Official English translation by Jabhat an-Nusra

A Message to the People of Jihad and those who Love Jihad By Sheikh Abu Qatada Al-Filistini (my Allah keep him firm and free him)

In the name of Allah the Most Beneficent, the most Merciful. And His aid we seek… All praises are due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. May the peace and blessing of Allah be upon the Messenger Muhammed, the truthful one, his family and companions.

This is a letter that I write with deep sorrow, and if it were not for the covenant that Allah took upon the creation, I would have not rushed to writing this letter. By Allah, I struggled with myself not to release this letter as much as I could. However, I could not do so, fearing that I would conceal the truth that I believe. I tried my utmost in private and in public to repel all harm from all those affiliated with Jihad and the people of Jihad, however some of them are drowning in falsehood, evil and misguidance. Their main priority is to ruin the Jihad and not to do good towards it. The onus these words should be held by the command of the Islamic State of Iraq and their branch in the land of Ash-Shaam (Syria).

It has become clear for me with certainty and without a shadow of doubt that this group with its military and Islamic leadership, and whose actions testify that they are ‘the dogs of Hellfire'. And they are most deserving of the description of the Prophet (peace the peace and blessings be upon Him): "They kill the people of Islam and they leave the people of the idols [idol worshippers]. By Allah! If I live to see them, I will kill them like the people of ‘Aad were killed."

I do not hesitate to pass this judgment, because of their evil actions. I tried as much as possible to forward advice to them until they stopped listening to the word of truth, advice and guidance. I say these words of mine to those who remain ascribed to them who have an ounce of Sunnah, Deen or Taqwa, fearing to spill the blood of the Muslims, and this is the Prophetic saying regarding such people.

This Prophetic description regarding such contemporary people leaves no need to research another name for them. Some will say that the Islamic definition of the Khawarij is not fitting to their creed, for the [Khawarij] believe that the one who performs a major sin is an apostate. However, the Prophetic description guided us to their attributes without consideration of their motives. The attributes of their leaders at the time of ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) are the same attributes today. Therefore, no one should debate except regarding the Prophetic ruling. Examples of such people are those who fight the people of truth, like Jabhat Al-Nusra may Allah protect them, their commanders and scholars, ameen.

Those that blame the leaders and command of Jihad, like [the wise] Al-Zawahari, or those that claim that he has changed [his manhaj] are those who play with words. This is because they have no experience regarding the path of Jihad, nor do they understand the belief of the people of Jihad, their words or method. It is strange that those claiming that Dr. Ayman (may Allah protect him) has a different ideology to Abu Abdillah [Osama] Bin Laden. Nobody listens to these people except those similar to those making such claims, who do not know the history of people or their achievements.

As for those that accuse others of misguidance because of their words and their terminologies, they are more deserving of being described as misguided, liars and ignorant. Even though all of this didn't affect me much, their crime is what makes it incumbent upon us to announce our innocence and our disavowal, because the Prophetic description fits them.

I know that there will be insignificant men who will say many things. The least of this being "the man is in prison and knows nothing". I say: "By Allah! I know more than what they know". The case is not the lack of information I am receiving, but the lack of information that I can release. I am in a situation that I am not able to release statements every day, like others. For this reason the field has been left for the minors and the fanatics clinging to the Dawla like the ignorant clings to his tribe without understanding or awareness. I am not addressing these people in particular in this statement. If the innovation in the religion spreads amongst the people, it is like the sickness of a dog weakening it and blinding his sight and insight. I thank Allah because from a different perspective, the matter reached this stage so the truth appears and the ranks are distinguished, and so the difference between the Jihadi groups and the extreme innovative groups is made known. I feel sympathy for our Mujahideen brothers in the land of Ash-Shaam for all the pain they feel as a result of the crimes committed at the hands of those who were once fighting the tyrants alongside them, but their madness led them to regard that the blood of their former comrades as Halal, out of ignorance and extremism.

I call upon all the Mujahideen and those who love them to carefully study the hadith of the Prophet (may the peace and blessing of Allah be upon Him) "there will remain a group of my Ummah…". This is so they can know that the continuous chain of this group is that which the criminals are trying to break by means of slandering the leaders of Jihad and their commanders and those who nurtured the Jihad with their efforts, sweat and blood. Nay! They even sacrificed their families, children and time. After this, these criminals come forth with such disastrous statements. Therefore, I thank the beloved students of knowledge in Jabhat Al-Nusra such as Dr. Sami Al-Oradi, Abu Maryiya Al-‘Iraqi and Abu Abdillah Ash-Shami, as well as others like Al-Mohaisni, for their patience and their efforts in clarifying the truth and repelling the ignorant statements of the ignorant. I know that I cannot mention here all of the people of knowledge in Syria, Ash-Shaam.
This Jihad is affected by the hating enemies just as it is affected by ignorant ones who love Jihad. [Those who love Jihad but are ignorant] harm the Jihad just as much as the enemies. Let the people of truth be patient with the pain they have faced from the crimes of these people. Let the people of knowledge and insight ponder upon the hadith of the Prophet regarding these people: "I will kill them like the people of ‘Aad were killed". This saying was not implemented upon the Jews in Khaybar, in Bani An-Nadeer nor Bani Qaynuqa'. It was not implemented with Quraish. And they were all his worst enemies. This is because the madness of their dog can never be rectified, and the one who survives amongst them is harmful upon the Ummah of Mohammad (may the please and blessings from Allah be upon Him). This is the case with the history of this group. In some cases one or two men would survive and quickly spread their misguidance in the deserts and the places where knowledge is scarce, which results in them returning to what they were once upon. These people today are the same group that existed in the past. There is not the slightest difference between the two. If a questioner asks about the ruling regarding them or the proof for this, they should refer to the people of Jihad. It is shocking that they have reached a level where they have taken the people of Jihad to be their enemies, ascribing the attributes of murtaddeen (apostates) to them, assassinating their leaders, considering their wealth Halal. After all of this, what is there left for the questioner to hesitate about!

These are my words regarding them. I will meet Allah with this stance, and if it were not for the benefit of Jihad, and if I could have kept quiet, I would have done so. By Allah, I only seek to advise you with these words. I only seek to uphold the Sunnah, repel the ignorant and claim the innocence of Jihad from them. These are my words which I say in a position that I cannot respond to the questions of the people, nor can I respond to those who oppose me or have doubts. One has little life left to worry about other than pleasing Allah as much as one can. The aforementioned is the opinion of other scholars who stem from the same roots. However, each individual has his excuses and his way.

May Allah guide all to what is pleased and beloved to Allah. May Allah give victory to Jihad and its people. Ameen, ameen.

And all praises is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

Your brother,
Abu Qatadah
Date of publishing:
28 Jumada Al Ukhra, 1435 28th April, 2014