Contact between the Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Squadron and the Islamic State (2021)

Islamic State
Wilayat al-Sham- Idlib

Number: m.a/08/43001
Date: 8 Muharram 1443 AH [17 August 2021 CE]

Subject: request for a directive

Praise be to God who ennobles Islam through supporting it, and lowers idolatry through vanquishing it, and deals with matters by His command, and lures the disbelievers through His scheming- He who has determined the days as alternations of fate through His justice. And prayers and peace be upon the one by whose sword God made high the lighthouse of Islam. As for what follows:

To the virtuous sheikh: al-Muthanna al-Jazrawi deputy wali of al-Sham (may God Almighy protect him and aid him):

As-salam alaykum wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuhu.

I ask God that this message should reach you while you are well and in good health, dignified and enabled, and that He should plant firm your feet, make right your path, and open up at your hands the land and hearts of men. He is the trustee of that and capable of it. As for what follows:

Our dear sheikh, there is in our region a battalion called the Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and it is an independent battalion targeting the Turkish convoys in particular. They have sent to me with a supporting brother a request that we should support them with materials to equip a car rigged with explosives, in order that they should target a Turkish convoy, the axis of whose movement they have tracked. They have offered also to work with us and informed the brother they are ready to participate in any large operation the group undertakes. The brother has sent me statements of manhaj by them in which they declare takfir on the Jowlani Commission and the Sahwa forces and declare it obligatory to fight them. The supporter brother is called Abu Malik and our brother Shaddad sent you his dossier last month.

Our dear sheikh, we hope you can direct us on how to deal with this matter.

May God reward you best.

This is so and God Almighty is loftier and knows best.

Islamic State
Wilayat al-Sham
Idlib
[deputy]?

cc. Archive (for the record)

NB: this document was shown in a documentary by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s security apparatus on the cells that comprised the Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Squadron and the Abdullah bin Unais Group and their targeting of the Turkish army and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. The document establishes that there was contact between the Islamic State and the Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Squadron with a request for support to target the Turkish army. However, according to ‘Khayal al-Manhaj‘ (aka Wadah al-Hamawi/Abu Aqlama) who was the intellectual figure behind these cells and is featured in the documentary, there were meetings between the Islamic State and multiple “independent groups.” In one meeting involving the Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Squadron and the Islamic State representative Abu Osama al-Azeri, the latter suggested establishing an alliance between the two, but no mutual agreement was reached and so the matter was not implemented.

Forgery: Purported Hisba document from Deir az-Zor region

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Islamic State

Diwan al-Hisba
Wilayat al-Sham
al-Khayr

No. 0361

Praise be to God and prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of God. As for what follows:

To the individual called [redacted], living in the village of Jadid Aqeedat and owner of the oven: the Islamic State gives you a deadline of three days at most from the issuing of this statement 28 Rajab 1442 AH to distribute bread through agents. And we will never be content with the queue of women at the bakery and appointment of an agent particular to the women and the poor and displaced families.

And if you do not respond to the demands of the Islamic State, we will blow up this bakery by the permission of God. And the one who has warned has been excused.

Stamp and signature:

Abdullah al-Ansari

Islamic State
Wilayat al-Khayr
Diwan al-Hisba

[Comment: this odd document, which looks like a poorly composed electronic forgery, has numerous signs pointing to its forgery. First, the stamp is unclear and bears the marking of ‘Wilayat al-Khayr’ even though this is supposed to be a document issued in the name of Wilayat al-Sham (all Syrian territories come under this wilaya currently, with the smaller region wilayas having been cancelled some time ago). In addition, there is no reason why the Islamic State’s Diwan al-Hisba should threaten a bakery owner in some village not under its formal control to distribute bread. Comparison of the format of this document also shows many parallels with a forgery that is a purported Islamic State list threatening individuals in Deir az-Zor].

Forgery: List of individuals purportedly wanted by Islamic State

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, and prayers and peace be upon the most noble of the creation of God- Muhammad bin Abdullah- and on all his family and companions.

Statement issued by the Islamic State with the names of some of the traitor collaborators with the Assad regime and to the SDF forces.

1. [list of names redacted]

2. [redacted] assistant in the police.

3. [list of names redacted].

And we have not wronged them for they were wronging themselves.

Date of this statement: 3 Sha’aban Hijri 1442.

[Islamic State stamp on left-hand side].

[Comment: this document, published in the outlet Jesr Press, is a very poor forgery created electronically with an unclear copy of an Islamic State stamp inserted on the side. Besides the unusual opening (it is more usual to say ‘praise be to God’ before saying ‘and prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of God…’), there are also crude spelling errors, such as spelling the Islamic State’s name with ha letters where ta marbutas should be used and spelling the forms of the verb ظلم incorrectly].

Forgery: Alleged Islamic State List Threatening Individuals in Deir az-Zor

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Islamic State
Number: 01199

Wilayat al-Sham
al-Khayr
Diwan al-Amn al-Aam

[list of names, which I have redacted from document]

Peace be upon the one who follows the guidance. As for what follows: ‘And whoso of you stands with them is one of them.’ And therefore, these names have fallen into apostasy from loyalty to the Nusayris and the Kurdish councils and joining the ranks of the atheists. And therefore we say to you: repent before power is gained over you. Otherwise: we will kidnap you on the roads and in the markets and in the mosques even. And we will enter upon you in the homes and we will certainly destroy them over your heads and know that we see you even as you do not see us. So announce repentance from all apostasy in the mosques and before the people. So the one who repents, he makes his blood sacrosanct. And his news will come to us and we make sure from his state of affairs whether he is to be believer or if he is of the liars. And whoso does not repent, he has made his blood permissible to be shed and he only has the sword in our view. And the one who has warned has been excused, and God is predominant over His affair but most of the people do not know.

And these names are particular for the village of Jadid Akeidat (and to be continued).

Published on date 10 March 2021 CE
26 Rajab 1442 AH

Islamic State
Wilayat al-Khayr
Diwan al-Amn al-Aam

[Comment: this document, which appeared on the site Deir az-Zor 24, contains a number of suspicious features that make me sure it is a forgery. First, the typing format looks odd. Second, the document combines the new Islamic State ‘Wilayat al-Sham’ designation for the Syrian territories with an old stamp at the bottom featuring ‘Wilayat al-Khayr’ (Deir az-Zor province). Third, it is strange the document should list the wanted names first and then proceed to explain they are wanted for falling into apostasy. Fourth, the line ‘peace be upon the one who follows the guidance’ at the beginning of the explanation is very irregular. It would be more usual to begin ‘Praise be to God (etc.)…and prayers and peace be upon the (e.g. one sent with the sword as a mercy to the worlds) and (e.g. all his family and companions)].