Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 657 | Wed 10 Aug 2022
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ISLAMIC STATE SEEKS RECRUITS; CALLS FOR ATTACKS ON CHURCHES
By Elizabeth Kendal
In the past two months, the transnational Islamic jihadist organisation known as Islamic State (IS) has released three propaganda videos in non-Arabic languages. On 14 June IS West Africa Province (in Nigeria) released a video in Hausa (the largest ethnic/language group in West and Central Africa). On 1 July IS in Iraq released a video in Kurdish (spoken in Iraqi Kurdistan, north and east Syria, and much of eastern Turkey). On 30 July IS in Somalia released a 25-minute video in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia. Then, on 3 August, IS in Khorasan Province (greater Afghanistan) released a fatwa calling for attacks on Christian, Jewish, Hindu and Shi’ite places of worship.
According to ‘The New Arab’ (18 June), ISWAP’s Hausa-language propaganda video (with Arabic subtitles) calls on Muslims to make ‘hijrah’ – migration and permanent settlement – to IS controlled territory, where IS promises to ‘protect’ and defend them. ISWAP is now the strongest Islamic terror/jihadist group in Nigeria. The federal capital, Abuja, is on high alert, especially after the 6 July jail break [see RLPB 655 (27 July)]. On 8 August, IS released a poster in English and Arabic versions titled ‘Harvest of African Christians’ (pictured) boasting 13 churches burned, hundreds of homes burned, and 190 Christians killed in June-July 2022 amidst ethno-religious cleansing campaigns in D.R.Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Meanwhile, IS in Iraq and Syria is ready to exploit any breach in the already fragile security situation. It is clearly seeking to divide the Kurds and recruit Islamist Kurds into its ranks, which would be catastrophic for Christians in northern Iraq and eastern Syria [see RLPB 654 (20 July)].
The Amharic video was released just a week after Islamic State forces from Somalia were routed in Ethiopia’s eastern Somali region [see RLPB 655 (27 July)].
The video – which is entitled ‘On the Path of the Conquerors,’ includes Arabic subtitles and is narrated by a jihadist named Abu ‘Isa Al-Ethiopi – has been analysed by MEMRI’s Jihad and Terrorist Threat Monitor (JTTM). Abu ‘Isa opens with a narration on the long 1400-year struggle between Muslims and ‘unbelieving Christians’ in the Horn of Africa. The key take-away is Abu ‘Isa’s claim that Abyssinian Christians not only reject and resist Islam, but have always hated, persecuted and plotted against Muslims. He blames ‘hypocrite’ Muslims (i.e., Muslims who neglect jihad) for the decline of Islam in Ethiopia, saying it was only after the Muslims abandoned jihad in the 17th Century that the Christians were able to regain the ascendancy. He laments that today Christians rule Ethiopia and have ‘caused people to leave Allah’s religion in droves’. He derides Ethiopia’s parliament as a ‘parliament of polytheism’ and condemns Muslim clerics who support the government as ‘apostate clerics’. He then exhorts Ethiopian Muslims to reject humiliation, relocate to Islamic State territory and ‘fight for your religion’. He tells Muslims that if hijrah is not possible, then ‘wage war on the unbelievers wherever you are’. A trainee jihadist further extends that invitation to all ‘the Muslims of East Africa’.
On 3 August MEMRI’s Jihad and Terrorist Threat Monitor (JTTM) ran the headline: ‘Fatwa by Islamic State’s Khurasan Province (ISIS-K) Orders Attacks on Places of Worship of Christians, Jews, Hindus…’ The 18-page Pashtu-language fatwa (legal order) refers to these places of worship as ‘Masjid-e-Zarar,’ or Mosques of Dissent, in reference to a masjid/mosque (place of prayer) established by a Christian monk named Abu ‘Amir al-Rahib, with the backing of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, for the purpose of subverting Islam and opposing Muhammad. When Muhammad became aware of the plot, he had the masjid burned [see Quran, Sura 9:107-110 https://quran.com/9/107-110]. Ever since then, this incident has been used to legitimise the destruction of Christian, Jewish, Hindu and Shi’ite places of worship. After the fatwa was released, attacks on Shi’ite mosques in Kabul began almost immediately. IS Khorasan [Greater Afghanistan] Province (ISKP) is based in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar and Nangarhar Provinces, which border Pakistan’s north-western tribal areas. As RLPB has repeatedly noted, while the Afghan Church is and has long been an ‘underground’ Church, the Pakistani Church just over the border is not and never has been ‘underground’. As warned in RLPB 632 (9 Feb 2022), ‘Peshawar’s churches and Christian communities may be more at risk now than at any time in Pakistan’s history.’
PLEASE PRAY THAT THE LORD OF HOSTS WILL
* send his heavenly hosts (angelic forces) to watch over and protect all churches and Christian communities at risk of Islamic terror attack. We pray especially for Christian churches and communities in regions where Islamic State is pursuing gains, in particular Nigeria, Iraq and Syria, Ethiopia, and Pakistan (especially Peshawar). May the Lord draw his people close, and thwart all evil plots hatched against them.
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me (Psalm 17:8-9 ESV).
* intervene to prevent the consolidation and expansion of Islamic State sanctuaries in Nigeria, Iraq and Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan; may the Lord of Hosts fight with all who seek to defeat Islamic jihadists; may security be restored.
But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenceless! Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me and from the snares of evildoers! Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely. (Psalm 141:8-10 ESV)
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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ISLAMIC STATE SEEKS RECRUITS; CALLS FOR ATTACKS ON CHURCHES
Recently Islamic State (IS) has released three propaganda videos in non-Arabic languages. IS in Nigeria released a video in Hausa, IS in Iraq released one in Kurdish and IS in Somalia released one in Amharic. The Amharic-language video specifically calls for jihad against Ethiopia’s Christians and government. The videos call for recruits to migrate to Islamic State-controlled territory or, if that is not possible, ‘wage war on the unbelievers wherever you are’. On 3 August Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) – based in eastern Afghanistan – issued a fatwa in Pashtu-language calling for attacks on Christian, Jewish, Hindu and Shi’ite places of worship. Please pray that the LORD will protect Christian churches and communities at increased risk of terror attack. Pray especially for the Church in Nigeria, Iraq and Syria, Ethiopia, and Pakistan.
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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church.
Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.
For more information, or to support this ministry, visit www.ElizabethKendal.com.