New article from Dr. Iyād Qunaybī: "Concerning Participation in the Committee Session to Write the Libyan Constitution"

الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله. السلام عليكم ورحمة الله. سألني إخوة ليبيون عن المشاركة في لجنة الستين ترشُّحا وتصويتا. فأود أن أقول: لم أر في شروط الترشح لهذه اللجنة إقرارا بجعل السيادة لغير الشريعة أو قسما على احترام دستور شركي كما هو الحال في الترشح للبرلمانات أو الرئاسة في البلاد الإسلامية. وعليه، فإن حكم المشاركة في هذه اللجنة مرتبط –والله أعلم- بما يُنتخب له الـمترشح لها: 1.    فإن كانت مهمة المرشحين إيصال صوت من يمثلونهم من الناس أنهم يريدون الشريعة حاكمة امتثالا لأمر الله، ولا يستمر عملهم في اللجنة إلا على هذا الأساس، بحيث إذا تم الاتفاق على سيادة الشريعة تابعوا مع اللجنة من قبيل صياغة التفاصيل وفق أحكام الشريعة، وإن لم يتم الاتفاق على مبدأ سيادة الشريعة بل فُرض مبدأ سيادة الأغلبية بحيث تدون كل مادة تقرها الأغلبية بغض النظر عن موافقتها للشريعة فإن هؤلاء المترشحين ينسحبون على الفور. إن كانت الصورة على هذا الحال فلا أرى ما يمنع من الترشح لِلَّجنة، وقد ذكرت مثل هذه الصورة في حلقة (عبودية الديمقراطية وبداية الزلل) من سلسلة نصرةً للشريعة، بدءا من عبارة (فسادت في أذهان البعض صورة مبسطة جدا وهمية) حيث بينت أن هذه الصورة لا تنطبق على الحالة المصرية، لكن الحالة الليبية قريبة منها.   2. أما إن كانت المهمة المعلنة لهؤلاء المرشحين: (إن لم نستطع فرض سيادة الشريعة فلا أقل من أن نُضَمِّن في الدستور منها ما استطعنا، فما لا يدرك كله لا يترك جله، وفرق بين المأمول والمستطاع، فنأتي بالمصالح ما استطعنا ونخفف المفاسد ما استطعنا، ونصوت لصالح الأحكام الموافقة للشريعة، ولا نتركها للعلمانيين والعملاء والمنافقين)، إلى آخره من الأعذار المكررة المعروفة، ففي هذه الحالة لا نرى أبدا بجواز المشاركة على هذا الوجه ولا ترشيح من يُظن به أن يقبل بهذا الدور. فأي دستور يُبنى على غير سيادة الشريعة فهو دستور شركي يجب اعتزاله والعمل على إبطاله وبناء النظام الإسلامي من خارجه، لا المشاركة فيه وإضفاء الشرعية عليه بمشاركة “الإسلاميين”. والمشاركة في هذه الحالة تساهم في نزع فتيل الثورة وتدجينها وتكرار المأساة المصرية. وقد فصلت في أسباب ذلك في سلسلة (نصرةً للشريعة) وفي الكثير من المقالات غيرها فلن أعيد التفصيل هنا وأعتذر عن الشرح لغير المتابعين لضيق الوقت.   وعلى جميع الأحوال، فلا يُتصور أبدا أن الحلول “الدبلوماسية” ستكون كافية في إقامة الشريعة ودولة الإسلام في ليبيا، ويكفي شاهدا لذلك اختطاف أمريكا لليبيين من بين أهلهم! فأية دعوة لإنهاء مظاهر التسلح قبل الانخراط في “عملية سياسية” إنما هي استدراج جديد. ولا شك أن هناك من يفتعل المشاكل ليطالب الشعبُ الليبي بإنهاء ظاهرة التسلح. فليتقِ إخواننا الله تعالى، وليحذروا كل الحذر من أن يقوموا بتصرفات عجولة تعطي ذريعة للمتآمرين عليهم، وبدعم شعبي. نسأل الله أن يحفظ المسلمين في ليبيا ويقيهم مكر أعدائهم ويجعلهم مناصرين لشريعة ربهم.   والله تعالى أعلم وأحكم. والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله

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As-Saḥāb Media presents a new video message from al-Qā’idah’s Adam Gadahan: "The Crime of Kidnapping Abū Anas al-Lībī and Its Implications"

UPDATE 12/2/13 1:16 PM: Here is an Arabic transcription of the below video message:
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Click the following link for a safe PDF copy: Adam Gadahan — “The Crime of Kidnapping Abū Anas al-Lībī and Its Implications” (Ar)
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Masāma' al-Khayr l-l-Inshād presents a new Nashīd from Abū Nadhir al-Lībī: "Absence of the Full Moon: In Eulogy for the Amīr of Anṣār al-Sharī'ah in Sirte (Libya)"

al-Rāyyah Foundation for Media presents a new video message from Anṣār al-Sharī’ah in Libya: "Steps in the Way of Empowerment #1: Campaign to Save the Imprisoned Abū Anas al-Lībī: Sacrifices for the Poor and Needy Families"

al-Rāyyah Foundation for Media presents a new audio message from Anṣār al-Sharī'ah in Libya's Shaykh Muḥammad al-Tarhūnī: "The Danger of Secularism and Invalidity of Democracy"

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Shaykh Muḥammad al-Tarhūnī- “The Danger of Secularism and Invalidity of Democracy”

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

Check out my new article for Foreign Policy's Middle East Channel: "Libya's Jihadists Beyond Benghazi"


While the security situation continues to worsen in Libya, over the past few months, Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL) has been taking advantage of the lack of state control by building local communal ties, which is strengthening its ability to operate in more locations than Benghazi. Although Benghazans protested against ASL in response to the consulate attack, which led many in the media, commentariat, and government to believe it had been outright discredited, contrary to this narrative that formed that ASL was marginalized and kicked out of the city, in fact, it is thriving and expanding.
Following the September 11 attack, many Libyans, especially in Benghazi, were embarrassed that the operation on the consulate that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and other Americans occurred. Many believed Stevens was doing a great job and helping out the local community. As such, citizens went into the streets to repudiate these actions and called for stripping weapons from militias. They also stormed ASL’s base. While this might have been a short-term set back, ASL has since been able to alter perceptions of its intentions even if it has not fundamentally changed its ideology.
Unlike Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia (AST), which has been a national movement from its inception, ASL originally only organized and operated in Benghazi. ASL first announced itself in February 2012. The group is led by Muhammad al-Zahawi, who had previously been an inmate of former President Muammar al-Qaddafi’s infamous Abu Salim prison. In recent months, though, ASL has been able to expand its scope beyond Benghazi through its dawa (missionary work), coordination with local leaders and businesses, and programs that are beneficial locally.
Click here to read the rest.

Check out my new al-Wasat post: "New Evidence on Ansar al-Sharia in Libya Training Camps"

Over the past few years there have rumblings about training camps in Libya that are run by jihadi entities such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib in southern Libya as well as ones by Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL), the organization most likely responsible for the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi last September. It has been difficult to confirm these camps due to the secretive nature of these groups and the lack of self reported evidence by these groups. For the first time, though, on August 6, 2013, credible sources within Libya have confirmed such camps exist.
On Facebook, Moaoya EL Wrffli, posted two videos of two separate Tunisians that had been detained by locals in the Darnah region and later interrogated. The two videos below provide fascinating insights into Ansar al-Sharia in Libya and its non-publicized activities as well as facilitation networks as it relates to the war in Syria. Based on the information given in the these videos, even though they were just posted online, it is likely that they are from late spring/early summer 2012. Highlighting that ASL was already at that point very active with training fighters for Syria as well as other likely nefarious activities in light of what we know would eventually happen in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.
Click here to read the rest.

Check out my new Foreign Policy piece co-authored with Daveed Gartenstein-Ross: "Uncharitable Organizations"


In 1997, employees of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation (AHIF), a Saudi-based charity, were mulling how best to strike a blow against the United States in East Africa. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, one employee indicated that the plan they hatched “would be a suicide bombing carried out by crashing a vehicle into the gate at the Embassy.” A wealthy foundation official from outside the region agreed to fund the operation.
The employees’ plans would go through several iterations, but AHIF would eventually play a role in the ultimate attack. In 1998, simultaneous explosions ripped through the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya — attacks eventually traced back to al Qaeda operatives. Prior to the bombings, a former director of AHIF’s Tanzanian branch made preparations for the advance party that planned the bombings, and the Comoros Islands branch of the charity was used, according to the Treasury Department, “as a staging area and exfiltration route for the perpetrators.” The ultimate result was deadly: 224 people killed and more than 4,000 wounded.
This was, of course, before the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent crackdown on wealthy Islamist charity organizations such as AHIF, which provided a large portion of the funding that made international terrorism possible. As a monograph produced for the 9/11 Commission noted, prior to 9/11, “al Qaeda was funded, to the tune of approximately $30 million per year, by diversions of money from Islamic charities and the use of well-placed financial facilitators who gathered money from both witting and unwitting donors.”
But despite all the efforts made to shut down such groups, Islamist-leaning international charities and other NGOs are now reemerging as sponsors of jihadi activity. In countries like Tunisia and Syria, they are providing the infusion of funds that have allowed extremist groups to undertake the hard work of providing food, social services, and medical care. Jihadists, meanwhile, have discovered that they can bolster their standing within local communities, thereby increasing support for their violent activities. And governments are struggling to keep up.
Click here to read the rest.

Minbar at-Tawḥīd wa-l-Jihād presents three new Fatāwā from Shaykh Abū al-Mundhir al-Shinqīṭī

Minbar at-Tawḥīd wa’l-Jihād presents two new Fatāwā from Shaykh Abū al-Mundhir al-Shinqīṭī