The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On June 7, 2022, As-Sahab Media Subcontinent, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), published a two-page press release in Urdu and English titled "May Our Mothers Be Bereaved of Us, If We Fail to Defend Our Prophet: In View of the Disrespect Shown Towards The Best of Creation in India."[1] The statement is a reaction to television remarks made on May 26 by Indian politician Nupur Sharma, the then spokeswoman for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in which she mentioned the young age of the Prophet Muhammad's wife 'A'ishah at the time of their marriage in a manner that many Muslims considered disparaging. Sharma was subsequently suspended from the party.
AQIS released an earlier statement on the same day claiming it was behind the 2014 and 2015 murders of two Bangladeshi men who had insulted the Prophet Muhammad, and condemning Bangladesh for sentencing seven people to death for those murders, contending that the accused men were not involved in the killings.[2] A wide spectrum of jihadis and Islamists have condemned India and the BJP for Sharma's remarks, with some threatening revenge and calling for the killing of blasphemers.[3]
As is customary, the AQIS statement opens by praising Allah, asserting that He made the Prophet Muhammad "the most beloved to Himself and to His slaves after Himself" and made the shari'a, which was revealed through Muhammad, "the Final Code and Law applicable in every corner of the universe wherever life is present."
The statement then accuses "the propagators and flag bearers of Hindutva"[4] of insulting and slandering the Prophet Muhammad and his wife 'A'ishah "in the most vile and evil manner" on Indian television, and declares that "the hearts of Muslims all over the world are bleeding and are filled with feelings of revenge and retribution."
AQIS warns "every audacious and impudent foul mouth of the world," especially "the Hindutva terrorists occupying India," that the group's fighters will fight, sacrifice their lives, and urge others to fight and kill those who insult Muhammad, adding: "We shall bind explosives [to] our bodies and the bodies of our children to blow away the ranks of those who dare to dishonour our Prophet [...] The Saffron terrorists should now await their end in Delhi and Bombay and in UP [Uttar Pradesh] and Gujarat. They shall find refuge neither in their homes nor in their fortified army cantonments."
The statement brings "glad tidings" to Muslims worldwide, especially those "who are suffering persecution and cruelty at the hands of India," based on a claim by 14th-century Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyah that whenever Muslims battled unbelievers, the latter were defeated soon after they insulted Muhammad. AQIS uses this quote to imply that Sharma's perceived insults to the Prophet will bring about India's imminent downfall and reminds Muslims in the Indian Subcontinent that Muhammad foretold the apocalyptic Ghazwa-e-Hind (Battle of India), in which Muslims will conquer India.[5]
Further on, AQIS adds: "We bring tidings of death and destruction to the rulers of India, of executions and hangings, of imprisonment and being bound with chains." The statement concludes with a quote from the Quran (9:33 and 61:9) declaring the supremacy of Islam and the excellence of the Prophet Muhammad: "He [Allah] is the One who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He makes it prevail over all religions, even though the mushriks (those who ascribe partners to Allah) dislike (it)."
[1] June 7, 2022.
[2] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Al-Qaeda In The Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) Denounces Perceived Wrongful Conviction By Bangladeshi Courts Of The Murderers Of Two Islam Critics, June 7, 2022.
[3] See MEMRI JTTM Reports: Jihadis Online Accuse India Of 'Declaring War On Islam,' Over Remarks By Hindu Officials Against Islam, Prophet Muhammad, June 6, 2022; and Citing 'Derogatory' Remarks By Indian Official, Pro-Al-Qaeda Video Calls For Killing 'Blasphemers Of Prophet', June 6, 2022.
[4] Hindutva, literally Hindu-ness, is a form of Hindu nationalism espoused by the BJP and other groups in India.
[5] Ghazwa-e-Hind or Ghazwat Al-Hind means the "battle of India." Several hadiths predict the Islamic conquest of India and promise Paradise for those who participate in the battle to conquer it. While Islamic scholars disagree whether this prophecy has already been fulfilled, jihadis from the Indian Subcontinent generally assume it will be an apocalyptic battle that will take place in the future.
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