"Dots on Letters"- Islamic State Editorial on the Assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and Aftermath

This week’s editorial in the Islamic State’s al-Naba’ newsletter is very much a continuation of the themes of the editorial in last week’s edition, though now taking into account the most recent developments including the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iran’s ballistic missile strikes on Israel. The title of the editorial is an Arabic idiom that basically means clarifying matters. The main points of the editorial are as follows:

. The conflict between the Jews and the ‘Rafidites’ (derogatory term for the Shi‘a) is ultimately a conflict of a Jahili type (i.e. reflecting pre-Islamic ignorance) and not a truly religious one of the sort between true Sunni Muslims and Jews (a conflict that the Islamic State portrays as far greater than the Jewish-Shi‘a conflict). It is to be realised that the ‘Rafidites’- as apostates from Islam- are a greater evil and tribulation than the Jews because the ‘Rafidites’ corrupt the religion and have managed to hijack the cause of Palestine, while the Jews’ tribulation is only a matter of lives and wealth (less serious), since the Muslim masses are not being tempted to adopt Judaism. This reflects the classic Islamic State belief that apostasy from Islam is ultimately worse than original disbelief.