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On August 21, 2014, the jihadi message board 'Arin Al-Mujahideen, which is close to Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN), released a communique on the Islamic State's (IS) beheading of American photojournalist James Foley. The communique was signed by 16 Syrian shari'a bodies, Islamic rebel organizations, and media elements in Syria, including the Syrian Council of Muslim Clerics, the Shari'a Council of the Islamic Front, the Syria Press news agency, and Salafi-Jihadi ideologue Abu Basir Al-Tartusi.
The communique harshly criticizes IS for its August 19 beheading of Foley, for its documentation of the beheading, and for disseminating the video of it online. It also attacks IS's brutal methods, which it says contradict shari'a.
The communique opens by stating that to the best of the signatories' knowledge, Foley was captured in 2012 by the Syrian regime, so they were initially surprised to discover that he was in the hands of IS – thus hinting at regime-IS collaboration; this is also hinted at later on in the communique.
The communique sets out six claims against IS:
1. IS treats all Muslims with cruelty, and kills and permits the blood of anyone who disagrees with it.
2. Foley and all foreign journalists came to Syria to document the crimes of the regime and, in effect, to support the citizens. Upon their arrival, the rebel organizations guaranteed their safety and promised that no harm would come to them. Therefore, Foley's slaughter contradicts the shari'a and is a betrayal of the duty of Muslims, who do not break their promises.
3. The crimes committed by IS members are not limited to those against journalists and foreign media but also include the barbaric massacre of many rebels who are wanted by the Syrian regime, as well as the slaughter of many citizens at the ophthalmology ward of at the hospital in Aleppo. IS is also holding many more journalists.
4. If the claim that the IS makes in the video, i.e. that Muslims wish to be ruled by the organization, were true, then all Syrian Muslims would support the IS instead of fighting it, as is actually happening.
5. The policy of killing innocent and unarmed civilians is shared by IS and the Syria regime, and there are general similarities in their actions: killing civil rebels and media figures, fighting the armed organizations that are combating the regime, bombing cities, and abducting activists.
6. IS's treachery and its violation of its duty towards Muslims have been proven repeatedly.
Source: 'Arin Al-Mujahideen, August 21, 2014.
