities including the cities of Kandahar and Kabul, expanding our operations there. You intended to reverse the resistance but we extended the jihad to become a country-wide resistance. Now your troops are not able to take a breath of relief in any part of Afghanistan. Last, you launched military operations dubbed as Dagger’s Strike in Helmand province, considering it as your experimental initiative to test your fortune. But it only brought in casualties and failures.
Resistance has increased comparatively in areas wherever you have carried out operations. Your troops have the highest life losses in these areas. In the east of the country, the successful operations of Mujahideen forced General Crystal to waive the rural areas protection strategy by announcing a new strategy of concentration of forces at most populated urban areas. Then you launched the Marja operations with great fanfare but only turned out to entangle you in a deadly and crippling battles. Every day, brings new fatality to your ranks and files. Similarly, in this current year, your generals wanted to launch Kandahar operations but Mujahideen took initiative in their hands as they always do so. They launched tip-and run attacks there instead and have been forging ahead with the tactic successfully.
The formation of militias as a part of civilian support program and the boosting of the Kabul administration’s army was your most prominent plan, propagated with most fanfare, prior to launching it. But this plan also went awry. Soldiers in the army and in military uniform targeted you with their own weapons. Still, instead of pondering over their mistakes, your military officers are bent on continuing the war. They irresponsibly give you distorted information about a losing war, trying to conceal from you, their failures.
Your generals and intelligence high-ups claim that the current resistance in Afghanistan is the result of interference by neighboring countries. However, by doing so, they want to justify the prolongation of the war. Sometimes, they ascribe the resistance to foreign elements and are trying to show the current armed Jihad by the Afghans as being a war waged only by Taliban or they intentionally portray it as an insurgence being put up by a given tribe and ethnicity of Afghanistan– whereas, in fact, the current armed Jihad is a country-wide resistance against you . Men and women, old and young from every tribe, ethnicity, caste and area have arisen to oppose you. Thus by your intending to wipe out the resistance, you have chosen the way of committing genocide of the whole nation.
Think, can a few militants stand up to armed forces of 40 countries including the strongest countries of the world—still more in circumstances that the initiatives of the war is in the hands of the invaders, as your generals claim? Can a clandestine and weak intervention (by foreigners) be able to confront these troops? Can only Taliban i.e. students, confront these large number of forces? Can a certain race in a multi-ethnicity nation of Afghanistan, be able to resist such a strong and well-equipped military coalition? If the intervention had been a decisive factor for the maintenance of stability, then the Karzai would have been able to achieve that goal by now?
If you claim that the current resistance is being put up by non-Afghan elements, then your government and the coalition should produce concrete evidence for all to see. Following your occupation of Afghanistan and the inception of armed Jihad against you, you have undoubtedly detained not only tens of people, or hundreds of them, or thousands of them, but tens of thousands of them, would your military generals produce only one hundred non-Afghans from among those thousands of detainees to prove their case? If they did so, we would accept your claim that non-Afghan Mujahideen had been fighting against you all these years? Otherwise, the claim is a mere assumption.
If you are not willing to act on our suggestion, then how about another experiment? Send a team to Afghanistan on fact-finding mission. But members of the team should have freedom of movement, and should be allowed to remain far from the clutches of your intelligence agencies. Then they should see for themselves whether the military generals give them permission to go out of military barracks and hotels or they try to keep them in barracks and hotels as distinguished
New statement from the Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan: "The Occupying Forces Are The Main Factor Behind The Recent Assault And All Other Adversities"
NOTE: This message is from the Afghan Ṭālibān and unedited below.
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Zul Qadah 29, 1431 A.H, Sunday, November 07, 2010
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Media outlets, both at home and abroad, admitted that at the end of last week, on Thursday in the suburbs of Eastern province of Nangarhar, the Russian and American forces raided some heroin-producing factories, destroying some of them, according to their report.
It is not quite clear till now whether they really targeted the narcotics centers or carried out the attacks for some other common imperialistic objectives. The facts behind the foray into the centers, will come to the open later, but one thing is quite clear that for the last decade, the Americans have not only given themselves the right to commit every crime and cruelty but also provided opportunity to other countries to exploit the Afghan soil and resources for their military, political, economic and cultural interests and quests.
The Americans have allowed member states of their unholy alliance to pound Afghan villages and hamlets to evaluate their weapons; to test their bullets and rockets in order to know their range of destruction.
If some of the countries had the ambition to target the Afghan civilian by their tanks and helicopters; just for the sake of sport; they did repeatedly commit this brutal crime.
Countries that were fond of looting and plundering the mineral and other vital resources of Afghanistan, the Americans provided them the opportunity to build military bases and barracks over there.
Countries desiring to appoint their Afghan agents in the higher ranks of Kabul administration i.e. the so called parliament, the peace council etc; they did this with great impudence.
Countries longing for preaching Christianity and propagating obscenity and irreligiousness have carried it out openly.
Countries trying to import their culture and civilization to Afghanistan, these enemies of our Islamic and national culture have succeeded to a great extent.
It seems that now it is the Russians’ turn. To safeguard their regional and global interests from the claws of the Russians, the Americans opened the Afghan airspace for them and provided them the chance to participate preliminarily in the assault against narcotics.
The Russians should not have taken the audacity to violate the Afghan sanctuary; because in the eighties, when the former Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan and fought with their full strength and brutality for a decade, the result was quite clear, i.e. the collapse and disintegration of the former Soviet Union. It should have been an exemplary lesson for the present Russia.
Some analysts are of the opinion that the intention behind the recent co-operation is that Russians want the Americans not to evacuate earlier so that the American imperialism is also engraved in Afghanistan just like the former Soviet Union met the fate.
Whatever the objectives might be, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns the recent operation carried out by the Russians in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, and calls upon the Afghans to react strongly and focus on avenging themselves on Americans and their mercenaries for the recent operations.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
New statement from the Teḥrīk-ī-Ṭālibān Pākistān: "Claiming Credit for the Kawhaṭ [Kohat] Mosque Bombing"
NOTE: This translation is via Flashpoint Partners. Also, one should check out Mosharraf Zaidi’s recent article about the tragic bombings in Pakistani mosques for the AfPak Channel.
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“A blessed martyrdom operation was carried out by a knight of monotheism, as we consider him, targeting a meeting between the Awakening [movement] of Kohat… and the local commanders of the apostate army…The operation came in response to recent security campaigns and in retaliation for our heroes. Enemy media broadcasts are claiming that this operation took place near the mosque, and this is a big lie and a major fabrication about your brothers.”
Two new statements from al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula: "Statement Denying the Unity Sports Club bombing in 'Aden" and "Statement on the recent events in Mūdīyyah"
NOTE: The below statements were released yesterday along with the AQAP announcement where they claimed responsibility for the Cargo plot. For more on the below statements see Gregory D. Johnsen’s analysis of them as well as the insightful statement on why the one on the bombing in ‘Aden is the most important of the three.
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Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — Statement Denying the Unity Sports Club bombing in Aden
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Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — Statement on the recent events in Mūdīyyah
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New statement from al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula: "Package Operations of Attrition"
UPDATE: Here is an English translation:
Statement from al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula- “Package Operations of Attrition”
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NOTE: al-Qā’idah in the Arabian Peninsula’s new statement “Package Operations of Attrition” takes responsibility for last weeks attempted Cargo plot. In it, they also claim that they were the ones who downed the UPS cargo plane on September 3, 2010 and are disappointed that no one gave them credit for it. This is interesting since officials in Dubai earlier in the week denied any possibility of it. As such, AQAP is either taking advantage of the situation or Dubai is covering something up. As of now I would go with the former explanation. They also stated that they were planning on using this tactic on passenger jets as well. In addition, AQAP accuses the Saudis of interfering with their plan to blow up the Jewish synagogues in Chicago.
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al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — “Package Operations of Attrition”
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Articles of the Week – 10/30-11/5
Saturday October 30:
Bombs from Yemen – Gregory D. Johnsen, Waq al-Waq: https://bit.ly/b6wST1
Shari’ah is not the law – Amina Wadud, Religion Dispatches: https://bit.ly/aC1SEK
Sunday October 31:
Top jihadi forums of 31 October, 2010 – Aaron Weisburd, Internet Haganah: https://bit.ly/avA1xl
Ignoring Yemen at Our Peril – Gregory D. Johnsen, Foreign Policy: https://bit.ly/cp9gSU
Monday November 1:
Some thoughts on the printer plot and AQAP – Leah Farrall, All Things Counter Terrorism: https://bit.ly/b2Uuok
Looking Ahead in Mogadishu: Tough Decisions – Katherine Zimmerman, Critical Threats Project: https://bit.ly/cpNtBd
Tuesday November 2:
What Yemen Wants – Steven Sotloff, The National Interest: https://bit.ly/aphbEP
Wednesday November 3:
Terrorism and Politics in Mauritania – Alex Thurston, Sahel Blog: https://bit.ly/cW2pSy
Is There a Significant Distinction Between “al Qaeda” & “al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula”? – Robert Chesney, Lawfare: https://bit.ly/bCvBHG
Assessing “The Vision of the Jihaadi Movement” – Mark Stout, On War and Words: https://bit.ly/bjNu8a
Thursday November 4:
Reflections on Osama bin Laden, and his continuing relevance – Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, LWJ Threat Matrix: https://bit.ly/cgfMh5
Friday November 5:
10 Reasons Why Blocking Awlaki Youtube Speeches is Counter-Productive – Howard G. Clark, Free Rad!cals: https://bit.ly/cp5NRw
New statement from the Islamic State of Iraq [al-Qā’idah in Iraq]: "Declaring a new campaign of revenge for the Mothers of the Believers and defending the honor of the Seal of the Prophets"
NOTE: The idea of the seal of the prophets (Khātim an-Nabiyīn) , which the Islamic State of Iraq uses in the above title is a reference to a verse in the Qur’ān, which identifies the Muslim prophet Muḥammad as the last prophet God is sending to the Earth with a revelation. Here is the verse:
Muḥammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things. (Sūrat al-‘Azhāb 33:40)
This verse is one of the reasons why the Iranians have such issues with the Bahá’í while the Pakistanis have problems with the Ahmadiyya.
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
** بيانٌ عن انطلاقِ حملة الثّأر لأمّهات المؤمنين وعِرض خاتم الأنبياء والمرسَلين ** يقول تعالى: {إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ عَذَابًا مُّهِينًا}[الأحزاب: 57]. الحمد لله ربّ العالمين، والصلاة والسلام على نبينا محمد، وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين.. وبعد: ففي يومٍ منبأيّام الله وبعد التّوكّل عليه والأخذ بالأسباب المتيسّرة، انطلقت طلائعُ المجاهدين في حملةٍ جديدة مباركةٍ حشدوا فيها أجنادهم وأسرجوا فيها جِيادهم، ونادى مناديهم: أنِ امضوا على بركة الله في كتائبَ غضبةً للدّين، وثأراً لأمّهات المؤمنين وأصحاب النّبي صلى الله عليه وسلّم، بعد أن تمادى الأنجاسُ الرّافضة في غيّهم، وقد أخذتهم الأماني بعودة المشروع الصفويّ كلّ مأخذ، فظنّوا أنّ الأمّة استنامت عن درب الجهاد بتضليلِ أصوات المنبطحين، وانكسر سيفها تحتَ أقدام الحكّام المرتدّين وسنابك خيل الغُزاة الغاصبين، فاستعلنوا بشِركهم وكفرهم، وجاهروا بأذيّتهم رسولَ الله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم في عِرضه وطعنهم في أزواجه أمّهات المؤمنين، وسبّهم ولعنهم أصحابَه رضي الله عنهم ليلاً ونهاراً، على منابرهم وفي تجمّعاتهم وشاشات فضائياتهم.. فجاءهم أولياء الرّحمن من حيث لم يحتسبوا محطّمينَ الخطّة الأمنيّة التي ملأ سفهاء المنطقة الخضراء بها الدّنيا ضجيجاً، فتمّ ولله الحمد وبصورة متزامنة، ضربُ الزّوايا المُظلمة التي شخّصتها المفارز الأمنيّة بدقّةٍ أعشاشاً للزندقة والكفر، يُنادى فيها بالطّعن في أمّهات المؤمنين وسبِّ الصّحابة رضي الله عنهم أجمعين،،، ألا فليعلم الرّافضةُ الأنجاس المناكير، أبناء المُتعة وأحفاد ابن العلقميّ: أنّ لأمّهات المؤمنين الطّاهرات العفيفات والصّحابة الكِرام العِظام، أبناءً وأحفاداً رجالاً، طلّقوا دنياهم وباعوا أنفسَهم لبارئها، أُباةً كُماةً يبتغون القتل في سبيل الله ولا ينامون على ضيم، وما رأوه منهم في تلك اللّيلة المباركةِ أوّلُ الغيث، ويومٌ واحدٍ من أيّام كثيرةٍ مخضّبةٍ بالدّم تنتظرهم، فرائحة الموت لن تُفارق بقوّة الله مجالسهم التي يُنالُ فيها من عِرض نبيّنا صلّى الله عليه وسلّم، فليبشروا بما يسوؤهم والقادم بإذن الله أنكى وأمرّ… والله أكبر {وَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لا يَعْلَمُونَ} وزارة الإعلام / دولة العراق الإسلامية
المصدر : ( مركز الفجر للإعلام )