"Africa is a Land of Hijra and Jihad": Editorial in Islamic State's al-Naba' Newsletter

This week’s editorial in the Islamic State’s al-Naba’ newsletter follows on from a lengthy video released by the group’s West Africa ‘wilaya’ (‘province’) that not only featured military operations but also aspects of the affiliate’s governance project in certain areas. As is well-known, when the Islamic State achieved territorial control in parts of Iraq and Syria, it established an administrative system based on a series of diwans (departments). The West Africa affiliate has replicated this model to some extent through the activities of the Diwan al-Da’wa wa al-Masajid (concerned with religious outreach and mosques), a Diwan al-Hisba (enforcing Islamic morality and ethics publicly), a Diwan al-Zakat (to collect zakat taxation) and a Diwan al-Qada (judiciary department, embodied in Islamic courts). These aspects, which have already been documented for some time, were on display in the recent West Africa province video.