"The Philippines Are a Field of Jihad"- New Islamic State Editorial
A recent bomb attack at a church in the city of Marawi on the island of Mindanaeo in the south of the Philippines was officially claimed by the Islamic State, raising concerns about the continued presence of the group’s “East Asia wilaya” (East Asia ‘province’) in the region. The bomb attack follows on from a notable number of operations claimed since August. Now, in this week’s issue of the group’s al-Naba’ newsletter, an editorial has been released portraying the Philippines as a field of jihad that deserves greater support and attention from Muslims worldwide, including the ‘migration’ of Muslims to participate in jihad on that front.
The Philippines is presented as a place where disbelievers (in this case, the Christians) oppress Muslims and are at war with them, and as part of this war the Christians have also managed to enlist ‘apostate’ allies from deviant groups that had espoused the idea of independence or autonomous rule for Muslims, contrasting with the Islamic State’s purist stance of fighting for belief against disbelief and for God’s law against man-made law. The Christians face a three-way choice: conversion, subjugation as dhimmis who pay jizya (poll-tax) in accordance with the dictates of Qur’an 9:29, or death.
Thus, while part of the Islamic State’s ‘grievances’ entail supposed oppression of Muslims, it is also the existence of disbelief itself that is a ‘grievance’, entailing subjugation and never-ending war to realise a global vision of conquest- something also illustrated by the Islamic State’s portrayal of the Philippines as a potential starting-point for conquests of surrounding locations. In addition, the Islamic State highlights the Philippines’ supposed importance in light of geo-political competition between the United States and China, and thus the Philippines are important to help Muslims combat the projects of these ‘Tawaghit’ (idolatrous-tyrants).
Predictably, the article raises the memory of when Islamic State fighters controlled the city of Marawi for a period back in 2017- something that caught global attention at the time. It seems unlikely the Islamic State will recreate this past achievement in the near future and the group’s current prospects in East Asia hardly seem comparable to fronts in Africa (which the group has also characterised as a front for jihad and migration) but the new focus on the Philippines is an example of how the group will grasp at anything that looks like success for propaganda purposes.
Below is the editorial fully translated by me. Any parenthetical insertions in square brackets are my own.
The Philippines Are a Field of Jihad
The recent operation in Marawi in the Philippines in East Asia against a gathering of Christians once again drew attention to that abode, upon whose field the soldiers of the Caliphate continue to wage the battle of servitude to God alone against those who associate partners with Him, disbelieve, and distort and alter things.
Historically, the Philippines do not differ much from the rest of the fields of conflict between the Muslims and their enemies, for the events in these fields resemble each other despite the difference of names and ethnicities. For since the Muslims entered that abode more than 10 centuries ago, bearing with them the light of Tawhid [monotheism], the land has experienced fierce Crusader campaigns and intense consecutive attempts to extinguish that light and convert the people of that light to the darkness of idolatry. This began with the campaigns of the Crusader Spaniards who came from the usurped land of al-Andalus [Spain] and has continued until today with Crusader America’s campaigns and what they left behind from the governments loyal to it.