 | |
| Founded | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Islamic State |
| Headquarters | Syria |
Al-Hayat Media Center is a media wing of the Islamic State. [1] [2] It was established in mid-2014 and targets international (non-Arabic) audiences as opposed to their other Arabic-focused media wings and produces material, mostly Nasheeds, in English, German, Russian, Urdu, Indonesian, Turkish, Bengali, Chinese, Bosnian, Kurdish, Uyghur, and French. [3] [4]
In July 2014, al-Hayat began publishing a digital magazine called Dabiq , in a number of different languages including English. According to the magazine, its name is taken from the town of Dabiq in northern Syria, which is mentioned in a hadith about Armageddon. [5] Al-Hayat also began publishing other digital magazines, including the Turkish language Konstantiniyye , the Ottoman word for Istanbul, [6] [7] and the French language Dar al-Islam . [8] By late 2016, these magazines had apparently all been discontinued, with Al-Hayat's material being consolidated into a new magazine called Rumiyah (Arabic for Rome). [9]
In 2014, al-Hayat published a 24-minute propaganda video in Kurdish, as well as a Kurdish Nasheed called "Descendants of the Caliphate". The video featured Abu Khattab al-Kurdi promising to "bring the Caliphate to Kurdistan and to end the PUK and KDP's atheism". [10]
On 29 June 2014 it released The End of Sykes-Picot , a reference to the 1916 accord that European states used to divide up the region after World War I and in which it calls for destruction of the border between Iraq and Syria. [11] [12] The subject of the video is the ISIL fighter Abu Safiyya. [13]
In February 2015 British journalist John Cantlie appeared in a propaganda video from al-Hayat walking around ruins and interviewing locals in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo. [14] On 18 February it released a nasheed in French called Extend your Hand to Pledge Allegiance (French : Tends ta main pour l'allégeance), [15] which begins with speech by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and it is urged to make the hijra and join ISIS. [16]
In 2015, Al-Hayat released a nasheed song "We are Mujahid" (我们是圣战士, although the lyric sings "Mujahid" verbatim), sung in Mandarin Chinese, which was the first ever Chinese jihadist materials published by ISIS. It was speculated that the song was targeting Hui people (Chinese-speaking Muslims), as opposed to Uyghurs, who speak Turkic languages. [17] Chinese mass media and the Chinese government did not talk about it since they did not want to get involved with the battle against ISIS. [18]
In April 2015, Al-Hayat, though affiliated Telegram channels, threatened to blow up Anzac Day dawn memorial services in major cities across Australia and New Zealand, as well as Melbourne Cricket Ground, should Australian Defence Force continues to participate in CJTF-OIR in Iraq. ASIO alleged the Sydney-born jihadist Khaled Sharrouf, who joined ISIS in 2013, was behind this propaganda push.
In September 2015, it released an English nasheed video entitled "For the Sake of Allah", it was shown in its movie-like video "Return of the Gold Dinar", [19] which was a propaganda video showing the Islamic State's new currency and denouncing banknotes and interest. [20] It was explained by Lavdrim Muhaxheri. [21]
In November 2015, it released a Russian nasheed video entitled "Soon very Soon" (Russian: Скоро очень скоро) telling Islamic State supporters to attack Russian churches and government buildings. [22] [23]
In April 2016 it released a video featuring a large group of ISIS child recruits singing in French wearing suicide belts and other weapons during military training. [24] It was titled "Blood for Blood" (French : Sang pour Sang). [25] Then again in April 2016, they advertised a new monthly series called "Top 10" which takes videos from ISIS' provinces and creates a compilation of those clips. [26]
It made a 52-second trailer for The Flames of War, a video series called Mujatweets [27] and a nashid (Islamic chant) in French named "My revenge" (Ma vengeance) in which it praised the Brussels bombing and both Paris attacks. [28] At the same time it released another video titled Kill Them Wherever You Find Them (French : Tuez-les où que vous les rencontriez) showing the Paris attackers threatening future violence. [29] Four Belgians, three French nationals, and two Iraqis appeared in the video, carrying out executions alternated with Paris attacks scenes. [30] Those nine terrorist were Abdelhamid Abaaoud (Abu Umar Al-Baljiki), Chakib Akrouh (Abu Mujahid al-Baljiki), Brahim Abdeslam (Abul-Qaqe Al-Baljiki); the kamikazes at Bataclan, Samy Amimour (Abu Qital al-Faransi), Ismaël Omar Mostefaï (Abu Rayyan al-Faransi) and Foued Mohamed-Aggad (Abu Fuad al-Faransi); and the kamikaze at Stade de France, Bilal Hadfi (Dhu-l-Qarnayn al-Faransi) and the Iraqis Ali al-Iraqi and Ukashah Al-Iraqi. [31]
On 20 April 2017, it released a Turkish nasheed video titled "The Islamic State has been established" (Turkish: Kuruldu Islam Devletı) which incited Turkish Muslims to join the Islamic state and attack Turkey to gain more land for the Islamic state. [32] [33]
On 28 July 2017, it released an online video series in English and Arabic entitled "Inside the Caliphate", which focuses on life inside the Islamic State, the first episode dealt with the new currency of the Islamic State and said how it should be used around the globe, [34] the second video dealt with the battle of Raqqa where Australian Islamic State militant under the alias Abu Adam talked about "Victory being near", [35] the third episode talked about the siege of Marawi and the Islamic state soldiers in the conflict, [36] the fourth episode gives a speech from a Singaporean Islamic state militant under the alias Abu 'Uqayl talking about U.S. and British involvement in the Syrian civil war, the episode targets Prince Harry and the British government. [37] The fifth episode gives a speech from Arabic Islamic State militant under the alias Abul Abbass about the loss of territory and to be patient, and threatens non-Islamic State armies and militants in war. [38] The sixth episode is a speech from an American Islamic state militant under the alias Abu Salih, Abu Salih talked about the gun laws in America and told supporters of the Islamic state to buy arms and commit mass shootings. [39] The seventh episode showed the Syrian civil war and suicide bombers in VBIEDs attacking Syrian soldiers, it also featured an unknown Islamic state woman fighting with a Kalashnikov. [40] The eighth and last episode revolves around the Islamic state's mass propaganda, and American production companies, and told Islamic state supporters to create accounts and post Islamic state videos on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. [41]
On 31 December 2017 it spread via Telegram O' Disbelievers of the World (French : Mécréants de l'humanité) which shows an apocalyptic view of the war between ISIS and the unbelief. [42] The video shows Donald Trump, Bashar al-Assad, Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Putin, Netanyahu and Emmanuel Macron. [43] It features an opening monologue from spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, [44] and the song is sung by Jean-Michel Clain. [45]
On 26 January 2018 it released a nasheed called Answer the Call where supporters were urged to carry out gruesome terror attacks in Western countries. [46]
On 21 March 2019, the U.S. Department of State officially deemed al-Hayat an alias of ISIL, and thus a Foreign Terrorist Organization. [47]
On 26 July 2020, it released a video entitled "Incite the Believers" which shown ideas of terrorist attacks to lone wolf terrorists in western countries. [48] In the video, they rated arson as a "5-star" terrorist attack, citing the California wild fires. [49] [50]
On 10 October 2020 it released a nasheed titled "Coldly Kill Them". Later Islamic State released a video for the nasheed. [51]
A nasheed is a work of vocal music, partially coincident with hymns, that is either sung a cappella or with instruments, according to a particular style or tradition within Islam.
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and by its Arabic acronym Da'ish or Daesh, is a militant Islamist group and former unrecognized quasi-state that follows the Salafi jihadist branch of Sunni Islam. It was founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 1999 and gained global prominence in 2014, when it drove Iraqi security forces out of key cities during the Anbar campaign, which was followed by its capture of Mosul and the Sinjar massacre. In Syria, the group conducted ground attacks against both Syrian government forces and Syrian opposition factions. By the end of 2015, it held an area that contained an estimated eight to twelve million people and stretched from western Iraq to eastern Syria, where it enforced its interpretation of Islamic law. ISIL was estimated at the time to have an annual budget of more than US$1 billion and more than 30,000 fighters.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was an Iraqi militant and the first caliph of the Islamic State from 2014 until his death in 2019.
Foreign fighters have fought on all four sides of the Syrian Civil War, as well both sides of the War in Iraq. In addition to Sunni foreign fighters, Shia fighters from several countries have joined pro-government militias in Syria, leftist militants have joined Kurdish fighting forces, and other foreign fighters have joined jihadist organizations and private military contractors recruit globally. Estimates of the total number of foreign Sunnis who have fought for the Syrian rebels over the course of the conflict range from 5,000 to over 10,000, while foreign Shia fighters numbered around 10,000 or less in 2013 rising to between 15,000 and 25,000 in 2017.
Taha Sobhi Falaha, known as Abu Muhammad al-Adnani al-Shami, was the official spokesperson and a senior leader of the Islamic State. He was described as the chief of its external operations. He was the second most senior leader of the Islamic State after its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Media reports in August 2016 suggested he was in charge of a special unit, known as the Emni, that was established by IS in 2014 with the double objective of internal policing and executing operations outside IS territory.
The Islamic State – Algeria Province is a branch of the militant Islamist group Islamic State (IS), active in Algeria. The group was formerly known as Jund al-Khilafah fi Ard al-Jazair.
Dabiq was an online magazine used by the Islamic State (IS) for Islamic radicalisation and recruitment purposes. It was first published in July 2014 in a number of different languages. Dabiq itself states the magazine is for the purposes of unitarianism, truth-seeking, migration, holy war and community.
The territory of the Islamic State had its core in Iraq and Syria from 2013 to 2017 and 2019 respectively, where the proto-state controlled significant swathes of urban, rural, and desert territory. Today the group controls scattered pockets of land in the area, as well as territory or insurgent cells in other areas, notably Afghanistan, West Africa, the Sahara, Somalia, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The ideology of the Islamic State, sometimes called Islamic Statism, has been described as being a hybrid of Salafism, Salafi jihadism, Sunni Islamist fundamentalism, Wahhabism, and Qutbism. Through its official statement of beliefs originally released by its first leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in 2007 and subsequently updated since June 2014, IS defined its creed as "a middle way between the extremist Kharijites and the lax Murji'ites".
The Islamic State is a militant Islamist group active in Libya under three branches: Fezzan Province in the desert south, Cyrenaica Province in the east, and Tripolitania Province in the west. The branches were formed on 13 November 2014, following pledges of allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by militants in Libya.
Dar al-Islam is the title of a French-language online magazine produced by the Islamic State (IS) between 2014 and 2016. It included articles praising terrorist attacks in France, such as the 2016 Nice truck attack and the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks.
Maher Meshaal, known as Abu al-Zubair al-Jazrawi, was a Saudi Arabian munshid and mujahid.
The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria is the Syrian branch of the Turkistan Islamic Party, an armed Uyghur Salafist jihadist group with a presence in the Syrian Civil War. While the TIP has been active in Syria, the organization's core leadership is based in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a presence in its home territory of China.
Yahya al-Bahrumi was an American jihadist, Islamic scholar, and supporter of the Islamic State (ISIL). Having converted to Islam, he studied to the point of developing "a staggering mastery of Islamic law and classical Arabic language and literature". He was close to Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the ISIL spokesman, chief strategist, and director of foreign terror operations.
Abdul Razzaq al-Mahdi, is a Syrian Islamist cleric who is actively involved fighting in the Syrian Civil War against the Syrian government. He originates from Damascus's Al-Salihiyah district and was born in 1961.
Abdullah al-Muhaysini, is a Saudi Arabian Salafi cleric who is known for having served as a religious judge in the Army of Conquest in the Syrian Civil War.
Al-Barakah is a Syrian administrative district of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadist militant group and unrecognised proto-state. Originally set up as al-Barakah Province to govern ISIL territories in al-Hasakah Governorate, the province shifted south after 2016 due to the territorial losses to the YPG/YPJ. Having been demoted from province to district in 2018, al-Barakah administered a small strip of land along the Euphrates in Deir ez-Zor Governorate until the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani, since then the "territory" has turned into an insurgency.
The history of the Islamic State began with the group's foundation in 1999 by Jordanian Salafi jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi under the name Jamāʻat al-Tawḥīd wa-al-Jihād. In a letter published by the US State Department in February 2004, Zarqawi wrote that jihadists should use bombings to start an open sectarian war in Iraq so that Sunnis from other countries would mobilize against the assassinations carried out by Shias, specifically the Badr Organisation, against Ba'athists and Sunnis. The Islamic State would eventually grow to control territory with a population of millions.
Foreign fighters in the Syrian civil war have come to Syria and joined all four sides in the war. In addition to Sunni foreign fighters arriving to defend the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or join the Syrian rebels, Shia fighters from several countries have joined pro-government militias in Syria, and leftists have become foreign fighters in the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, born Nour Karim al-Mutni, was an Iraqi militant and the third caliph of the Islamic State. He was named as caliph on 10 March 2022, in an audio message by the new spokesperson of IS, Abu Omar al-Muhajir, whose announcement came more than a month after the death of his predecessor Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. The message said that Abu al-Hassan was given a pledge of allegiance in response to the will of the former caliph. The Turkish government claimed that he was arrested in Istanbul on 26 May 2022. Later, Islamic State sources denied news reports of his arrest in the 347th issue of their weekly newsletter Al-Naba. In November 2022, Islamic State spokesman Abu Omar al-Muhajir announced that Abu al-Hasan had been killed in combat. After confirmation by the Islamic State and the United States Central Command of his death in Syria, Abu Omar announced Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi as Abu al-Hasan's successor.
As of late 2016, Rumiyah has apparently supplanted other internationally oriented publications, as al-Hayat has ceased publishing them
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