In a text published in one of its magazines, the terrorist organization welcomed this “war between crusaders” which would be a “punishment” for the countries of “unbelieving Christians”.
At a time when the situation in Ukraine monopolizes the attention on the international scene, several violent jihadist groups linked to the Islamic State (IS) have expressed their happiness for this conflict, perceived as a divine sign. This eschatological dimension of divine punishment is not new, since IS had already used this terminology in connection with the health crisis.
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Antinomy between the West and those close to IS
An editorial published on Tuesday (March 15) in the IS-affiliated Al-Naba magazine makes this “war between crusaders” a “punishment“administered to”christian disbelievers” to get “exportedtheir struggles in Muslim countries. Theologian close to the al-Qaeda group, Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, said on Twitter “rejoice that this war continues, in the same way that you rejoice in destroying Muslim countries”. Similarly, a cleric affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, called on all Muslims to “that the oppressors annihilate each other (…) in the interest of Islam“. Note, however, that this position is not shared by the entire HTS group. Abou Maria al-Qahtani, for example, considers a Muslim who gives his life in combat in Ukraine to be a martyr.
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This logic of non-alignment in the face of enemy nations is not new, as explained for Le Figaro the journalist and watch analyst of the jihadist movements, Wassim Nasr. “These are the nations that have fought their two world wars, and for the IS, these are “inter-Crusader” wars, in line with their prophetic project.“. For them today it is a true divine sign, towards the advent of their ideas. A game of symbolism highlighted by Wassim Nasr in his latest book, Islamic State, the fait accompli.
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Different positions in Islamist movements
The Taliban, for their part, display a much more measured position, since they are pursuing a strategy of neutrality to offer themselves a place of choice internationally. If the IS shows a certain incoherence in the malleability of its message, the Taliban seek more to make themselves the champions of stability and nuance, precisely to be mediators and to establish their power. Laurence Bindner, co-founder of JOS Project, which is an online extremist propaganda analysis platform, explains that they “still have very political postures, more measured, precisely because of this desire (…) to no longer be considered as a vulgar insurrectionary group».
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On the other hand, Muslim Chechens who fight alongside Russia are considered by IS to be “apostatessince they ignore the dichotomy that remains between Muslims and non-Muslims. Wassim Nasr recalls the allegiance made by the Chechen Sunni leader Kadyrov to Vladimir Putin, linking the two peoples militarily, in exchange for mutual political support. The Chechen canton belonging to Russia is thus managed by Kadyrov’s supporters, the latter offering military support in return. In the Caucasus, Kadyrov is thus waging a formidable war with a great deal of repression and abuse. These political interests are therefore antagonistic to IS’s desire to carry out jihad internationally.