ISIS accuses scholars of 'misleading' people

The so-called Islamic State (ISIS) has accused Shaikh Omar Mahmoud Othman (Abu Qatada) and Shaikh Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi of “misleading” people. Both men are leaders and well-known figures within the jihadist Salafist movement in Jordan.

The accusation has been made in the latest issue of the ISIS magazine, Dabiq. It is supported by a saying of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) alongside photographs of the two scholars. “The misleading imams,” said the Prophet, are more of a threat to his Ummah than the false messiah, Dajjal.

In the same issue, photographs of the ex-director of the Al-Jazeera network, Wadah Khanfar, and his successor Yasser Abu Hilala are placed underneath the caption “Bewitching media”. From the saying of the Prophet quoted underneath the photographs, the implication is that the two media executives are regarded by ISIS as “hypocrites” capable of practising “sorcery and deception” by their eloquence.

ISIS prints occasional issues of Dabiq magazine in English with a view to explain itself to the English-speaking world in its quest for more recruits to the cause.