.Special Interview: The Leader Of The Islamic Army In Iraq Speaks Out
Al-Forsan Magazine met the leader of the Islamic Army in Iraq, and covered different topics concerning the current security, political, and military Iraqi situation, to shed a light on one of the fighting groups in Iraq, a group that represent the courage and heroism that stood fast in front of the arrogance of the world. Indeed they resisted strongly and firmly in face of a heavily armed and sophisticated armies. Its soldiers are counted in hundreds of thousands, its treacherous aides are even more numerous, its enemies armies are aided by a puppet government which itself heads an army of spies and media outlets that try to mislead people day and night, but Allah said: {Then as for the scum, it passes away as a worthless thing; and as for that which profits the people, it tarries in the earth; thus does Allah set forth parables} [Al-Raad:17].
Relying only on limited financial and logistical resources, the Mujahideen thanks to Allah, extremely motivated and relying on Allah alone, are relentless and do not despair as Allah says: {And be not weak hearted in pursuit of the enemy; if you suffer pain, then surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer pain, and you hope from Allah what they do not hope; and Allah is Knowing, Wise} [Annisaa:104]. We will now start our interview.
IAI Correspondent: Can you briefly introduce the Islamic Army in Iraq?
IAI Leader: In the name of Allah The Compassionate The Merciful, all praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. May peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Messenger, his household and companions, we repent to Allah from the evil of our souls and our misdeeds, those that Allah guides cannot be misguided, and those he misguides none can guide them, I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Mohammad peace and blessings be upon him is Allah’s servant and messenger.
As it might be known to most of you that Jihad is one of the great pillars of Islam, and the prophet PBUH relayed to us this verse from Allah: {Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement.} [Attawba:104] and he also said: {O you who believe! shall I lead you to a merchandise which may deliver you from a painful chastisement?, You shall believe in Allah and His Messenger, and struggle hard in Allah's way with your property and your lives; that is better for you, did you but know!, He will forgive you your faults and cause you to enter into gardens, beneath which rivers flow, and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetuity; that is the mighty achievement} [As-Saf:10-12], and the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH) said: “I was sent with the Sword in the waning of Judgment Day” and also said: “Jihad will continue until the Day of Resurrection”, and also said: “There is still a group of believers of my people fighting for truth until Allah’s order comes”.
It is obvious that jihad in its details cannot be brought in an instant, that is why there is a need to prepare, even in the absence of battles to be fought as Allah says: {And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them, whom you do not know (but) Allah knows them; and whatever thing you will spend in Allah's way, it will be paid back to you fully and you shall not be dealt with unjustly} [Al-Anfaal:60]. Sheikh of Islam Ibn Taymiyya (an Islamic scholar) said: “Preparation is a duty in all conditions: spiritual and physical”. And Al Kurtoubi (an Islamic scholar) said Allah has ordered believers to be prepared by force but piety readiness comes first. If Allah wanted he would defeat them (the enemies) with simple words, a spit on their face, or with a handful of sand in their faces as was the case with the Prophet PBUH enemies.
However, Allah has decided to try some people with his previous knowledge and destiny. Whatever good you prepare for your ally, or might for your enemy it is included in your readiness. As you know all efforts have been made to be ready for all conditions, even if we stressed more the spiritual readiness for obvious and realistic reasons, amongst which are:
• Spiritual preparedness is more important than physical, as no matter how well physically prepared it is not at our advantage as our nation never wins because of its own might or weaponry but through the belief, faith, behavior, and fairness it carries.
• Mostly, our enemies have been more numerous and powerful as Islamic history has shown, and Allah says : {and most of them are haters of the Truth} [Al-MUminoon:70] he also says: {And if you obey most of those in the earth, they will lead you astray from Allah's way; they follow but conjecture and they only lie} [Al-An’aam:116].
• The pressure has also been tremendous upon all religious activists during the previous regime, in the field of predication and also in that of jihad, and there was no opportunity to be prepared, but praise to Allah in his might, wisdom, and generosity that the regime unknowingly helped us as follows:
1. Training: the regime forced all young Iraqis to enroll in the army for a certain period depending on their academic credentials and also on the needs of the country, that is why all Iraqis have had a hands-on experience with weapons and many warfare trainings.
2. Practice: Iraqis have been involved in large scale wars in which their acquired experience making them experts in warfare waging.
3. Weapons: the previous regime spent a great deal of time amassing weapons and fighting, and spent tremendous amounts of money in purchasing and producing weapons which ended in Mujahideen’s hands.
4. Iraqis natural penchant towards proper Islam and clean faith.
5. Crowdedness of Masjid (Mosques) with its people.
All is surely Allah’s plan that none could have thought of. For the reasons previously mentioned we have concentrated on preparing ourselves spiritually by spreading the clean faith of Islam and careful predication by returning to the Sunnah (teachings, sayings, and acts) of our beloved prophet and taking the successors of the prophet as our highest examples in their faith, style, behavior, understanding, and by trying to spread this knowledge to the entire society.
We have concentrated strongly on this side of preparation until shortly before the American threats of war against Iraq started increasing,that was when we found the opportunity to start arming ourselves for the looming war and be prepared for the confrontation. And that is when our brothers started focusing on physically training people on arms use and also creating Jihadi groups a few months before the war commenced.
Until a few days before the American war on Iraq, our preparedness was better, but we refrained from announcing our name (Islamic Army in Iraq) for special reasons, and because we wanted all the Mujahideen to fight under the same command, and to avoid splitting and having different names and titles, and also for security reasons this wish was not achieved. And here I need to emphasize that the structure of our army changes and evolves depending on the needs and conditions of the field.
IAI Correspondent: How did you choose the name (Islamic Army in Iraq)?
IAI Leader: We have been oppressed by an army and by military forces and that can be defeated only by force by another army and jihad, this is the first reason for choosing “army” to be in the name.
The flag that our army is raising is an Islamic flag, and it has been obvious so that we are not affiliated to any other non-Islamic group. The name “Islamic Army” is cherished in the hearts of every Muslim, and is the wish of every Muslim hoping to gain power to defend Muslims and protect their honor. Whoever reads about the life of our beloved prophet PBUH can repeatedly read these sentences “the Islamic Army set out to”, “the Islamic Army arranged itself”, “the Islamic Army advanced” etc… So every Muslim is pleased by hearing such a title which encompasses all the values of war. The name also is generic enough so that every fighting Muslim can belong and is not exclusive to any group.
The army is also a group, and not a brigade or a faction, which are parts of it. You can also find institutions and specialized councils such as the “religious authority” council, the “legal authority” council, the “military” council, “the intelligence” council, “the political” council, and “the security council” and others.
As for the term “Iraq” it shows the location of this Islamic Army and is not meant to express a nationality as this Islamic Army belongs to all Muslims which is the reason why we did not call it “Iraqi”.
The global concept of our army is such that we have also created special brigades to defend Al Aqsa mosque, and to intercept Mossad agents and the detailed communiqués about these brigades have been widely published in the media.
IAI Correspondent: Can you enlighten to us to what the logo of the group means?
IAI Leader: The logo of our group entails many meanings:
• It is meant to be a bridge between the glorious past and the promising present and that our fight is part of the long chain of Islamic Jihad along ages and it shows the alliance between the weapons of the past and the present.
• It links the bases of Jihad in Allah’s rulings and the best manner to gather the modern benefits available, so it is a hybrid of the turban on the Mujahid’s head and the military helmet.
• The prophet’s PBUH flag was black and sign was white colored, so we wanted to combine these two.
• The ammo clip of the weapon the Mujahid is using (in the logo) is like his beard, which adds more beauty to his face.
• The rifle position is to show the extent of our group in Iraq, and also so that is shows pride, and our will not to lean or give up.
• The map of Iraq is there to show that we will expel the intruders and all their aides, and also to show the unity of that land.
• The open eye of the Mujahid towards the east to show that all dangers are coming from that direction and that we are aware of it and our main goal is to protect our country and our nation from this yellow wind of Safawi. And we have purposefully not included an actual image of a Mujahid to avoid contradicting Islamic Law.
IAI Correspondent: Are there religious scholars in your ranks?
IAI Leader: At the top of our group, there are scholars and most of the leadership of our army has had religious studies and all the people in the army are thanks to Allah pious, which is very important as Allah says: {surely the best of those that you can employ is the strong man, the faithful one} [Al-Qassas:26] and {O you who believe ! if you help (the cause of) Allah, He will help you and make firm your feet} [Mohammad:7], and Allah also says: {If Allah assists you, then there is none that can overcome you, and if He forsakes you, who is there then that can assist you after Him? And on Allah should the believers rely} [Al-Imran:160]. And Sheikh of Islam (Ibn Taymiyya) said that “a trait in the soldier is to be religious and courageous”.
IAI Correspondent: What is your creed? And what is the extent of the presence of people from Baath party amongst your ranks as some of your opponents claim?
IAI Leader: Our creed and methodology has been published on the web and on our website and there is not a single Baath party member among the Islamic Army in Iraq. I have also to say that our goals, programs, and projects are totally different than those of the Baath party, some members of the Baath party are closely related to the occupant to gather some of what the American throw for them, and at the same time they claim that they are fighting the occupant and lie about leading the insurgency. This is an allegation which I will not even take time to refute because they did not fight when they led the country and they fled, and some of them are spies for the occupation and work against Mujahideen, and it is clear to everybody that their goals are to establish a secular regime against any Islamic project. However, you should keep in mind that some of them were cheated and after they were told the truth about Islam they repented and repentance is open to everybody.
IAI Correspondent: There have been complains that your army includes members of the previous regime?
IAI Leader: Our beloved prophet told us to give each person his or her proper weight as in the hadith (prophet Mohammad PBUH saying) from Aisha with whom Allah was pleased (WWAWP) in Sahih Muslim (an Islamic reference of the prophet’s PBUH sayings). And it is our duty to employ all lawful means to serve our religion, and we take advantage from the knowledge and experience of our predecessors as long as it is lawful, and our army has been working hard to make full use of all available human and financial resources to help our Islamic nation project and not waste any, Sheikh Islam (Ibn Taymiyya) said: “the best for each function needs to be known, governance has rules: strength and trust”, and Allah said: {surely the best of those that you can employ is the strong man, the faithful one} [Al-Qassas:26]. And the ruler of Egypt said to Prophet Joseph: {Surely you are in our presence today an honorable, a faithful one} [Yusuf:54], and Allah described Gabriel saying: {Most surely it is the Word of an honored messenger, The processor of strength, having an honorable place with the Lord of the Dominion, One (to be) obeyed, and faithful in trust} [At-Taqweer:19-21].
Power itself is different depending on where it is applied. Power in leading in war is related to courage in the heart, experience in wars, and deception, as war is deception. It is also in the strength in fights, would it be shooting, stabbing, hitting, riding, gorilla warfare and many others. As Allah says: {And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of Allah and your enemy} [Al-Anfaal:60]. The prophet PBUH said: “Shoot and ride, shooting to me is more beloved than riding, and whoever learns shooting and forgets is not amongst us” and in another saying: “it is a blessing that he (who forgets it) has neglected” as reported in Sahih Muslim.
Finding both strength and trust combined in one person is rare, that is why Omar Ibn Khattab (WWAWP) used to say: “O’ Allah protect us from the strength of the mischievous and the powerlessness of trust”. So there was a situation in which we had to choose between the strongest man or the most trustworthy, we would choose the best in that type of governance and the one that presents the least damage. The governance during wartime goes for the strong courageous leader even if he is mischievous instead of the weak pious man as Imam Ahmed (an Islamic clerk) was asked to pick one of the two, so he answered that “the strong mischievous man’s strength was for Muslims and mischievousness was for himself, when the weak pious man’s piety is for himself while his weakness is for Muslims”, the prophet PBUH said: “Allah helps this religion with the mischievous man” and in another example: “with people with no behavior”.
If the man is not mischievous he would be more appropriate to lead than a more pious person. That is why our beloved prophet PBUH used Khaled Ibn Waleed (WWAWP) in war since he became Muslim as he used to say: “Khaled is a sword that Allah has drawn on disbelievers”, even if sometimes he did things the prophet PBUH did not like, so far that he said: “O’ Allah I am free of Khaled’s action”, when he sent him to Beni Judhaima and he mistakenly killed them, and took their money. And even with all that, the prophet put him forth as an army leader as he was a better war leader than others. Abu Dhar (WWAWP) was indeed better and more pious than Khaled (WWAWP), with that, the prophet told him: “O Abu Dhar, I see you weak, and I like for you what I like for myself, you would not lead two, and you would not be the guardian of an orphan’s wealth” narrated by Muslim. The prophet PBUH did not encourage Abu Dhar (WWAWP) to be a leader or a guardian because he saw him as weak, even if he said: “Trees have not given shade, and ground did not bear more eloquent than Abu Dhar”.
The most important issue in this section is knowing who would be best, and that can be done after knowing the goal from governance, once the goals and means are known the order is given. (those were the words of Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya).
It is known to Iraqis that not all the previous regime’s army leaders or police officers were members of the Baath party, some among them even were opposed to the wrongdoings and were even imprisoned because of these stances or executed.
IAI Correspondent: What are the major military achievements of your army after 3 years of the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq? And what were the impacts of these achievements on the moral of the Americans and British?
IAI Leader: There have been numerous achievements with the blessings of Allah, among the most important ones:
1.We have been able to execute many high ranking officers among the enemy, we have killed thousands of soldiers and many officers, in addition to the thousands of wounded, and with reference to our own statistics we estimate that there have been 25,000 Americans deaths, and tens of thousands of wounded and thousands of destroyed vehicles. These statistics include all Jihadi groups, and thanks to Allah, the Islamic Army has had the largest share. To be more specific, in the last 4 months, the losses of the enemy were as follows:
• 2600 miscellaneous operations, some of which were in conjunction with other Jihadi groups.
• Damaging and destruction of 662 vehicles, 5 planes, 2 cargo planes, and 6 unmanned aircrafts.
• The losses of the enemy were 2109 American soldiers and officers, 1065 Iraqi troops helping the occupants, 355 vehicles belonging to these latter were destroyed, 488 spies were executed, and thanks to Allah 1054 rockets and 1653 mortars were launched.
• Some of those killed were high ranking officers, an example would be the American adviser to the Ministry of Higher Education, and the American adviser to the Ministry of Habitat and Reconstruction, a high ranking foreign affairs official was killed in Baghdad, and many other officers either of the American army or the allied forces and a considerable amount of Mossad officers.
2. The withdrawal of Filipino after successful negotiations with the blessings of Allah.
3. The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops after they suffered considerable life losses.
4. The effective cut-off of the supply coming from many countries.
5. The obvious effective role we played in reducing to a minimum the influence of Safawi in all its shapes.
IAI Correspondent: How did you build your expertise in the field?
IAI Leader: The reasons are numerous:
1. Allah’s help to us, and to all Mujahideen.
2. Adhering to Islamic rulings.
3. The abundance of scientific, religious, and field expertise.
4. The institutional work of the Islamic Army.
5. Developing adequate plans for operations keeping in mind our abilities and reality.
6. Our good relationship with people in general and with other Jihadi Groups in particular.
7. Clarity of our methodology.
8. Our widespread presence.
9. Being compassionate with people, forgiving, and making a difference between criminals and innocents.
10. Assigning the proper people to the proper functions and taking advantage of all their skills as Aisha (WWAWP) said that our beloved prophet asked us to give each person his or her proper weight, and as Sheikh Al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyya) said that it is mostly important to know who is best, and that is known from the goal from governance, once you know the goals and means, the order is given.
11. The complementary nature of our work, creed, military, media, political, economical, and social.
12. Insisting on Shuraa (seeking advice) as Allah says: {and their rule is to take counsel among themselves, and who spend out of what We have given them} [As-Shuraa:38] and he also said: {and take counsel with them in the affair; so when you have decided, then place your trust in Allah; surely Allah loves those who trust} [Al-Imran:159].
IAI Correspondent: Are you satisfied with your performance, or do you wish to improve?
IAI Leader: Our army improves day after day with the blessings of Allah, and we ask Allah for more of his bounties and blessings and success to become even more performing. The road ahead of us is still long and we need more dedication and work to reach our goals and be like the believers that were with our beloved prophet PBUH as Allah described them: {Mohammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are firm of heart against the unbelievers, compassionate among themselves; you will see them bowing down, prostrating themselves, seeking grace from Allah and pleasure; their marks are in their faces because of the effect of prostration; that is their description in the Taurat and their description in the Injeel; like as seed-produce that puts forth its sprout, then strengthens it, so it becomes stout and stands firmly on its stem, delighting the sowers that He may enrage the unbelievers on account of them; Allah has promised those among them who believe and do good, forgiveness and a great reward} [Al-Fath:29].
IAI Correspondent: How do you deal with military targets that coincide with civilians in streets and markets?
IAI Leader: In such situations we refer to the rulings of our religion and what is dictated by the situation, the blood of innocents cannot be shed without a clear lawful religious order, our fight is to protect the oppressed and keep Muslims from harm’s way, and the blood and honor of a Muslim is most sacred to us as our beloved prophet said: “Your bloods, your wealth, and your honor are sacred to you, as is sacred this day is to you, in this sacred land in this sacred month”, he also added: “Everything about a Muslim is sacred to his Muslim brother, his blood, his wealth, and his honor”, and he said: “The loss of the entire world to Allah is better than the slaying of the blood of a Muslim”. Our Sheikh, Monkid Jabr, a member of our political cabinet and the former religious advisor may Allah bless him has widely researched this matter.
IAI Correspondent: Baghdad Sniper is a symbol and one of the heroes of Jihad, there have been rumors that he has been wounded or killed, how accurate are these news?
IAI Leader: Baghdad Sniper is one of the brigades of our army and not one single person, if he was injured or killed then his work would end, however, Baghdad Sniper’s is larger than one person, with the blessings of Allah Baghdad Sniper is still active and you can hear about the sniping of enemy troops here and there, and our army has a respectable share of these snipes, and what the enemy does not acknowledge is multiples of what it admits.
IAI Correspondent: The army has had a lion’s share in kidnappings of enemy troops and taking hostages, what benefits do you expect from these acts? (French, Iranian, Macedonian, Italian, Sudanese…)
IAI Leader: We are in a fierce battlefield, and whoever is suspiciously present is a suspect and needs to be questioned, and in our army we deal with people following the rulings of our religion, as we gather all available information, and if we security services of our army arrest a suspect, he is questioned and investigated, then their files are given to the Justice Court that is part of the religious office of our army, and a court order is issued based on Islamic ruling as Allah said: {We have not neglected anything in the Book} [Al-Anaam:38], and our prophet PBUH said: “I have left you on the clear path, its night is like its day, only those who perish will deviate from it”, and there are scholars among our nation on which we can rely that have agreed with the rulings of our court.
The methodology our army is not to target any professional sincere about his/her work, would it be a doctor, a journalist, or any other job providing services or uncovering the truth to people, and whoever uses his work to cover his/her spying activities will receive due punishment.
IAI Correspondent: Some of the critics your army has received is not announcing the names of your leader?
IAI Leader: Announcing the names of our leaders is bound by safety and political issues, we will decide what should be announced and not what our enemies would like us to announce. Our army is widely known and has its own website, its known spokesperson, and its communiqués that are fairly detailed and up-to-date, and these sources are considered reliable to all the people interested in religion and Jihad in Iraq.
IAI Correspondent: How true is the picture drawn by media outlets such as the “Al-Iraqia” TV station of Mujahideen?
IAI Leader: Iraqi media outlets, Western media, and most Arab media outlets have played a despicable role in picturing Mujahideen as criminals. “Al-Iraqia” TV had the most repugnant role, as you know it is a sectarian filthy TV that ignores all proper behavior and conduct, and lies became its bread and butter, and that is obvious to all. We ask Allah to protect us from their harm, and silence them.
All the stories and theatrical confessions of so-called Mujahideen being called “terrorists” are simply incredible and senseless. However, we need to emphasize that there have been honest news sources, which are limited in number but played a role in uncovering the truth, may Allah reward and help them.
IAI Correspondent: How true are the stories that some criminal groups are part of the Jihad as “Al-Iraqia” claimed?
IAI Leader: Iraq became a favorable playground to all criminals, atheists, and disbelievers because of chaos and the lack of security. And we have promised to Allah that we will pursue all types of criminals that take advantage of this unstable situation, and we have effectively sentenced many criminals who were found guilty of terrorizing people and stealing their possessions. Such these are not welcome and have no presence whatsoever among the Mujahideen and I can assure you they are part of the enemy’s troops.
IAI Correspondent: Have you given orders to mutilate the bodies of the Americans killed like some TV stations claimed before the fight in Fallujah?
IAI Leader: Even mutilation has its own ruling in our religion, and we are bound to the orders given to us by Allah in Quran and through his prophet PBUH. What has been done to the Americans in Fallujah cannot be compared to what they did to people, as they burned bodies, mutilated them, had tanks run over them, cut them with their knives, and even gave them as food to their dogs. In general, the Americans atrocities are unlimited and cannot be all cited here.
We have not given any order to mutilate any enemy troops in the famous Fallujah battle, still we were not saddened with seeing what happened to them, and you can see the details and personal narration of one of our heroes, may Allah protect him, in our 3rd release.
IAI Correspondent: It is obvious to all the overwhelming success of your operations, what are the reasons of the success, and the failures if any?
IAI Leader: The causes of success are:
1. The support of The Strongest, The Greatest, and The most Powerful (Allah) to the Mujahideen in Iraq, and because all is (indeed) His, and the aiming is (indeed) His as He says: {So you did not slay them, but it was Allah Who slew them, and you did not smite when you smote (the enemy), but it was Allah Who smote, and that He might confer upon the believers a good gift from Himself; surely Allah is Hearing, Knowing} [Al-Anfaal:17].
2. The extraordinary despise that most people have for America, especially among Islamists.
3. The spontaneous help and volunteering of youth to participate in their religious duty.
4. The sound belief youth has in its creed which made sacrifice all for the sake of Allah.
5. The fight is religious, the Mujahideen are defending their religion and that is just, and the enemy came to spread its belief and evil, and they are oppressors.
6. The abundance of arms in great quantities all over the country.
7. The readiness of Mujahideen for battles as most of them have had adequate training and practice.
8. The forthcoming of youth towards Jihad and martyrdom as most of them have been the reason behind the success of Jihad and punishment of the enemy since its first days and until now.
9. The field and ground naturally belongs to the Mujahideen whom are fully aware of it, and the enemy is a stranger in it and have not been able to succeed because of the evil they represent, their blindness, that is partly caused by the wrong images their puppets pictured to them.
10. All their aides want is worldly gain, and do not care if American is ruined, each one of them has his/her own goals and are considered the worst of the people.
11. America was not ready for the fight in Iraq and its calculations failed.
12. Most of the soldiers are in the war for the money, which makes a difference as our Mujahideen are believing volunteers.
13. The American arrogance incited them to take measures that Mujahideen took advantage of and caused Americans to fall in big troubles, examples of such arrogance are Dismantling of defense and communication ministries, hastiness in decision-making, obvious lies, barbaric behavior with poor citizens including beating, arresting, killing, and also the destruction which they caused throughout the land.
However, there are conditions which caused many restrictions and pressures on the Mujahideen, such as:
1. Severe lack of funds.
2. An extreme embargo from all neighboring countries of Iraq against Mujahideen.
3. A lack of support from the media if not its absence, we can even say that all of what the media outlets present is geared for a war against Allah and his prophet PBUH but {and Allah is the master of His affair, but most people do not know} [Yusuf:21].
4. The abundance of spies among the locals who have sold their religion and honor to the disbelievers at the cheapest price.
5. An obvious financial advantage of the enemy over the Mujahideen.
6. The high number of enemies from the West (Americans, British, etc), and from the East (Safawi and nationalists) and others who became experts in selling themselves for the cheapest prices.
Overall the success of Mujahideen has been overwhelming and there is nothing we can call a failure.
IAI Correspondent: What is the nature of your relationship with other Jihadi groups?
IAI Leader: We have excellent relationships with other Mujahideen groups, which are constrained with the safety side, but each of us is fighting on a front. The variety among Jihadi groups can be beneficial when it is complementary and tactical, as long as individualism does not take over following the order of Allah, as Allah says: {But they cut off their religion among themselves into sects, each part rejoicing in that which is with them} [Al-Muminoon:53], and here Allah commands his servants to stay away from this path: {Surely they who divided their religion into parts and became sects, you have no concern with them; their affair is only with Allah, then He will inform them of what they did} [Al-Anaam:159] and {And be not like those who became divided and disagreed after clear arguments had come to them, and these it is that shall have a grievous chastisement} [Al-Imran:105].
We are striving to gather all factions and combine our efforts, and Allah alone can make our hearts lean toward each other as he says: {And united their hearts; had you spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allah united them; surely He is Mighty, Wise} [Al-Anfaal:63], and {And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of each other; they enjoin good and forbid evil and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, and obey Allah and His Messenger; (as for) these, Allah will show mercy to them; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise} [At-Tawba:71].
We all know that our strength is in obeying Allah and our unity and our weakness is in division and arguing as Allah says: {And obey Allah and His Messenger and do not quarrel for then you will be weak in hearts and your power will depart, and be patient; surely Allah is with the patient} [Al-Anfaal:46], that is why we are making every effort to strengthen our brotherly relations and seeking advice to come to agreements as our beloved prophet PBUH said: “I will inform of what is better than fasting, praying, and charity, it is reconciling people, as animosity is evil”.
What has been reported by the media portraying Mujahideen to be in battles especially between the Islamic Army in Iraq and Al-Qaeda in Iraq and talks about tribes plotting against Mujahideen are pure lies the enemy wishes it were true: {these are the words of their mouths} [At-Tawba:30].
All Mujahideen and all Muslims are our brothers and we all are like one body: {Verily, Believers are brothers} [Al-Hujuraat:10], and as our prophet PBUH said: “Believers in their compassion are like one body, if one part suffer, the rest of the body reacts through fever and sleeplessness”, and “Believers are to each other like a wall, each part supports the other”.
To summarize it all, the existence of multiple Jihadi groups in one scene, is permissible, especially when coordinating their work, and even uniting when possible as Allah says: {Surely Allah loves those who fight in His way in ranks as if they were a firm and compact wall} [As-Saff:4], all these considerations finally depend on conditions in the field, and we ask Allah to help us all in what he likes.
IAI Correspondent: What do you think of “The Council of Muslim Scholars”?
IAI Leader: The Council of Muslim Scholars is the most known Sunni council which has its positive stance but is surrounded by enemies of Allah. We respect them, but they are in no way a reference in political or religious methodology to the Islamic Army in Iraq.
IAI Correspondent: How popular are the Islamic Army in Iraq and other Jihadi groups among Sunnis, Shias? And is it true that all Mujahideen are Sunnis and that your presence is limited to what is called “The Sunni Triangle”?
IAI Leader: Our army is a 100% Islamic Sunni group, and there is no Shia in the entire army, and our presence is in most regions in Iraq, but obviously is more present among its own people, the Sunnis.
The sympathy of the people towards us is great with the blessings of Allah as they have sacrificed a lot of their wealth and own children for the sake of Allah, and that is what is expected from them as Allah says: {But the Messenger and those who believe with him strive hard with their property and their persons; and these it is who shall have the good things and these it is who shall be successful} [At-Tawba:88]. The Sunnis are the best people when it comes to protecting the religion of Allah and defend it, as proven throughout history.
It is pejorative to call the region of Sunnis “Sunni Triangle” to belittle them, when they have made America and its allies bite the dust. But mainly this triangle name is aimed to show the Shia as a majority and Sunnis as the minority, and we are sure that the oppression is not lasting too long believing in Allah’s words: {Nay! We cast the truth against the falsehood, so that it breaks its head, and lo! it vanishes; and woe to you for what you describe} [Al-Anbiyaa:18], as for the Shia their sheikhs have misguided them and their criminal parties have destroyed them except a few.
IAI Correspondent: What do you think the moral of the enemy troops is?
IAI Leader: The moral of the American army is at its lowest and all reports point to it, and as we have seen ourselves, stories of them running away and all types of nervous breakdowns are know, as well as the high rate of suicide caused by chaos and the hysteria they suffer from their fear of the Mujahideen, we have even heard them shouting and crying like horrified babies during battles, Allah said: {they think every cry to be against them} [Al-Munaafiqoon:4], the Iraqi despise for them is still ever growing.
IAI Correspondent: Do you sincerely believe that you can expel the American and foreign troops?
IAI Leader: Some of the troops already withdrew such as the Spanish, Filipino, Ukrainian, and now the Japanese and Italian. The Americans withdrawal is eminent with the might of Allah with all its aides as Allah said: {Most surely We help Our messengers, and those who believe, in this world's life and on the day when the witnesses shall stand} [Ghafer:51], and also: {Allah has written down: I will most certainly prevail, I and My messengers; surely Allah is Strong, Mighty} [Al-Mujaadala:21].
IAI Correspondent: What is your estimate of the current security status for the present regime and the occupants?
IAI Leader: What is called “security plan” offers no security to people with the presence of occupants and Safawi and sectarian militias which killed based on sects, and death squads that come from the interior ministry. Security is at its lowest with the presence of these criminal gangs, were they American or Safawi and people cannot find peace except where Mujahideen are present even for the shortest times.
IAI Correspondent: There has been consistent talk about negotiations, what is your take on it?
IAI Leader: Negotiating with the enemy is a concept allowed by our religion that our beloved prophet himself practiced in due time with his enemy. As for negotiations taking place at this time between us and the Americans there have been none, and if they want to negotiate, the conditions were mentioned by our spokesperson, and we will deal with them clearly and responsibly.
IAI Correspondent: At what stage are you politically with the occupants and its aides?
IAI Leader: We are relentless in pressuring the enemy politically and militarily until he responds to the requests of the Mujahideen with the blessings of Allah. To reach this goal we have to multiply the political and military pressure as Americans are never fair until they bite the dust, that is why our brothers need to be sure about any initiative before they take part in it.
We are sure that Americans, even if they gathered many servants and slaves, realize that Kurds cannot lead Iraq, neither can most Shia parties because their allegiance to Iran is too great, and also because Americans think that if they concede anything to Sunnis it would mean that they would in turn help the insurgency.
The occupant is in trouble as it has to choose between two evils, wishing for a puppet government made of Kurds, Shia, and Sunnis. And at the same time, the occupant would like to weaken Shia so that they cannot face Americans along with Iran and Kurds: all they need are a few achievements not giving them full independence. As for Sunnis, including some of them in the so-called “political process” can lure them to lean to all American demands.
IAI Correspondent: How would you deal with the different sectarian groups if the occupation was to end?
IAI Leader: It is known that many sectarian groups have been present in Iraq for a while, so dealing with them should not be anything new. Religiously, politically, historically, and in reality we deal with people depending on how our religion commended us to by being fair, just, stopping oppression, and preserve people’s honor, spreading good behavior, and punishing all criminals, all its is part of our political program.
IAI Correspondent: How would you describe the current government, and do you see any good outcome from them?
IAI Leader: We do not call it the Iraqi government but the Governed Iraqi government, and it is indeed a government of sectarians established by Americans, and we simply expect nothing from it, it is like a cancer which wants to destroy the population, but we are after them as Allah says: {But you will see those in whose hearts is a disease hastening towards them, saying: We fear lest a calamity should befall us; but it may be that Allah will bring the victory or a punish ment from Himself, so that they shall be regretting on account of what they hid in their souls} [Al-Maida:52], Allah has decreed that oppressors run to their own destruction. The sectarian Safawi cancer is still filling the political scene even if they brought some Sunnis to try to polish their image.
IAI Correspondent: If you had to pick between evils, what type of government would you rather see in power now?
IAI Leader: If a there a technocratic government which would seek to better people’s conditions until the occupant leaves the country, however, it is almost impossible with the presence of the Safawi and Takfiri (Shias who portray Sunni Muslims and most prophet Mohammad PBUH companions as infidels) in all institutions.
IAI Correspondent: How do you deal with the crimes committed by the Shia Militias linked to Iraq?
IAI Leader: Our religion incites us to push back all oppressors especially if their agenda is religious, such as “Badr Corps”, “The Revolutionary Higher Council”, and the “Mahdy Army” militias whose leadership is in the hands of Iranians who are torturing and killing Sunnis and burning the Quran and Mosques, may Allah protect us.
IAI Correspondent: What are your views on Iran?
IAI Leader: Iran has played a filthy role since the first days of occupation, and before that in the Iraqi case. Iranians officials have boasted that without Iran’s help, Americans could not have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. After the occupation, Iran supported the Shia militias which killed Sunnis especially university professors, researchers, scholars, etc… and Iran kept its barefaced financial and political interference, and continuted to jump on opportunities to retaliate against Sunnis and destroy their infrastructure using their criminal militias, through military support and by providing the militias with sophisticated weaponry. They also encouraged the militias to torture the Sunnis, and to keep the Americans busy in Iraq so that their nuclear case stagnates. It is also obvious that Iran wishes to settle its disputes with Americans in Iraq, and at the same time exterminate Sunnis.
Iraq suffers from the Iranian occupation as much as from the American, with their secret services present everywhere in Baghdad, Dyala, and Waaset. As for Furaat provinces and the south, the language spoken is Farsi and the currency used is Iranian, may Allah help us. We take this opportunity to incite our brothers to steadfast by the teachings of their religion and follow the teachings of their prophet PBUH, and to be patient, and prepare for the battle, and spread sympathy between Mujahideen and all Sunnis using all means, and by righteous in using the precepts of our religion in all our daily actions, {Our Lord! forgive us our faults and our extravagance in our affair and make firm our feet and help us against the unbelieving people} [Al-Imran:147].
IAI Correspondent: We thank you for your patience, honesty, clarity in explaining all the facts and details, and we are sure that Allah is with the pious: {Let it not deceive you that those who disbelieve go to and fro in the cities fearlessly, A brief enjoyment! then their abode is hell, and evil is the resting-place, But as to those who are careful of (their duty to) their Lord, they shall have gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding in them; an entertainment from their Lord, and that which is with Allah is best for the righteous} [Al-Imran:196-198]. And here is the small group of believers, which -as throughout the pages of history- wins with the power and will of Allah: {Those who were sure that they would meet their Lord said: How often has a small party vanquished a numerous host by Allah's permission, and Allah is with the patient} [Al-Baqara:249].
Jihad Unspun
Relying only on limited financial and logistical resources, the Mujahideen thanks to Allah, extremely motivated and relying on Allah alone, are relentless and do not despair as Allah says: {And be not weak hearted in pursuit of the enemy; if you suffer pain, then surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer pain, and you hope from Allah what they do not hope; and Allah is Knowing, Wise} [Annisaa:104]. We will now start our interview.
IAI Correspondent: Can you briefly introduce the Islamic Army in Iraq?
IAI Leader: In the name of Allah The Compassionate The Merciful, all praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. May peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Messenger, his household and companions, we repent to Allah from the evil of our souls and our misdeeds, those that Allah guides cannot be misguided, and those he misguides none can guide them, I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Mohammad peace and blessings be upon him is Allah’s servant and messenger.
As it might be known to most of you that Jihad is one of the great pillars of Islam, and the prophet PBUH relayed to us this verse from Allah: {Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement.} [Attawba:104] and he also said: {O you who believe! shall I lead you to a merchandise which may deliver you from a painful chastisement?, You shall believe in Allah and His Messenger, and struggle hard in Allah's way with your property and your lives; that is better for you, did you but know!, He will forgive you your faults and cause you to enter into gardens, beneath which rivers flow, and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetuity; that is the mighty achievement} [As-Saf:10-12], and the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH) said: “I was sent with the Sword in the waning of Judgment Day” and also said: “Jihad will continue until the Day of Resurrection”, and also said: “There is still a group of believers of my people fighting for truth until Allah’s order comes”.
It is obvious that jihad in its details cannot be brought in an instant, that is why there is a need to prepare, even in the absence of battles to be fought as Allah says: {And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them, whom you do not know (but) Allah knows them; and whatever thing you will spend in Allah's way, it will be paid back to you fully and you shall not be dealt with unjustly} [Al-Anfaal:60]. Sheikh of Islam Ibn Taymiyya (an Islamic scholar) said: “Preparation is a duty in all conditions: spiritual and physical”. And Al Kurtoubi (an Islamic scholar) said Allah has ordered believers to be prepared by force but piety readiness comes first. If Allah wanted he would defeat them (the enemies) with simple words, a spit on their face, or with a handful of sand in their faces as was the case with the Prophet PBUH enemies.
However, Allah has decided to try some people with his previous knowledge and destiny. Whatever good you prepare for your ally, or might for your enemy it is included in your readiness. As you know all efforts have been made to be ready for all conditions, even if we stressed more the spiritual readiness for obvious and realistic reasons, amongst which are:
• Spiritual preparedness is more important than physical, as no matter how well physically prepared it is not at our advantage as our nation never wins because of its own might or weaponry but through the belief, faith, behavior, and fairness it carries.
• Mostly, our enemies have been more numerous and powerful as Islamic history has shown, and Allah says : {and most of them are haters of the Truth} [Al-MUminoon:70] he also says: {And if you obey most of those in the earth, they will lead you astray from Allah's way; they follow but conjecture and they only lie} [Al-An’aam:116].
• The pressure has also been tremendous upon all religious activists during the previous regime, in the field of predication and also in that of jihad, and there was no opportunity to be prepared, but praise to Allah in his might, wisdom, and generosity that the regime unknowingly helped us as follows:
1. Training: the regime forced all young Iraqis to enroll in the army for a certain period depending on their academic credentials and also on the needs of the country, that is why all Iraqis have had a hands-on experience with weapons and many warfare trainings.
2. Practice: Iraqis have been involved in large scale wars in which their acquired experience making them experts in warfare waging.
3. Weapons: the previous regime spent a great deal of time amassing weapons and fighting, and spent tremendous amounts of money in purchasing and producing weapons which ended in Mujahideen’s hands.
4. Iraqis natural penchant towards proper Islam and clean faith.
5. Crowdedness of Masjid (Mosques) with its people.
All is surely Allah’s plan that none could have thought of. For the reasons previously mentioned we have concentrated on preparing ourselves spiritually by spreading the clean faith of Islam and careful predication by returning to the Sunnah (teachings, sayings, and acts) of our beloved prophet and taking the successors of the prophet as our highest examples in their faith, style, behavior, understanding, and by trying to spread this knowledge to the entire society.
We have concentrated strongly on this side of preparation until shortly before the American threats of war against Iraq started increasing,that was when we found the opportunity to start arming ourselves for the looming war and be prepared for the confrontation. And that is when our brothers started focusing on physically training people on arms use and also creating Jihadi groups a few months before the war commenced.
Until a few days before the American war on Iraq, our preparedness was better, but we refrained from announcing our name (Islamic Army in Iraq) for special reasons, and because we wanted all the Mujahideen to fight under the same command, and to avoid splitting and having different names and titles, and also for security reasons this wish was not achieved. And here I need to emphasize that the structure of our army changes and evolves depending on the needs and conditions of the field.
IAI Correspondent: How did you choose the name (Islamic Army in Iraq)?
IAI Leader: We have been oppressed by an army and by military forces and that can be defeated only by force by another army and jihad, this is the first reason for choosing “army” to be in the name.
The flag that our army is raising is an Islamic flag, and it has been obvious so that we are not affiliated to any other non-Islamic group. The name “Islamic Army” is cherished in the hearts of every Muslim, and is the wish of every Muslim hoping to gain power to defend Muslims and protect their honor. Whoever reads about the life of our beloved prophet PBUH can repeatedly read these sentences “the Islamic Army set out to”, “the Islamic Army arranged itself”, “the Islamic Army advanced” etc… So every Muslim is pleased by hearing such a title which encompasses all the values of war. The name also is generic enough so that every fighting Muslim can belong and is not exclusive to any group.
The army is also a group, and not a brigade or a faction, which are parts of it. You can also find institutions and specialized councils such as the “religious authority” council, the “legal authority” council, the “military” council, “the intelligence” council, “the political” council, and “the security council” and others.
As for the term “Iraq” it shows the location of this Islamic Army and is not meant to express a nationality as this Islamic Army belongs to all Muslims which is the reason why we did not call it “Iraqi”.
The global concept of our army is such that we have also created special brigades to defend Al Aqsa mosque, and to intercept Mossad agents and the detailed communiqués about these brigades have been widely published in the media.
IAI Correspondent: Can you enlighten to us to what the logo of the group means?
IAI Leader: The logo of our group entails many meanings:
• It is meant to be a bridge between the glorious past and the promising present and that our fight is part of the long chain of Islamic Jihad along ages and it shows the alliance between the weapons of the past and the present.
• It links the bases of Jihad in Allah’s rulings and the best manner to gather the modern benefits available, so it is a hybrid of the turban on the Mujahid’s head and the military helmet.
• The prophet’s PBUH flag was black and sign was white colored, so we wanted to combine these two.
• The ammo clip of the weapon the Mujahid is using (in the logo) is like his beard, which adds more beauty to his face.
• The rifle position is to show the extent of our group in Iraq, and also so that is shows pride, and our will not to lean or give up.
• The map of Iraq is there to show that we will expel the intruders and all their aides, and also to show the unity of that land.
• The open eye of the Mujahid towards the east to show that all dangers are coming from that direction and that we are aware of it and our main goal is to protect our country and our nation from this yellow wind of Safawi. And we have purposefully not included an actual image of a Mujahid to avoid contradicting Islamic Law.
IAI Correspondent: Are there religious scholars in your ranks?
IAI Leader: At the top of our group, there are scholars and most of the leadership of our army has had religious studies and all the people in the army are thanks to Allah pious, which is very important as Allah says: {surely the best of those that you can employ is the strong man, the faithful one} [Al-Qassas:26] and {O you who believe ! if you help (the cause of) Allah, He will help you and make firm your feet} [Mohammad:7], and Allah also says: {If Allah assists you, then there is none that can overcome you, and if He forsakes you, who is there then that can assist you after Him? And on Allah should the believers rely} [Al-Imran:160]. And Sheikh of Islam (Ibn Taymiyya) said that “a trait in the soldier is to be religious and courageous”.
IAI Correspondent: What is your creed? And what is the extent of the presence of people from Baath party amongst your ranks as some of your opponents claim?
IAI Leader: Our creed and methodology has been published on the web and on our website and there is not a single Baath party member among the Islamic Army in Iraq. I have also to say that our goals, programs, and projects are totally different than those of the Baath party, some members of the Baath party are closely related to the occupant to gather some of what the American throw for them, and at the same time they claim that they are fighting the occupant and lie about leading the insurgency. This is an allegation which I will not even take time to refute because they did not fight when they led the country and they fled, and some of them are spies for the occupation and work against Mujahideen, and it is clear to everybody that their goals are to establish a secular regime against any Islamic project. However, you should keep in mind that some of them were cheated and after they were told the truth about Islam they repented and repentance is open to everybody.
IAI Correspondent: There have been complains that your army includes members of the previous regime?
IAI Leader: Our beloved prophet told us to give each person his or her proper weight as in the hadith (prophet Mohammad PBUH saying) from Aisha with whom Allah was pleased (WWAWP) in Sahih Muslim (an Islamic reference of the prophet’s PBUH sayings). And it is our duty to employ all lawful means to serve our religion, and we take advantage from the knowledge and experience of our predecessors as long as it is lawful, and our army has been working hard to make full use of all available human and financial resources to help our Islamic nation project and not waste any, Sheikh Islam (Ibn Taymiyya) said: “the best for each function needs to be known, governance has rules: strength and trust”, and Allah said: {surely the best of those that you can employ is the strong man, the faithful one} [Al-Qassas:26]. And the ruler of Egypt said to Prophet Joseph: {Surely you are in our presence today an honorable, a faithful one} [Yusuf:54], and Allah described Gabriel saying: {Most surely it is the Word of an honored messenger, The processor of strength, having an honorable place with the Lord of the Dominion, One (to be) obeyed, and faithful in trust} [At-Taqweer:19-21].
Power itself is different depending on where it is applied. Power in leading in war is related to courage in the heart, experience in wars, and deception, as war is deception. It is also in the strength in fights, would it be shooting, stabbing, hitting, riding, gorilla warfare and many others. As Allah says: {And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of Allah and your enemy} [Al-Anfaal:60]. The prophet PBUH said: “Shoot and ride, shooting to me is more beloved than riding, and whoever learns shooting and forgets is not amongst us” and in another saying: “it is a blessing that he (who forgets it) has neglected” as reported in Sahih Muslim.
Finding both strength and trust combined in one person is rare, that is why Omar Ibn Khattab (WWAWP) used to say: “O’ Allah protect us from the strength of the mischievous and the powerlessness of trust”. So there was a situation in which we had to choose between the strongest man or the most trustworthy, we would choose the best in that type of governance and the one that presents the least damage. The governance during wartime goes for the strong courageous leader even if he is mischievous instead of the weak pious man as Imam Ahmed (an Islamic clerk) was asked to pick one of the two, so he answered that “the strong mischievous man’s strength was for Muslims and mischievousness was for himself, when the weak pious man’s piety is for himself while his weakness is for Muslims”, the prophet PBUH said: “Allah helps this religion with the mischievous man” and in another example: “with people with no behavior”.
If the man is not mischievous he would be more appropriate to lead than a more pious person. That is why our beloved prophet PBUH used Khaled Ibn Waleed (WWAWP) in war since he became Muslim as he used to say: “Khaled is a sword that Allah has drawn on disbelievers”, even if sometimes he did things the prophet PBUH did not like, so far that he said: “O’ Allah I am free of Khaled’s action”, when he sent him to Beni Judhaima and he mistakenly killed them, and took their money. And even with all that, the prophet put him forth as an army leader as he was a better war leader than others. Abu Dhar (WWAWP) was indeed better and more pious than Khaled (WWAWP), with that, the prophet told him: “O Abu Dhar, I see you weak, and I like for you what I like for myself, you would not lead two, and you would not be the guardian of an orphan’s wealth” narrated by Muslim. The prophet PBUH did not encourage Abu Dhar (WWAWP) to be a leader or a guardian because he saw him as weak, even if he said: “Trees have not given shade, and ground did not bear more eloquent than Abu Dhar”.
The most important issue in this section is knowing who would be best, and that can be done after knowing the goal from governance, once the goals and means are known the order is given. (those were the words of Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya).
It is known to Iraqis that not all the previous regime’s army leaders or police officers were members of the Baath party, some among them even were opposed to the wrongdoings and were even imprisoned because of these stances or executed.
IAI Correspondent: What are the major military achievements of your army after 3 years of the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq? And what were the impacts of these achievements on the moral of the Americans and British?
IAI Leader: There have been numerous achievements with the blessings of Allah, among the most important ones:
1.We have been able to execute many high ranking officers among the enemy, we have killed thousands of soldiers and many officers, in addition to the thousands of wounded, and with reference to our own statistics we estimate that there have been 25,000 Americans deaths, and tens of thousands of wounded and thousands of destroyed vehicles. These statistics include all Jihadi groups, and thanks to Allah, the Islamic Army has had the largest share. To be more specific, in the last 4 months, the losses of the enemy were as follows:
• 2600 miscellaneous operations, some of which were in conjunction with other Jihadi groups.
• Damaging and destruction of 662 vehicles, 5 planes, 2 cargo planes, and 6 unmanned aircrafts.
• The losses of the enemy were 2109 American soldiers and officers, 1065 Iraqi troops helping the occupants, 355 vehicles belonging to these latter were destroyed, 488 spies were executed, and thanks to Allah 1054 rockets and 1653 mortars were launched.
• Some of those killed were high ranking officers, an example would be the American adviser to the Ministry of Higher Education, and the American adviser to the Ministry of Habitat and Reconstruction, a high ranking foreign affairs official was killed in Baghdad, and many other officers either of the American army or the allied forces and a considerable amount of Mossad officers.
2. The withdrawal of Filipino after successful negotiations with the blessings of Allah.
3. The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops after they suffered considerable life losses.
4. The effective cut-off of the supply coming from many countries.
5. The obvious effective role we played in reducing to a minimum the influence of Safawi in all its shapes.
IAI Correspondent: How did you build your expertise in the field?
IAI Leader: The reasons are numerous:
1. Allah’s help to us, and to all Mujahideen.
2. Adhering to Islamic rulings.
3. The abundance of scientific, religious, and field expertise.
4. The institutional work of the Islamic Army.
5. Developing adequate plans for operations keeping in mind our abilities and reality.
6. Our good relationship with people in general and with other Jihadi Groups in particular.
7. Clarity of our methodology.
8. Our widespread presence.
9. Being compassionate with people, forgiving, and making a difference between criminals and innocents.
10. Assigning the proper people to the proper functions and taking advantage of all their skills as Aisha (WWAWP) said that our beloved prophet asked us to give each person his or her proper weight, and as Sheikh Al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyya) said that it is mostly important to know who is best, and that is known from the goal from governance, once you know the goals and means, the order is given.
11. The complementary nature of our work, creed, military, media, political, economical, and social.
12. Insisting on Shuraa (seeking advice) as Allah says: {and their rule is to take counsel among themselves, and who spend out of what We have given them} [As-Shuraa:38] and he also said: {and take counsel with them in the affair; so when you have decided, then place your trust in Allah; surely Allah loves those who trust} [Al-Imran:159].
IAI Correspondent: Are you satisfied with your performance, or do you wish to improve?
IAI Leader: Our army improves day after day with the blessings of Allah, and we ask Allah for more of his bounties and blessings and success to become even more performing. The road ahead of us is still long and we need more dedication and work to reach our goals and be like the believers that were with our beloved prophet PBUH as Allah described them: {Mohammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are firm of heart against the unbelievers, compassionate among themselves; you will see them bowing down, prostrating themselves, seeking grace from Allah and pleasure; their marks are in their faces because of the effect of prostration; that is their description in the Taurat and their description in the Injeel; like as seed-produce that puts forth its sprout, then strengthens it, so it becomes stout and stands firmly on its stem, delighting the sowers that He may enrage the unbelievers on account of them; Allah has promised those among them who believe and do good, forgiveness and a great reward} [Al-Fath:29].
IAI Correspondent: How do you deal with military targets that coincide with civilians in streets and markets?
IAI Leader: In such situations we refer to the rulings of our religion and what is dictated by the situation, the blood of innocents cannot be shed without a clear lawful religious order, our fight is to protect the oppressed and keep Muslims from harm’s way, and the blood and honor of a Muslim is most sacred to us as our beloved prophet said: “Your bloods, your wealth, and your honor are sacred to you, as is sacred this day is to you, in this sacred land in this sacred month”, he also added: “Everything about a Muslim is sacred to his Muslim brother, his blood, his wealth, and his honor”, and he said: “The loss of the entire world to Allah is better than the slaying of the blood of a Muslim”. Our Sheikh, Monkid Jabr, a member of our political cabinet and the former religious advisor may Allah bless him has widely researched this matter.
IAI Correspondent: Baghdad Sniper is a symbol and one of the heroes of Jihad, there have been rumors that he has been wounded or killed, how accurate are these news?
IAI Leader: Baghdad Sniper is one of the brigades of our army and not one single person, if he was injured or killed then his work would end, however, Baghdad Sniper’s is larger than one person, with the blessings of Allah Baghdad Sniper is still active and you can hear about the sniping of enemy troops here and there, and our army has a respectable share of these snipes, and what the enemy does not acknowledge is multiples of what it admits.
IAI Correspondent: The army has had a lion’s share in kidnappings of enemy troops and taking hostages, what benefits do you expect from these acts? (French, Iranian, Macedonian, Italian, Sudanese…)
IAI Leader: We are in a fierce battlefield, and whoever is suspiciously present is a suspect and needs to be questioned, and in our army we deal with people following the rulings of our religion, as we gather all available information, and if we security services of our army arrest a suspect, he is questioned and investigated, then their files are given to the Justice Court that is part of the religious office of our army, and a court order is issued based on Islamic ruling as Allah said: {We have not neglected anything in the Book} [Al-Anaam:38], and our prophet PBUH said: “I have left you on the clear path, its night is like its day, only those who perish will deviate from it”, and there are scholars among our nation on which we can rely that have agreed with the rulings of our court.
The methodology our army is not to target any professional sincere about his/her work, would it be a doctor, a journalist, or any other job providing services or uncovering the truth to people, and whoever uses his work to cover his/her spying activities will receive due punishment.
IAI Correspondent: Some of the critics your army has received is not announcing the names of your leader?
IAI Leader: Announcing the names of our leaders is bound by safety and political issues, we will decide what should be announced and not what our enemies would like us to announce. Our army is widely known and has its own website, its known spokesperson, and its communiqués that are fairly detailed and up-to-date, and these sources are considered reliable to all the people interested in religion and Jihad in Iraq.
IAI Correspondent: How true is the picture drawn by media outlets such as the “Al-Iraqia” TV station of Mujahideen?
IAI Leader: Iraqi media outlets, Western media, and most Arab media outlets have played a despicable role in picturing Mujahideen as criminals. “Al-Iraqia” TV had the most repugnant role, as you know it is a sectarian filthy TV that ignores all proper behavior and conduct, and lies became its bread and butter, and that is obvious to all. We ask Allah to protect us from their harm, and silence them.
All the stories and theatrical confessions of so-called Mujahideen being called “terrorists” are simply incredible and senseless. However, we need to emphasize that there have been honest news sources, which are limited in number but played a role in uncovering the truth, may Allah reward and help them.
IAI Correspondent: How true are the stories that some criminal groups are part of the Jihad as “Al-Iraqia” claimed?
IAI Leader: Iraq became a favorable playground to all criminals, atheists, and disbelievers because of chaos and the lack of security. And we have promised to Allah that we will pursue all types of criminals that take advantage of this unstable situation, and we have effectively sentenced many criminals who were found guilty of terrorizing people and stealing their possessions. Such these are not welcome and have no presence whatsoever among the Mujahideen and I can assure you they are part of the enemy’s troops.
IAI Correspondent: Have you given orders to mutilate the bodies of the Americans killed like some TV stations claimed before the fight in Fallujah?
IAI Leader: Even mutilation has its own ruling in our religion, and we are bound to the orders given to us by Allah in Quran and through his prophet PBUH. What has been done to the Americans in Fallujah cannot be compared to what they did to people, as they burned bodies, mutilated them, had tanks run over them, cut them with their knives, and even gave them as food to their dogs. In general, the Americans atrocities are unlimited and cannot be all cited here.
We have not given any order to mutilate any enemy troops in the famous Fallujah battle, still we were not saddened with seeing what happened to them, and you can see the details and personal narration of one of our heroes, may Allah protect him, in our 3rd release.
IAI Correspondent: It is obvious to all the overwhelming success of your operations, what are the reasons of the success, and the failures if any?
IAI Leader: The causes of success are:
1. The support of The Strongest, The Greatest, and The most Powerful (Allah) to the Mujahideen in Iraq, and because all is (indeed) His, and the aiming is (indeed) His as He says: {So you did not slay them, but it was Allah Who slew them, and you did not smite when you smote (the enemy), but it was Allah Who smote, and that He might confer upon the believers a good gift from Himself; surely Allah is Hearing, Knowing} [Al-Anfaal:17].
2. The extraordinary despise that most people have for America, especially among Islamists.
3. The spontaneous help and volunteering of youth to participate in their religious duty.
4. The sound belief youth has in its creed which made sacrifice all for the sake of Allah.
5. The fight is religious, the Mujahideen are defending their religion and that is just, and the enemy came to spread its belief and evil, and they are oppressors.
6. The abundance of arms in great quantities all over the country.
7. The readiness of Mujahideen for battles as most of them have had adequate training and practice.
8. The forthcoming of youth towards Jihad and martyrdom as most of them have been the reason behind the success of Jihad and punishment of the enemy since its first days and until now.
9. The field and ground naturally belongs to the Mujahideen whom are fully aware of it, and the enemy is a stranger in it and have not been able to succeed because of the evil they represent, their blindness, that is partly caused by the wrong images their puppets pictured to them.
10. All their aides want is worldly gain, and do not care if American is ruined, each one of them has his/her own goals and are considered the worst of the people.
11. America was not ready for the fight in Iraq and its calculations failed.
12. Most of the soldiers are in the war for the money, which makes a difference as our Mujahideen are believing volunteers.
13. The American arrogance incited them to take measures that Mujahideen took advantage of and caused Americans to fall in big troubles, examples of such arrogance are Dismantling of defense and communication ministries, hastiness in decision-making, obvious lies, barbaric behavior with poor citizens including beating, arresting, killing, and also the destruction which they caused throughout the land.
However, there are conditions which caused many restrictions and pressures on the Mujahideen, such as:
1. Severe lack of funds.
2. An extreme embargo from all neighboring countries of Iraq against Mujahideen.
3. A lack of support from the media if not its absence, we can even say that all of what the media outlets present is geared for a war against Allah and his prophet PBUH but {and Allah is the master of His affair, but most people do not know} [Yusuf:21].
4. The abundance of spies among the locals who have sold their religion and honor to the disbelievers at the cheapest price.
5. An obvious financial advantage of the enemy over the Mujahideen.
6. The high number of enemies from the West (Americans, British, etc), and from the East (Safawi and nationalists) and others who became experts in selling themselves for the cheapest prices.
Overall the success of Mujahideen has been overwhelming and there is nothing we can call a failure.
IAI Correspondent: What is the nature of your relationship with other Jihadi groups?
IAI Leader: We have excellent relationships with other Mujahideen groups, which are constrained with the safety side, but each of us is fighting on a front. The variety among Jihadi groups can be beneficial when it is complementary and tactical, as long as individualism does not take over following the order of Allah, as Allah says: {But they cut off their religion among themselves into sects, each part rejoicing in that which is with them} [Al-Muminoon:53], and here Allah commands his servants to stay away from this path: {Surely they who divided their religion into parts and became sects, you have no concern with them; their affair is only with Allah, then He will inform them of what they did} [Al-Anaam:159] and {And be not like those who became divided and disagreed after clear arguments had come to them, and these it is that shall have a grievous chastisement} [Al-Imran:105].
We are striving to gather all factions and combine our efforts, and Allah alone can make our hearts lean toward each other as he says: {And united their hearts; had you spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allah united them; surely He is Mighty, Wise} [Al-Anfaal:63], and {And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of each other; they enjoin good and forbid evil and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, and obey Allah and His Messenger; (as for) these, Allah will show mercy to them; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise} [At-Tawba:71].
We all know that our strength is in obeying Allah and our unity and our weakness is in division and arguing as Allah says: {And obey Allah and His Messenger and do not quarrel for then you will be weak in hearts and your power will depart, and be patient; surely Allah is with the patient} [Al-Anfaal:46], that is why we are making every effort to strengthen our brotherly relations and seeking advice to come to agreements as our beloved prophet PBUH said: “I will inform of what is better than fasting, praying, and charity, it is reconciling people, as animosity is evil”.
What has been reported by the media portraying Mujahideen to be in battles especially between the Islamic Army in Iraq and Al-Qaeda in Iraq and talks about tribes plotting against Mujahideen are pure lies the enemy wishes it were true: {these are the words of their mouths} [At-Tawba:30].
All Mujahideen and all Muslims are our brothers and we all are like one body: {Verily, Believers are brothers} [Al-Hujuraat:10], and as our prophet PBUH said: “Believers in their compassion are like one body, if one part suffer, the rest of the body reacts through fever and sleeplessness”, and “Believers are to each other like a wall, each part supports the other”.
To summarize it all, the existence of multiple Jihadi groups in one scene, is permissible, especially when coordinating their work, and even uniting when possible as Allah says: {Surely Allah loves those who fight in His way in ranks as if they were a firm and compact wall} [As-Saff:4], all these considerations finally depend on conditions in the field, and we ask Allah to help us all in what he likes.
IAI Correspondent: What do you think of “The Council of Muslim Scholars”?
IAI Leader: The Council of Muslim Scholars is the most known Sunni council which has its positive stance but is surrounded by enemies of Allah. We respect them, but they are in no way a reference in political or religious methodology to the Islamic Army in Iraq.
IAI Correspondent: How popular are the Islamic Army in Iraq and other Jihadi groups among Sunnis, Shias? And is it true that all Mujahideen are Sunnis and that your presence is limited to what is called “The Sunni Triangle”?
IAI Leader: Our army is a 100% Islamic Sunni group, and there is no Shia in the entire army, and our presence is in most regions in Iraq, but obviously is more present among its own people, the Sunnis.
The sympathy of the people towards us is great with the blessings of Allah as they have sacrificed a lot of their wealth and own children for the sake of Allah, and that is what is expected from them as Allah says: {But the Messenger and those who believe with him strive hard with their property and their persons; and these it is who shall have the good things and these it is who shall be successful} [At-Tawba:88]. The Sunnis are the best people when it comes to protecting the religion of Allah and defend it, as proven throughout history.
It is pejorative to call the region of Sunnis “Sunni Triangle” to belittle them, when they have made America and its allies bite the dust. But mainly this triangle name is aimed to show the Shia as a majority and Sunnis as the minority, and we are sure that the oppression is not lasting too long believing in Allah’s words: {Nay! We cast the truth against the falsehood, so that it breaks its head, and lo! it vanishes; and woe to you for what you describe} [Al-Anbiyaa:18], as for the Shia their sheikhs have misguided them and their criminal parties have destroyed them except a few.
IAI Correspondent: What do you think the moral of the enemy troops is?
IAI Leader: The moral of the American army is at its lowest and all reports point to it, and as we have seen ourselves, stories of them running away and all types of nervous breakdowns are know, as well as the high rate of suicide caused by chaos and the hysteria they suffer from their fear of the Mujahideen, we have even heard them shouting and crying like horrified babies during battles, Allah said: {they think every cry to be against them} [Al-Munaafiqoon:4], the Iraqi despise for them is still ever growing.
IAI Correspondent: Do you sincerely believe that you can expel the American and foreign troops?
IAI Leader: Some of the troops already withdrew such as the Spanish, Filipino, Ukrainian, and now the Japanese and Italian. The Americans withdrawal is eminent with the might of Allah with all its aides as Allah said: {Most surely We help Our messengers, and those who believe, in this world's life and on the day when the witnesses shall stand} [Ghafer:51], and also: {Allah has written down: I will most certainly prevail, I and My messengers; surely Allah is Strong, Mighty} [Al-Mujaadala:21].
IAI Correspondent: What is your estimate of the current security status for the present regime and the occupants?
IAI Leader: What is called “security plan” offers no security to people with the presence of occupants and Safawi and sectarian militias which killed based on sects, and death squads that come from the interior ministry. Security is at its lowest with the presence of these criminal gangs, were they American or Safawi and people cannot find peace except where Mujahideen are present even for the shortest times.
IAI Correspondent: There has been consistent talk about negotiations, what is your take on it?
IAI Leader: Negotiating with the enemy is a concept allowed by our religion that our beloved prophet himself practiced in due time with his enemy. As for negotiations taking place at this time between us and the Americans there have been none, and if they want to negotiate, the conditions were mentioned by our spokesperson, and we will deal with them clearly and responsibly.
IAI Correspondent: At what stage are you politically with the occupants and its aides?
IAI Leader: We are relentless in pressuring the enemy politically and militarily until he responds to the requests of the Mujahideen with the blessings of Allah. To reach this goal we have to multiply the political and military pressure as Americans are never fair until they bite the dust, that is why our brothers need to be sure about any initiative before they take part in it.
We are sure that Americans, even if they gathered many servants and slaves, realize that Kurds cannot lead Iraq, neither can most Shia parties because their allegiance to Iran is too great, and also because Americans think that if they concede anything to Sunnis it would mean that they would in turn help the insurgency.
The occupant is in trouble as it has to choose between two evils, wishing for a puppet government made of Kurds, Shia, and Sunnis. And at the same time, the occupant would like to weaken Shia so that they cannot face Americans along with Iran and Kurds: all they need are a few achievements not giving them full independence. As for Sunnis, including some of them in the so-called “political process” can lure them to lean to all American demands.
IAI Correspondent: How would you deal with the different sectarian groups if the occupation was to end?
IAI Leader: It is known that many sectarian groups have been present in Iraq for a while, so dealing with them should not be anything new. Religiously, politically, historically, and in reality we deal with people depending on how our religion commended us to by being fair, just, stopping oppression, and preserve people’s honor, spreading good behavior, and punishing all criminals, all its is part of our political program.
IAI Correspondent: How would you describe the current government, and do you see any good outcome from them?
IAI Leader: We do not call it the Iraqi government but the Governed Iraqi government, and it is indeed a government of sectarians established by Americans, and we simply expect nothing from it, it is like a cancer which wants to destroy the population, but we are after them as Allah says: {But you will see those in whose hearts is a disease hastening towards them, saying: We fear lest a calamity should befall us; but it may be that Allah will bring the victory or a punish ment from Himself, so that they shall be regretting on account of what they hid in their souls} [Al-Maida:52], Allah has decreed that oppressors run to their own destruction. The sectarian Safawi cancer is still filling the political scene even if they brought some Sunnis to try to polish their image.
IAI Correspondent: If you had to pick between evils, what type of government would you rather see in power now?
IAI Leader: If a there a technocratic government which would seek to better people’s conditions until the occupant leaves the country, however, it is almost impossible with the presence of the Safawi and Takfiri (Shias who portray Sunni Muslims and most prophet Mohammad PBUH companions as infidels) in all institutions.
IAI Correspondent: How do you deal with the crimes committed by the Shia Militias linked to Iraq?
IAI Leader: Our religion incites us to push back all oppressors especially if their agenda is religious, such as “Badr Corps”, “The Revolutionary Higher Council”, and the “Mahdy Army” militias whose leadership is in the hands of Iranians who are torturing and killing Sunnis and burning the Quran and Mosques, may Allah protect us.
IAI Correspondent: What are your views on Iran?
IAI Leader: Iran has played a filthy role since the first days of occupation, and before that in the Iraqi case. Iranians officials have boasted that without Iran’s help, Americans could not have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. After the occupation, Iran supported the Shia militias which killed Sunnis especially university professors, researchers, scholars, etc… and Iran kept its barefaced financial and political interference, and continuted to jump on opportunities to retaliate against Sunnis and destroy their infrastructure using their criminal militias, through military support and by providing the militias with sophisticated weaponry. They also encouraged the militias to torture the Sunnis, and to keep the Americans busy in Iraq so that their nuclear case stagnates. It is also obvious that Iran wishes to settle its disputes with Americans in Iraq, and at the same time exterminate Sunnis.
Iraq suffers from the Iranian occupation as much as from the American, with their secret services present everywhere in Baghdad, Dyala, and Waaset. As for Furaat provinces and the south, the language spoken is Farsi and the currency used is Iranian, may Allah help us. We take this opportunity to incite our brothers to steadfast by the teachings of their religion and follow the teachings of their prophet PBUH, and to be patient, and prepare for the battle, and spread sympathy between Mujahideen and all Sunnis using all means, and by righteous in using the precepts of our religion in all our daily actions, {Our Lord! forgive us our faults and our extravagance in our affair and make firm our feet and help us against the unbelieving people} [Al-Imran:147].
IAI Correspondent: We thank you for your patience, honesty, clarity in explaining all the facts and details, and we are sure that Allah is with the pious: {Let it not deceive you that those who disbelieve go to and fro in the cities fearlessly, A brief enjoyment! then their abode is hell, and evil is the resting-place, But as to those who are careful of (their duty to) their Lord, they shall have gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding in them; an entertainment from their Lord, and that which is with Allah is best for the righteous} [Al-Imran:196-198]. And here is the small group of believers, which -as throughout the pages of history- wins with the power and will of Allah: {Those who were sure that they would meet their Lord said: How often has a small party vanquished a numerous host by Allah's permission, and Allah is with the patient} [Al-Baqara:249].
Jihad Unspun
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