Aymenn’s Monstrous Publications: Jihadism

Islamic State Editorial on the Jordan Church Attack

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 21:29:04 GMT

When the attack on a church in the Jordanian locality of al-Karak took place, the incident immediately struck me as being in keeping with Islamic State ideology, which advocates for attacking Christians (and Jews) everywhere unless they agree to convert to Islam, agree to live under the Islamic State as ‘dhimmis’ (i.e. paying a poll tax called ‘jizya’ and abiding by various restrictions) or have a ‘pact of security’ whereby they can enter the group’s territory for business or other purposes (which would have been the arrangement for German journalist Jürgen Todenhöfer when he reported from the group’s territory in Iraq and Syria. As such then, the war is primarily a matter of ideological grievance: the existence of Christians who do not wish to live under Islamic authority is seen as a grievance.

The editorial issued this week in the group’s al-Naba’ newsletter does not formally claim the attack, but it does hail the attack as being in keeping with the above ideological framework.

Islamic State Insurgent Activity in Iraq Post U.S.-Withdrawal

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 23:14:17 GMT

In the wake of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq as part of concluding the counter-Islamic State mission on the ground there, the group has continued to issue official claims of attacks in Iraq at an elevated rate. A hotspot for the group’s claimed attacks right now is the wider Kirkuk countryside area, as illustrated by an ‘exclusive’ report published in the most recent edition of the group’s weekly newsletter al-Naba’, plus another attack claimed on evening of 24 October in Kirkuk countryside in which the group claimed to have destroyed an infra-red camera at a barracks of the ‘apostate tribal Hashd’ (i.e. Sunni tribal formations classified under the Hashd rubric).

Included alongside the al-Naba’ report is an infographic giving statistics on the group’s operations in Iraq during the past 50 days. The overall level of activity still remains very low and localised but it is worth monitoring for any further escalations in attacks.

Below is the translation of the al-Naba’ report and the accompanying infographic.

‘Stories from the Inside’- Hagiographies of Islamic State Fighters

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 23:05:09 GMT

Previously, many pro-Islamic State channels on Telegram and similar social media accounts on other platforms were focused on the al-Hol camp in eastern Syria that was run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and contained thousands of families (women and children) who had lived in Islamic State-held territory at some point. Since the closure of al-Hol camp following the Syrian government’s seizure of the camp and the mass flight or relocation of the camp’s inhabitants, the main focus of these pro-Islamic State accounts has shifted to the Roj camp located much further north in Hasakah province, which continued to remain formally under SDF administration and also contains families of women and children (especially foreigners- ‘muhajirin’) that lived in Islamic State-held territory.

Islamic State Treatise on Border and Transit Taxes

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 14:39:17 GMT

How does the Islamic State conceive of the idea of taxes for crossing through its borders and use of its territory for business purposes, whether in terms of transit or conducting transactions there and then leaving?

It is by now a familiar point that studies on the Islamic State have disproportionately focused on the English language magazine Dabiq (which was discontinued in 2016) and propaganda messaging contained therein. By contrast, the large corpus of writings issued by the organisation’s Office of Research and Studies remains understudied. The writings provide insight into some aspects of life under Islamic State’s ‘territorial caliphate’ but also a blueprint for how Islamic State affiliates might apply aspects of governance in other parts of the world where they may seize territory, given that the office’s writings are still considered canon.

The treatise below, issued by the office in June 2016, frames the issue of transit and border taxes for business matters in terms of the concept of ‘ushr (i.e. 10% tax) and makes the following key points:

‘Between 11 September and 30 September’- Pro-al-Qaeda Editorial on the FlyDubai Incident

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 10:08:28 GMT

On 30 September, reports emerged that a FlyDubai flight heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a co-pilot attacked the captain and allegedly sought to crash the plane in a mass murder-suicide attempt. The co-pilot, reportedly an Omani citizen with Syrian lineage, had supposedly been removed from flight training with Oman Air because of concerns about his views, which are alleged to have been supportive of al-Qaeda.

Some observers and commentators are skeptical about the narrative of the incident for various reasons. Some of this skepticism is based on silly misconceptions: for example, the reported name of the co-pilot- Hammam al-Hammami- does not mean ‘Bathroom al-Bathroom’ as George Galloway has claimed, as the name is spelt not حمام الحمامي in Arabic press reports but همام الهمامي, which also happens to be the name of a Saudi soccer player, for example. Others are skeptical simply because the narrative of a foiled mass casualty attack supposedly serves the interests of Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though the fact that something might be politically useful for Netanyahu does not mean a false-flag attack, just as the attacks on Jewish targets in Europe claimed by the pro-Iran group ‘Ashab al-Yamin’ were not false-flags.

While more details still need to emerge and be confirmed, the notion of a mass casualty attack targeting Israelis/Jews would very much be in keeping with what al-Qaeda advocates, given that the group believes there is a wider religious war between Muslims and Jews.

Islamic State Editorial on the United Nations

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:26:38 GMT

One of the defining characteristics of transnational or global jihadism is opposition to the international order embodied in nation states and systems that represent that order, foremost embodied today in the United Nations (UN). For such jihadists, the system of nation states must eventually be entirely done away with and replaced with one Caliphate that rules the world. The latest Islamic State editorial, commenting on the most recent session of the UN’s General Assembly held last month, is reflective of this outlook.

The main points of the editorial are as follows: