The feature article of the seventh issue of ISIS's English-language magazine Dabiq, titled "The Extinction of the Grayzone", states that, since the advent of ISIS and its Caliphate, the world is clearly divided into two camps, with no gray zone between them: the camp of Islam, represented by ISIS and its supporters, and the camp of the West and its followers. The latter camp includes anyone who disagrees with ISIS, including moderate Muslims, who are portrayed as "apostates" and accomplices of the Western powers. In this context, the article denounces moderate Muslims who showed sympathy for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack, and calls to kill Muslim religious leaders who participated in the anti-terror rally in Paris (photos of two such imams appear in the article). It also attacks Al-Qaeda and other Sunni groups that have not recognized the Islamic State's authority, accusing them of partisanship and of insufficient devoutness. It stresses that anyone who has hitherto tried to remain neutral must now choose which of the two camps he belongs to.
The following are excerpts from the article:
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"The grayzone is critically endangered, rather on the brink of extinction. Its endangerment began with the blessed operations of September 11th, as these operations manifested two camps before the world for mankind to choose between, a camp of Islam – without the body of Khilāfah [a caliphate] to represent it at the time – and a camp of kufr [unbelief] – the crusader coalition… But the fiery zeal of the broken Muslim Ummah began to cool by the hazy events known as 'the Arab Spring' as well as the lack of a body representing Islam (the Khilāfah) then. The Muslims saw the same aforementioned movements, 'scholars,' callers, sects, and even the apostate tawāghīt [rulers of the Arab states] get involved in 'supporting' the cause of the oppressed Muslims in Shām [Syria]. And so confusion spread, and the withering of the grayzone was slowed or almost halted…"
Paris Attacks Were Exceptionally Effective Thanks To "Atmosphere Of Terror Generated By The Presence Of The Islamic Caliphate"
The article claims that the Paris attacks evoked a much greater reaction than previous attacks in Europe thanks to the rise of ISIS and the fear it instills in its enemies. It also stresses how quickly jihadis responded to the organization's call to carry out attacks in Western countries: "[In the past] Europe was struck by attacks that killed multitudes more of kuffār [infidels] than those killed in the recent Paris attacks. The 2004 Madrid operation and the 2005 London operation together killed more than 200 crusaders and injured more than 2000. Europe also witnessed an attack against 'free speech' when a mujāhid assassinated Theo Van Gogh for mocking Allah, His verses, His religion, and His Messenger. So why was the reaction to the recent attacks much greater than that of any previous attack? It is the international atmosphere of terror generated by the presence of the Islamic Khilāfah [ISIS]… It is the lively words contained in the Khilāfah’s call. When its spokesman Shaykh Abū Muhammad al-‘Adnānī ash-Shāmī made his call to Muslims everywhere, ordering them to carry out attacks against the crusaders wherever they may be found, his call was answered immediately, with different individual operations executed within hours."
"There Is A Great Reward Awaiting" Anyone Who Kills Imams Who Spoke Out Against The Charlie Hebdo Attack
The article lashes out at moderate Muslims who spoke out against the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine or participated in the anti-terror rally in Paris, stressing that imams who did so must be killed: "One of the first matters renounced by the hypocrites abandoning the grayzone and fleeing to the camp of apostasy and kufr after the operations in Paris is the clear-cut obligation to kill those who mock the Messenger [Muhammad]. The evidences [religious justification based on Islamic sources] for this issue are so abundant and clear, and yet some apostates, who abandoned the grayzone, claimed that the operations in Paris contradicted the teachings of Islam! They then gathered the masses in rallies under the banner 'Je Suis Charlie,' leading them on towards the gates of Hellfire designated for the murtaddīn [apostates].
If merely sitting silently with the kuffār [infidels] during a gathering of kufr [unbelief] is [itself an act of] kufr, how much more so is it to rally on behalf of a newspaper mocking the Messenger (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam)? Or give verdicts in defense of the newspaper, against the mujāhidīn who killed those who mocked the Messenger (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam)? Or raise banners and slogans with the words “Je Suis Charlie” on them? There is no doubt that such deeds are apostasy, that those who publicly call to such deeds in the name of Islam and scholarship are from the du’āt (callers) to apostasy, and that there is great reward awaiting the Muslim in the Hereafter if he kills these apostate imāms…"
The article includes these photos of two "apostate" American Muslim scholars who condemned the Charlie Hebdo attack, Yasir Qadhi and Hamza Yusuf, and states that "a great reward" awaits anyone who kills such clerics
Muslims In The West Now Have Only Two Choices: Become Apostates Or Emigrate To The Caliphate
The article claims further that the existence of the Caliphate causes the West to increase its pressure on moderate Muslims living within its borders, leaving them only two options: either become complete apostates, or else emigrate to the Caliphate. "The presence of the Khilafa magnifies the political, social, economic, and emotional impact of any operation carried out by the mujāhidīn against the enraged crusaders. This magnified impact compels the crusaders to actively destroy the grayzone themselves, the zone in which many of the hypocrites and deviant innovators living in the West are hiding…
"The Muslims in the West will quickly find themselves between one of two choices, they either apostatize and adopt the kufrī [infidel] religion propagated by Bush, Obama, Blair, Cameron, Sarkozy, and Hollande in the name of Islam so as to live amongst the kuffār [infidels] without hardship, or they perform hijrah [emigrate] to the Islamic State and thereby escape persecution from the crusader governments and citizens... Muslims in the crusader countries will find themselves driven to abandon their homes for a place to live in the Khilāfah, as the crusaders increase persecution against Muslims living in Western lands so as to force them into a tolerable sect of apostasy in the name of 'Islam' before forcing them into blatant Christianity and democracy."
It is also stated that, with the advent of the Caliphate, Muslims can no longer justify living in the West by claiming that the Muslim lands are ruled by apostate regimes: "Again, the announcement of the Khilāfah preceding the events in Europe further demolished the grayzone, as many Muslims living in Europe and the Americas justified their residency amongst the kuffār with the fact that the Muslims’ lands were under the rule of apostate tawāghīt [tyrannical secular rulers]. Now, with the presence of the Islamic State, the opportunity to perform hijrah from dārul-kufr [the abode of unbelief] to dārul-islām [the abode of Islam] and wage jihād against the Crusaders, the Nusayriyyah ['Alawites], the Rāfidah [Shi'ite], and the murtadd [apostate] regimes and armies, is available to every Muslim as well as the chance to live under the shade of the Sharī’ah alone."
Turning to the matter of rival jihad organizations, the article says that the existence of the Caliphate exposes these organizations, such as Al-Qaeda, as hypocrites who are more loyal to their group than to Islam (such partisanship is considered a great sin in Islam, and especially in Salafi thought): "The world was now divided further between the Khilāfah on one side and the crusaders with their apostate agents on the other. If these jihād parties [Al-Qaeda and other militant Islamic groups] recognized this giant body representing Islam – the Khilāfah – they would be delegitimizing themselves, and thus would lose personal power and influence... The jihādī parties found themselves in another dilemma. If they delegitimized the grayzone, they would also be delegitimizing the scholarship of those 'scholars' representing the 'Ummah' [i.e., all scholars who do not support ISIS]! And they did not have the courage to do so and could not abandon their fear of losing power, so they rejected the concept of a grayzone and struggled to prove the sincerity of the hypocrites… a mission doomed to fail and executed only for partisan interests."
"Mujahideen… Will Find Themselves Driven To Join The Ranks Of The Caliphate"
It is also stated that the people of the Muslim lands, including the fighters in the ranks of jihad groups, will also find themselves forced to choose between two options – joining ISIS or fighting it – for anyone who refuses to fight it will be persecuted by the secular regimes, the "apostate tyrants": "Muslims in the lands ruled by the apostate tawāghīt [tyrants] will find themselves driven to the wilāyāt [provinces] of the Islamic State [scattered throughout the Middle East, not Syria and Iraq only], as the tawāghīt increase their imprisonment of any Muslim they think might have a mustard seed of jealousy for his religion, or lead them to apostatize by working as agents, soldiers, and puppets serving the banner of the tāghūt [tyrant]. Mujāhidīn in the lands of jihād will find themselves driven to join the ranks of the Khilāfah, or forced to wage war against it on the side of those willing to cooperate with the munāfiqīn [hypocrites] and murtaddīn [apostates] against the Khilāfah. If they do not execute these treacherous orders, they will be considered khawārij [extremists] by their leaders and face the sword of 'independent' courts infiltrated by the Sufis, the Ikhwān, and the Salūlī sects. Eventually, the grayzone will become extinct and there will be no place for grayish calls and movements. There will only be the camp of īmān [faith] versus the camp of kufr [unbelief]."
The authors conclude the article with an apocalyptic prediction that the current war between ISIS and its enemies will culminate in the appearance of Jesus and the Beast [Quran 27, 82], two key elements in Islamic eschatology:
"Then, when ‘Īsā [Jesus, who plays a key role in Islamic apocalyptic traditions] descends, breaks the cross, and abolishes the jizyah [poll tax], there will not be any place left for the camp of kufr to exist on the Earth, not even as humbled dhimmī subjects living amongst the Muslims in the camp of truth… Thereafter, the Beast will appear and mark the hypocrites who remained as individuals hidden in the camp of truth, thereby bringing an end to hypocrisy on the individual level after the Malāhim [epic battles] had finished hypocrisy on the level of calls and movements…"
