ISIS: Christians in Africa must pay the jizya, Muslims should attack Christians in Europe

For a couple of decades or more, Islamic apologists in the West have been insisting that the jizya is a thing of the past, meant only for a specific time (although it’s hard to sustain the common argument that it was meant only for Muhammad’s time, since it was collected into the nineteenth century). Once again, the Islamic State reveals that all that is designed to foster complacency in the West, but isn’t taken seriously among actual jihadis. Those who would respond that ISIS is a group of “extremists” and that those who say the jizya is obsolete represent a more modern understanding should ask themselves why these modern Muslims never even attempt to convince the jihadis that their understanding of Islam is all wrong.

“Islamic State (ISIS) Weekly Editorial Praises Operatives’ Jihad Against Christians In Africa: Carry The Mission To The Shores Of Europe, Plot Bloody Revenge Against Europe’s Christians In Their Own Backyards,” MEMRI, August 8, 2025:

The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here. 

On August 7, 2025, the Islamic State (ISIS) released issue 507 of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba’. The issue featured an editorial titled “Light of Jihad,” praising ISIS’s “jihad” targeting and killing Christians in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Mozambique, and inciting ISIS adherents to imitate their brethren in Africa and “exact” the divine verdict on Christians across Europe.[1]

The editorial started by crediting the ongoing “Inferno of Camps” launched by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) against militaries and security personnel in Nigeria and neighboring areas, for firing up the “flames of jihad” in the DRC and Mozambique against “combatant” Christians, which, the editorial asserted, were immersed into a new cycle of displacement, anguish, humiliation, and ruin.

The reason behind the “increasing” jihadi activity in Africa, per the piece, is that ISIS mujahideen benefited greatly from other jihadi actions in the past, adding: “They talked less but acted momentously. They obeyed the divine commands, avoided prohibitions, and left aside every fallacy.”

The editorial continued: “Allah enlightened their insights, blessed their jihad, and guided the zealous sons of Islam to them, so they came to them from the farthest reaches of the earth, both light and heavy,” it added, suggesting an ongoing flow of foreign fighters to the various arenas of jihad in the continent.

ISCAP’s Return After “Severe Trials” Woke DRC’s Authorities To “Pools Of Blood” In Komanda And Environs

Discussing the activity of the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) in eastern DRC, the editorial argued that operations had resumed in Irumu, the country’s main trade and transportation hub, varying from ambushes of convoys to massacres against Christians’ churches and communities. It dismissed government reports about “deliverance,” following a few months of ISCAP “inactivity,” noting that operations soon returned and “woke them up to the pools of blood in the Crusader Komanda area and its environs.”

The editorial went on to praise ISIS’s Mozambique Province, which was once part of ISCAP, for launching a “new wave of attacks” after what it described as a period of “severe trials” endured by the group’s operatives. Upon their return, “they burned villages of the cross-worshippers in Mozambique’s Chiure, Maidumbe and Ancuabe districts, beheading them and displacing thousands of them, until their government was choked with grief.”

To The Displaced Christians In Africa: Convert To Islam, Give Jizyah Tax, Or Die

Accentuating an ideological jihadi approach towards religious minorities, namely Christians and Jews, the editorial maintained that for Christians of Africa to be safe and escape the cycle of killing, they need to be informed that “the true Islam” grants them the freedom to choose between converting to Islam or giving jizyah tax.

“If they refuse Islam and the jizyah tax, the third option is murder and displacement, which is what they have witnessed and suffered for years,” it stressed in a threatening tone.

Addressing the displaced Christians, the editorial claimed that some villagers have already agreed to pay the jizyah tax to ISIS operatives in various regions of Africa, and as a result, “they were given safety to live in their villages and farms.” Meanwhile, some converted to Islam at the hands of the mujahideen, it noted. The editorial then warned that the majority of the displaced still insist on opting for death, which will soon be the only option left.

“Slaughter The One-Eyed Humanity With The Sword Of Al-Wala’ Wal Bara’“

The editorial then dismissed reactions by western Christian countries and the United Nations institutions, and the condemnation of the acts of killing against their own, as “cross-worshippers,” arguing that these very parties continue to turn the blind eye to the “mass massacres” against Palestinians: “These institutions weep for Crusader and Jewish blood while belching Muslim blood! This is the reality of their ‘humanity’ and its institutions.”

Urging total rejection of what it called a “one-eyed humanity,” the editorial called on the mujahideen to adhere firmly and solely to the jihadi principle of Al-Wala’ Wal Bara’ (loyalty to Muslims and disloyalty to non-Muslims), and stated: “Today, Muslims are suffering from the evils and conspiracies of the nonbelievers, and whenever these are confronted with severity and an iron fist, the conspiracies of the nonbelievers are nullified, and their evils are repelled.”

It continued: “Such is the path to overcoming oppression and regaining sovereignty. Our conquering ancestors ruled with swords, advancing legions and leading the way, until they terrorized the nations of their time, who came to them willingly or unwillingly, surrendering and submissive. This is the truth, and anything beyond it is false.”

“This is what the mujahideen of Africa adhere to, paying no heed to anything else.”

The editorial went on to sing the praises of the jihadi activity led by ISIS affiliates in the DRC and Mozambique, saying that the “light of jihad” has shone after decades of darkness, ignorance, and Crusader massacres committed by Christians during their invasion of Africa.

ISIS’ Mujahideen In Africa Fully Comply With Jihad

According to the piece, Christians continued to bear grudges against Muslims for what they had suffered at their hands in previous eras, such as in Andalusia, which, the editorial claimed, Muslims lost after they deserted Al-Wala’ Wal Bara’ and grew spoiled in luxury. Expressing an old belief that today’s Spain remains an “Islamic land,” the editorial stressed that Andalusia would not be recouped except through jihad, resistance, perseverance, and endurance, as Muslim ancestors did.

“With the light of jihad that illuminated the paths of the believers, and its flames that burned the hearts of the nonbelievers, the land of Africa was illuminated, blessings were attained, and its few became many, and its weak became strong. This is because jihad is a divine law and a prophetic script. Whoever complies with it as is, without excess or shortage, and embraces it fully, will see their humiliation turned into pride and their weakness into strength.”

Emphasizing the “futility” of paths other than “unaltered” jihad, the editorial maintained that walking on the paths of democracy, international politics, and pseudo-Islamic banners violates and nullifies jihad’s provisions and effects: “Is the light of jihad the same as the darkness of pre-Islamic ignorance?”

Carry The Mission Of Jihad To The Shores Of Europe

Addressing the “knights of Islam in Africa,” the editorial called on them to prepare whatever force they are able to muster against the “Crusaders,” and to arm themselves with faith and knowledge towards success and greater effectiveness on the path of jihad.

According to the editorial, a stronger jihad in Africa will lead to jihad in Europe. It prayed for jihadis in Africa to succeed in their “mission” to carry their jihad to the shores of Europe, “conquering it, shattering its security, and transforming its streets and capitals into an Ituri and a Cabo Delgado.”

Inciting terrorist acts in Europe similar to the terror campaign against Christians in the DRC, Mozambique, and other areas of the African continent, the editorial concluded: “The hearts still ache for revenge against the Christians of Europe. The call is still open to the heroes of Islam to attack them again and invade them in their own backyards and implement the divine rulings against them as their brothers did in Africa, and Allah will surely support those who support Him.”…