ISWAP Releases Sermon From Its Wali During Ramadan

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Bottom Line Up Front

Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has released a sermon by the Wali (Governor) of its West Africa Province, Abu Abed al-Rahman Al-Ansari during the Islamic month of Ramadan. The sermon is in the form of a video lasting nine minutes and 53 seconds. 

This video shows how important Africa remains for Islamic State, despite attention being drawn to IS in Syria with the mass-escape of IS-linked families from al-Hol refugee camp. IS continues to operate across theatres in Africa and at the moment, Africa is where IS is achieving their goal of remaining and expanding, not Syria. While the mass escape and other factors could lead to IS rebuilding in Syria, as it currently stands, Africa is where the Caliphate 2.0 is thriving. 

In Detail

The sermon is entitled "Guidance and Admonition for the Righteous (Brothers of God) " and features only Al-Ansari sitting against a plain backdrop next to the IS flag. The sermon is delivered in Arabic. 



The sermon starts by highlighting that Islamic Brotherhood holds a great position in Islam. Al-Ansari makes the point that "a person is not truly a Muslim until they love Muslims and consider them their brothers, and hate disbelievers and consider them their enemies". This line is crucial to understanding that IS views anyone who is not a Muslim as their enemies. 

During the sermon, there is a very striking juxtaposition between the uses of the words "peace" and "love" in contrast to the way that IS acts. Despite the group committing extreme acts of violence against victims of other faiths (and against Muslims), especially against Christians in Nigeria, the sermon is centred on the principle of Muslims loving each other and living so that "peace" and "light" may be attained from God through extreme cruelty and violence. Furthermore, Al-Ansari incites Muslims to fight against "non-believers" in the name of "love" for the brotherhood between IS fighters. This rhetoric is noteworthy for its insight into how IS members are motivated in part by their brotherhood that is "loving" and "kind". Indeed, this is an effective rhetorical technique that can be used to motivate large groups of male fighters, such as with ISWAP attacks that are carried out by dozens of men at a time. 

Another notable quote from Al-Ansari is that "The companions of the Messenger of God demonstrated for us through their practical lives the most magnificent examples of love and hatred for the sake of God, and their preference for their brothers above themselves, even in times of hardship. For this reason, God Almighty granted them victory and established them in the land; so they conquered countries and established cities". This is a very clear illustration of the fact that IS aims to completely take over countries, a fact that should always be remembered when we speak about IS in Africa. Islamic State's goal to establish a worldwide Caliphate under Sharia Law is often forgotten when we speak about IS in Africa. IS is instead portrayed as being a threat in only "small pockets" of the continent when, in fact, they have been rebuilding on the continent since their "defeat" in Iraq and Syria when they lost large swaths of areas under their control. 

Conclusion

The sermon is a masterclass in the use of language to persuade, compel, convince, and guilt followers of Islam into becoming or continuing to be radicalised against anyone outside the group. It shows us that ISWAP continues recruitment online and that they are very good at using rhetorical techniques in their propaganda. 

The importance of West Africa and Africa as a whole to the group is also a clear message from IS who decided to release this sermon during Ramadan. 

Islamic State remains one of the most significant threats to Africa and it is crucial that decision-makers remember that the group has remained and expanded in Africa ever since its loss of territory in Iraq and Syria. Africa is and has been the main priority for the group and getting distracted by the al-Hol incident will be highly costly to African theatres affected by IS. 


Political and intelligence analyst with expertise in African Jihadism and political violence.

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