It’s always awful when a peaceful moderate Jihad becomes associated with extremism.
Of course everyone defines extremism differently.
Killing Christians and Jews is wonderful. But if you kill Muslims, you might be an extremist, warns a Shabaab official from East Africa’s most tolerant Jihadist group.
Al Qaeda and its regional branches, including Shabaab, have long sought to draw a fine line between what they see as legitimate violence and operations that violate Islamic doctrine prohibiting the shedding of Muslim blood. It is a thorny issue that al Qaeda has addressed multiple times. And Warsame returns to the matter in his audio address, which is titled, “The Sanctity of Muslim Blood.”
Just Muslim blood. Everyone else’s blood can be shed.
The “call of Jihad that we constantly reiterate is a holy struggle aimed at achieving the pleasure of Allah and His reward.”
The jihadists’ goal is to build a “righteous Muslim society that adheres to the laws of the Quran and Sunnah, upholds the teachings of Al-Wala’ Wal-Bara’ [meaning loyalty and disavowal] and disassociates itself from all forms of disbelief.”
Nothing to do with Islam. As usual.
Shabaab’s decision to attack a civilian hotel ran the risk of causing indiscriminate Muslim casualties – a fact that the group and Warsame have to recognize. However, Warsame defends the terrorist operation, arguing that this “blessed attack” killed “a number of crusaders and Jews.”
And then the dead Muslims are just collateral damage.
The jihadists should continue to attack their enemies’ “bases and ambush them wherever they are,” but “extremely cautious with regards to the blood and sanctity of your Muslim brothers, for illegally killing a Muslim will lead you to Hellfire.” Warsame adds that “it is obligatory upon us to safeguard our Jihad from all traits of Ghulu’ [extremism] and Irja’ [negligence].”
So that’s what moderate Islam looks like?