Norway-Based Jihadi Scholar Mullah Fateh Krekar: New Groups Will Emerge After Al-Qaeda and ISIS Are Gone Because the Quran and Sunnah Are Permanent

Norway-based Jihadi scholar Mullah Fateh Krekar, who is the former leader of the Kurdish Sunni Jihadi group Ansar Al-Islam, was interviewed on NRT TV (Iraqi Kurdistan). He said that it should not be seen as out of the ordinary if a group like Al-Qaeda or ISIS loses its foothold in a territory it used to hold, because even if these specific organizations disappear, other groups with the same ideology will emerge to replace them. He said that this is because the Quran, the Sunnah, and the hadiths about Jihad are permanent, and because future generations will continue to grow up learning from these sources. He said that another group with the same ideas as ISIS will emerge in Iraq because the Iraqi Sunnis continue to have their rights trampled. The interview aired on December 20, 2018.

Following are excerpts:

Mullah Fateh Krekar: If Al-Qaeda or ISIS were present in a certain place and then lost their foothold, it should not be seen as something out of the ordinary. Even if these organizations disappear, another organization will emerge. The religious sources have stayed the same. The Quran and the Sunnah are the sources of guidance, education, social and ideological upbringing, and Jihadi activity. These two sources exist. The Quranic verses exist and the hadiths are permanent. In Sahih Al-Bukhari, there are 55 hadiths about Jihad, and in Sahih Muslim there are sixty-nine. These sources will not cease to exist. Generations to come will continue to be raised on them. The same goes for the injustice suffered by the people. The Sunnis in the Sunni Triangle [in Iraq] were oppressed, and faced hostile extermination campaigns by the Crusaders.

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Their rights were trampled, their existence was erased, and all aspects of their life came under attack- their beliefs, their affiliations, their tribes, their religious denominations, their economy, the infrastructure in their towns… All these factors still exist, so even if ISIS is gone, another group with the same ideas will come along.