Having completed the latest tranche of my research on the Iraqi insurgency (focusing on the 2006 period), I have returned to the early phases of the insurgency, particularly of the Islamic State (IS) movement. This naturally brings me back to the Rawah Camp and Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (JTJ). Nibras Kazimi once noted that a key component in analyzing the early IS movement is retroactive social network analysis–that is, figuring who knew who, at which location and during which time. My recent reading on the early insurgency–particularly an excellent piece about insurgent-controlled Fallujah1–led me to a number of extremely valuable resources. One was a memoir of Fallujah by Abu Anas al-Shami (which we will begin analyzing in another post) and another was a collection of the biographies of “distinguished martyrs” of JTJ.2 This collection was primarily written by Abu Ismail al-Muhajir, whom some readers may remember was the author of Abu Ja’far al-Maqdisi’s biography. Muhajir’s work has thankfully not been lost to the digital sands of time. In fact, it has been excellently preserved on a website that I unfortunately cannot name.
The collection is titled From the Biographies of the Distinguished Martyrs and it anthologizes the lives of forty different jihadists whom Muhajir knew and who contributed in key ways to JTJ, and by extension, IS. The first entry in the collection is dedicated to Abu Usama al-Maghribi. As his kunya suggests, he was from the Maghrib. Interestingly, he had no jihadist experience prior to Iraq, though this was not from any apparent lack of fanaticism–Muhajir reports that Maghribi was happier about the news of his imminent martyrdom operation than of the birth of his own son. He was twenty-six years old at the time of his death, and he was one of the first suicide bombers in Iraq. He targeted the United Nations building in Baghdad shortly after the 19 August bombing in 2003. There is no explicit mention of Zarqawi or his network here, though it is highly likely that Maghribi’s suicide bombing was done under its auspices.
In the name of God, the most Gracious, the most Merciful:
Praise be to God, who has decreed the good end for the righteous, and made failure the destiny of the unbelievers and the slanderers. May blessings and peace be upon the leader of the mujahidin, Muhammad, and upon all his family and companions.
A dear and virtuous shaykh visited me at my home. When he learned that I had been honored to be in the company of a number of the martyrs of the Land of Two Rivers [Iraq], he asked me to write some of what I could about them. Despite my limited knowledge and inability to express myself,3 it was imperative for me to answer him, because someone like him cannot be rejected.
Narrating the stories of heroes and their biographies is a reason to raise morale, entertain hearts, and motivate young people to emulate their noble qualities and actions, as follows:
So imitate them if you are not like them... for imitating the noble is success…
People should know that women’s wombs are still fertile, and that mothers give birth to heroes who remind us of Khalid [bin Walid], Moses, and Al-Muthanna [bin Haritha]…4
First of all, I would like to say: During my time with many martyrs, whether those who died on the battlefield, or that strange type of human being, the martyrdom-seeker [istishhadi]…
I say: It became clear to me that they do not deviate from these characteristics [below]. Several of these traits may come together in one of the martyrs, or the martyr may be distinguished by one of these traits, which is the most common.
Amazing diligence in acts of obedience, from frequent prayer and fasting, especially night prayers, serving the brothers and being humble towards them–{Humble towards the believers [5:54]}–and other beautiful praises and kind deeds.
Peace of mind and good nature. This type of martyr is amazing. If you see him, you would think he was just born, due to the purity of his soul, his lightheartedness, his beautiful company, and the ease of his companionship. The most common trait of these people is that they are not mentioned. If they are asked, they are not given anything. If they are present, they are not known about. If they are absent, they are not asked about. In short, they are not paid attention to.
A pure belief and a steely determination. Their motto and principle in life is: “Verily, the strongest bonds of faith are love for the sake of God and hatred for the sake of God.”5 Their teacher once said to me: “My brother, just as we learn to be humble before the believers and love them and read books about that, and dwell on the biographies of those people like meteors, we should also learn how to hate the infidel and how to bear a grudge against him, and how to make our lives easy for us as long as the world is freed from the stench of these people, because that is the second pillar of the strongest bonds of faith.”
A man who transgressed against himself, but the mercy of your Lord saved him because of some of the good deeds he had done. He made his motto “Flee to God,” and he did not know anything except that God is the Savior, so he turned to God seeking death in its most appropriate places.
These are four qualities, in my opinion–and God is the Grantor of success. Here is the first of the martyrs…
Abu Usama al-Maghribi:
That silent mountain, the warm heart, the true faith, and the clear detachment, my beloved Abu Usama was a man of few words–always silent, rarely socialized, and solitude was beloved to him. His companion was the Qur’an, as if there was a secret between him and God.
From the land of Morocco, from the far north, from the city of Tangier, a young man in the prime of his life, twenty-six years old–excuse me, he was (just) twenty-six–he owned a luxurious restaurant with his father that brought in no less than three thousand dollars a month. He bought a plot of land and got married six years before coming to the land of jihad [Iraq], but he did not have a child.
Tired of reading about jihad and its glory, yet having done nothing, the beloved Abu Usama decided to go to one of the squares of glory, but he did not know anyone to take him, nor a companion to help him and be with him. He sold the plot of land, booked a ticket to travel to an Arab country, and decided to journey. His motto was {I trust my Lord will guide me to the right way [28:22]}.
Then suddenly, his mother and his wife came to him, bringing him news that he had always dreamed of playing and singing, and had wished for years to hear: “Your wife is pregnant.” Tears of joy were shed, and then he secluded himself and said to his wife: “Woe to you, this is the beginning of the ordeal, so go on with what you have decided, and beware of punishment after the blessing.” He continued with his determination, preparing the mount and stocking up for his journey, and traveled to that country, not knowing anyone and with no one with him. He began to wander from mosque to mosque, and he sat there for a long time, praying a lot and shedding tears to God, hoping that He would guide him to someone who would lead him to one of the paths of jihad. One time, he heard young men speaking in his dialect, and they got to know each other, and he spoke to them after he had thought that they were jihadists or on their way to that. His insight was correct, and they took him with them to the Land of Two Rivers. The leader of the group was Abu Khabbab al-Filastini (may God have mercy on him), the martyred hero. Perhaps we will return to his biography later…
I say the group arrived at my house, and on one of the most beautiful nights of my life, we all sat and discussed the pledges of allegiance, and we remembered the noble companion Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, when he pledged allegiance to his companions in the Battle of Yarmouk to die, so we extended our hands and pledged allegiance to death and jihad in the way of God!
The time came to fulfil our promise, and we were asked to take action against the United Nations building,6 which had been bombed a month before, but was still operating, with about a hundred people left, served by a large number of newly formed police recruits. We review the location and how to strike it, the type of vehicle that could be used, the amount of explosives needed, the roads far from the checkpoints, and so on.
Abu Usama was the most honest of the followers, and the most insistent on the speed of implementation. He had instructed us to contact his family, and his mother informed us that her son had been blessed with a boy and she had named him Usama, after the symbol of Ahlas Sunnah wal-Jama’a–that is, Usama bin Ladin.
I went to the house where Abu Usama was staying, carrying in my mind the concern of the operation and the method of its execution. I was alone with my brother and told him that he had been chosen to be the one to carry it out. He was happy and flew and laughed, and he advised me to keep the matter a secret between me and him and that none of the young men would know about it until it was done. So I promised him that, and we went in and sat with the young men, and suddenly I remembered the good news of the birth of his son Usama. I said: “Glory be to God, how can I tell him when a few minutes ago I spoke to him about martyrdom!” So I sought guidance and help from God, then I gave him (Abu Usama) the good news. He was happy and then he was alone with me and said word for word: “I was happy since I woke up, so I knew that good news would come, and by God, by God, the first [of my martyrdom] is more beloved to me than the second [of my son].”
The day of execution came, so I brought him to my house so that he could be alone on the night of execution, away from the young men, and turn to his Lord, praying, supplicating, and crying. I sat behind him, my eyes also filling with tears, then I said to him, at about two o’clock in the morning: “Usama, rest a little (sleep a little) .” He slept, but I did not, and I looked at his face, and by God it was more beautiful than the moon, beaming with joy. So I took my pen and sat writing, while looking at him, those verses, which my soul and my knowledge of the language helped me with:
Teach me, martyr–
Teach me how to be a martyr... Teach me how to die a good death
Teach me how to be loyal to my Lord... To leave the world there far away
Teach me how to say goodbye to my family... With patience and endurance like mountains
Teach me how to nurture my children... Fresh, tender and new in life
Leave your loved ones to the Merciful One with certainty... The merciful one is he who helps a newborn.
So tell me, by your Lord, O martyr and teacher... Were you ever a seeker of life?
And tell me, by your Lord, O beloved, as a bearer of good news... What did you see as a harvest for the martyr?
Your face is a light that never tires of beholding it... Your words are true and the evidence is a witness
Your silence is a thought, you do not like trivialities... Your joking is seriousness in matters far away
Sleep, my brother, with peace of mind... You have no more fear, for sure
In the morning, I was supposed to go with him, so that we could survey the target one last time before execution, and see if anything had happened to it.
So I said to him, "Usama, take this shirt, it would be better for you to take off your shirt." My goal was to take it for myself for reasons–in which I have no innovation, God willing–and we set off together. When he saw the target, we found that the enemy had indeed raised an important barrier, so I said, "Is it preventing you from entering?" He said, "No, I–praise be to God–can easily pass it." So I kept reminding him of God, and that the place was a place of victory, and I hinted to him to hold on tight, so he knew what I meant, and that I wanted to hear a word from him that would reassure me, so he said to me a word that should be shaped in gold.
He said: “Know, O Shaykh, that if death were here”–and he pointed to a stone in front of us–”and I could only crawl towards it, I would crawl towards it and feel rest assured.”
Then he came back and took his bride–his car–and flew in front of me, while I was following behind him in my car. It was a crowded day, so he started maneuvering between the cars as if he was in a competition ring, wanting to be the winner.
First, I could not control myself, my strength failed me and my tears fell. I stopped my car and saw him moving away from me and approaching his target, and then he settled in my heart to snatch the hearts of the criminals, so he lived happily and they suffered, he ascended and they descended, and I saw the column of fire rising into the sky about twenty meters, with a sound that deafened the ears, and then he harvested fifty infidels who opposed God and His Messenger. So may God have mercy on you, Abu Usama.
It remains for me to say: Abu Usama had prepared himself, that is, he had paid the price of the car in which he had fled from his own money. He left with himself and his money, and did not return with anything from it, and this is the highest form of martyrdom.
Following this operation, the United Nations decided to leave the Land of Two Rivers permanently, and resolved not to return to it unless appropriate security reasons were available. We say without oath that if they return, we will return and we will not fail–and God is the Grantor of success.
I ask God to unite us with Him and not deprive us of His reward and not tempt us after Him. Amen... And praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.
Written by:
Abu Ismail al-Muhajir
Truls Hallberg Tønnessen, ‘The Islamic Emirate of Fallujah’, paper presented at the International Studies Association Annual Conference, Montreal, 16–19 March 2011. Link: https://www.academia.edu/27774340/The_Islamic_Emirate_of_Fallujah
These are in addition to an extremely interesting memoir of the Rawah Camp, written by Abu Hafs al-Iraqi, a camp co-founder, whose work I found through a review by Nibras Kazimi.
As will become clear throughout these biographies, Muhajir is an extremely arresting writer. His modesty should not mislead the reader.
Khalid bin Walid and Al-Muthanna bin Haritha were two highly celebrated generals of the Rashidun Caliphate
Narration from Ahmad (18524), per al-Bara’ ibn `Aazib
Referring to the Canal Hotel bombing of 19 August, 2003.