introduction:

Before starting my blogs, I was interested in knowing more about the jihadi group and terrorist who claim that they are Muslims. Before I took the Middle Eastern revolutions class, I spend a lot of time to understand the Islamic religion and why terrorism is wide spread among Muslims as well as why there is no tolerance among many Muslims and countries who claim that they are following the teaching of Islam and why there is no accepting other religions and others point of views.  Later, I came to realize that among many Muslims and almost all Muslims countries are exactly the opposite of what the holy Quran teaches, which Muslims claim that the Quran is the highest authority. I came to realize that many countries use the religion for their own benefits, which results terrorism, intolerance as well as many conflicts such as the Sunni-Shiie war. Therefore, I wanted to understand more about these types of issue, so I picked one terrorist group in order to see and apprehend their ideology. I was also interested in Egypt because of their location and their rooted history. First, I started to search more about the religious groups in Egypt, so I focused on Salafi groups because the Salafi groups play big role in Egypt. I have seen many articles that speak about Salafis and many of whom have turned into terrorists. Suddenly, while I was researching more about the jihadi groups in Egypt, I came across a group called Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis, which I have never heard about this group before and I came to realize that Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis was still unknown comparing to ISIS. For that reason, I wanted to research more in order to analyze the organization.

Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis:

Ansar bait Al-Maqdis is group typically operates in North Sinai. The definition of Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis is Supporters of the Holy House, Supporters of Jerusalem, or Champions of Jerusalem. Many members of this group have served in other jihadi groups before, and their militants are fully experienced and well-trained. They own advanced weaponry, including man-portable air-defense systems, rocket-propelled grenades, Grad rockets as well as the have stolen tanks and weapons from the Egyptian military and security. Egyptian officials have suggested that Ahmed Salam Mabruk, the leadership role, has history in terms of violent extremism militant across the region, as well as he has strong ties to Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is the current leader of al-Qaeda and a current or former member and senior official of Islamist organizations, and Al-Qaeda. The purpose of establishing Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis was targeting Israel. However, after the removal of the previous president Muhammed Morsi, Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis has shifted their interests towered the Egyptian government and the military due to the war against Islam, as far as Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis concern, as well as weakening the economic infrastructure of Egypt, such as bombing a tourist bus and bombing gas pipelines.

Before November 2, 2014, there are many rumor claimed that the Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis was pledging loyalty to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham. However, the members and leaders of Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis denied the statement. They said that the media must be accurate with their sources and stick with Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis official announcements. However, On November 2, Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis has released a nine minutes voice clip on twitter account claiming to be Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis official account. In the voice clip, they have confirmed that Ansar Byat Al-Maqdis  swears allegiance to ISIS a week after denying links. Also, the speaker , the speaker in the voice clip forces all jihadi groups to join ISIS as well as all Muslims to follow the leader of ISIS, Al-Baghdadi. This fact made the group changes their name from Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis to Walayat Sinai ” Sinai State.”

After the join of ISIS, The war in Egypt become more complicated after Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis joined ISIS. Within the past 30 days, the terrorist group has planted 21 bombs against the security officials in north Sinai. Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis announced that they will keep bombing the gas pipelines in Sinai for three reasons. First, the organization wants to regain its media momentum to prove that it is facing the tough military campaigns. . Second, it wants to cause damages to the army’s economic structure which greatly relies on the huge profits from cement factories in the center of Sinai and uses gas in its work. Third, the organization wants to stop pumping gas exported to Jordan because the latter joined the anti-IS international alliance.

Ideologies and different perspectives: 

The main purpose of my research to understand the Ideologies of the terrorists groups and what type of standing points they rely on. At the beginning of my research, the ideologies of Anar Bayt Al-Maqdis were still vague and unclear. However, when Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis joined ISIS, it made lots of sense to me to understand their perspective and ideologies. They share a rejection of the dominant worldview. Therefore, this is the reason why they attack Israel, Egypt, and consider Saudi Arabia as well as the United State their enemies and two of their main targets. It seems that they view globalization negatively, and they do not want share any connection with non-Muslims and non-Muslims countries, and they view the homogenization of culture negatively.   Also, their guiding techniques are national solidarity, regional cooperation, and national self-reliance.  Thus, in my understanding of global perspectives, it seems that the closest perspective Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis ” Walayat Sinai” and ISIS ideologies are the radical approaches.

In this paragraph, I will be comparing between the moderate Muslims and the extremist groups in order to analysis the wide difference between the two ideologies. Both sides claim that the Holy Quran must be the state constitution. However, moderate Muslims follow only the Quran, and extremist group follow the teachings of the prophet” hadith” and the Quran.  Therefore, in order to understand more about their ideologies, it is important to look at their constitution in great detail. To understand The Quran, it important to know that the Quran is divided into two sections, Mekkiah chapters, which are the chapters reveled in the city of Mekkah when the prophet Muhammed wasn’t a political leader and mainly speak to all humanity, and people who live under unjust state or any county that is not Quranic based; there are no verses that promote violence and” jihad” holy war in those chapters. Second is the Madinia chapters, which the chapters were reveled in the city of Al-Madina and it speaks to the prophet Muhammad as a political figure as well as speak about politics in terms of ruling, laws, connections, etc. the word Jihad is only appear in verses to protect the state because tribes of Makkah were attacking the city of Al-Madina. The extremist groups use these types of verses in order to give them excuses to to attach other nations.

Focusing on Madinia chapters, in terms of globalization, In chapter Al-Anfal verse 15-14 as well as many chapters speak of the topic, if the a country is based on the Quran as their constitution, it is mandatory for Muslims that they must not lead those who are against Islam in terms of laws, war, ruling, etc. This is one the ideologies that the extremist groups rely on. However, in order to follow the Quran, it says it is mandatory to follow the Quran as a whole. In chapter Al-Hujurat verse 13, it says”O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you nations and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.” Therefore the Quran ideology in terms of globalization is mandatory and it views globalization as positive or hopeful as well as it does not force people to accept Islam or the Quran, for example, Surat Al-Baqarah [2:256], “There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion.” Moreover, in chapter Al-Shurah, it speaks about differences which are part of humans’ lives and focus on the common between nations and other believes. These are the ideologies of moderate muslims. however, the extremist groups obliviously do not consider these verses in their ideologies.

Looking at this situation from different perspective, in my understanding of the global perspective, I think Cosmopolitanism perspective would agree with the moderate Muslims ideologies. First, they both agree globalization cannot be controlled by one ideology or one believe. Second, most importantly they both view globalization as positive and there should be connection and networks between nations in order to benefit from each other as well as prevent war and blood.

Conclusion:

After this research, it made me release that the Middle East issues is almost impossible to solve. I personal think that nearly all countries that claim to be Islamic, do not follow the Quran and they only use it to maintain control and raise war against other nations. . The dangerous situation is that many uneducated Muslims fall on the same trap which later many have become terrorists. Also, many moderate Muslims activates spoke about these issues. However and sadly, they ended up fleeing or jailed.  I am dreaming and hoping that the Muslims communities as well as individuals release the difficult situation the middle east is going through before it’s too late in order to live peaceful with all the people around  the world without fighting for differences and believes.

We came to know recently that Ansar Bayt alMaqdis have sworn allegiance with ISIS.  Abu Khattab, a leader of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis in Gaza, pledged allegiance to IS on Nov. 3 which is  a response to a decision by the group’s Shura Council. He threatened IS’ opponents and called for attacks on anyone who works against it the group. Ghazi Hamad who is a senior Hamas leader and undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry in Gaza, he denied the existence of IS cells in the Gaza in a conversation with Al-Monitor, saying, “There are no militants affiliated with the group in the Strip. Any accusations of this sort are lies, as we do not have any extremist members.”
Al-Monitor also met with Abu Mujahid, an IS supporter in Gaza. He said that Hamas has no reason to fear IS as it is not targeted by the radical group which Hamas should not have any concerns regarding the announcement of state Sinai. Despite their differences, IS does not target Hamas, since the group is confronting the Egyptian army. The wilaya would protect Gaza from any possible attacks by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.”

Even though Hamas do not agree with Abu Mujahid claims that ISIS is operating in Gaza. ISIS is well present in Gaza and operates in complete secrecy with very advanced weapons. It works with people affiliated with military groups from Salafist jihadist organizations, some of which returned to Gaza after fighting in Syria.

It seems that ISIS is still pushing to gain more allies in order to make their organization more powerful. At the beginning, Ansar Byat Al-Maqdis kept denying the fact that they joined ISIS. After days of the denial, the ABM released a video clip admitting that they have chosen Al-Bagdidi as the main Caliph. The are many supporters of ISIS in Gaze, which Hamas might end up swearing allegiance with ISIS which will make the situation even worse for many countries as well as many non-extremist Muslims who believe in religious freedom and liberty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqAEgnfyBUA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abk3EXy-T1k

The first video I posted in Diige from the Aljazeera news, well known Arabic news channel, shows the scene of bombing by the ABM. The ABM Confess that they are in charge of bombing Karam Al-Qwadees, where they have killed 30 soldiers. The video shows that the ABM militant driving a truck full of weapons.  They succeeded and gain a lot of weapons as well as ammos from the soldiers that ABM militant killed. Moreover, they have stolen tanks from the army after the attack. The group in the video is warning everyone and he said “this is only the beginning and people have not seen anything from us.  The speaker claim that we have warned everyone and he said nobody releases and we are excused for our action. The president of Egypt replayed that we are sending more troops to Sinai in order to face the ABM group.

Other video I posted in Diigo about an American oil worker.  The ABM confesses that they are in charge of killing William Henderson, the oil worker. We claim responsibility for the killing of American oil expert William Henderson in the Western Desert,” the Ansar Bayt el Maqdis militant group wrote on its Twitter account late on Sunday night. However, it did not say when or how it had killed him. It seems that every action by ABM is recorded in a video or voice record. They are using this approach to make many states and people fear them.

From a realist perspective, I think they would release that ABM trying to use the threat approach in order to make the country as well as the military to fear them. Realist ideology focuses mainly on maintaining security. Therefore, they would not fear from the warning posted by anyone. They will use their own military to eliminate any group who violate their security.

The war in Egypt become more complicated after Ansar bayt almaqdis joined ISIS. Within the past 30 days, ABM has planted 21 bombs against the army and sexurity officials in north Sinai. The security found seven bombs before they explode. However, the security couldn’t find the rest. 14 of bombs were launched against the army and security. Six bombs targeted military vehicles, killing four security men and wounding 24 others, some of whom were in critical condition, mostly soldiers and officers. Eight bombs exploded without hitting their target.  The issue faced the army is that they are not able to control the area due to the remote bombs used by the terrorist group. The only approach the army disconnects the network in order to stop their devices. However, ABM are using the terrorists recently relied on wireless networks and UHF radios, and equipped themselves with electronic intensifier technology to strengthen the signal for detonating bombs from a distance of up to one kilometer [0.6 mile]

ABM claims that they will keep bombing the gas pipelines in Sinai for three reasons. First, the organization wants to regain its media momentum to prove that it is facing the tough military campaigns in Sinai. Second, it wants to cause losses to the army’s economic structure which greatly relies on the huge profits from cement factories in the center of Sinai and uses gas in its work. Third, the organization wants to stop pumping gas exported to Jordan because the latter joined the anti-IS international alliance.

From a market liberal perspective, I think they would see this is one of the worst situations that could happen to any country because economy is their main approach. ABM is trying making the economic structure weak which is the main approach of market liberal perspective. I think they would solve this issue through other countries intervention because violating a country’s economy means will affect other countries, such as Israel and Jordan in Egypt situation. ABM approach rely on weakening the economy infrastructure, so Egypt lose their power through the economy as well as lose their connection with other countries.

the Ansar Bait Al-Maqids is responsible of many terrorist attack this past four year. at the beginning, their main purpose is to attack Israel and free Jerusalem as far as ABM concerned. however, they have shifted their purpose and most of their attacks especially nowadays against the Egyptian military and police.

There are many attacks and booming ABM is responsible for. first, The group has bombed many pipelines that carry gas from Egypt to Israel as well as the mounted an attack in Isreal troops in 2012. ABM is also responsible of attacking  on a military intelligence building in Ismailia. Mohamed Mabrouk, a security officer involved in the trial against Muhammed Morsi, was shot dead in front of his home by members of ABM in Nasr city on November 17,2013.  On January 31 2014, a rocket was launched from the Sinai Peninsula aimed at Eilat. also, The group took responsibility for an attack on a police checkpoint in Beni Suef which caused 5 deaths. in late January 2014, booms were launched in Cairo. ABM is responsible of many attacks in Sinia and killed many soldiers and police officers. this group is also responsible of booming a tourist bus that killed four people, including three Korean tourists and an Egyptian bus driver. they have threatened the tourists to leave egytion, and the made the extreme message to stop the tourist from coming into Egypt.

it is obvious that ABM is focusing on  three main approaches. Attacking the Egyptian military is  their first approach because they are the main obstacle for ABM. Second, they have boomed many pipelines that carry gas from Egypt to Israel in order to be an economic obstacle between Egypt and Israel. moreover, weakening the economy in Egypt by trying to threat tourism, which is one of them main sources of income in Egypt.

Many recent news and news articles speak about the unity between the two terrorist groups, Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis and ISIS. last week ABM dined the fact that they swear allegiance with ISIS.  however, this week they have released a voice clip on twitter account claiming to be ABM’s official account. 

the speaker in the 9 minute voice clip says, at the beginning, the speaker recited verses from the Quran and the prophet Mohammed peace be upon him sayings that give the them permission for jihad. he also added that the Muslims have suffered and now is the time to stand up and fight against the enemy. Then he spoke about their situation with Israel, their main target as they claim. he asked the people of Egypt to join their group as well as all Muslims and to vote for Al-Bagdadi, ISIS leader, as a main caliph. Moreover, he talked about unity and all jihadi groups must join the the Islamic State. at the end, he swear that the Ansar Bayt Al-maqdis joined the Islamic state.

in the way report talks, he is trying to influence all Muslims to join ISIS and if not, the Muslims will go against the commandment of god because they believe Al-Baghdadi is the chosen one.   all the verses from the Quran that the speaker used is out of context as well as the sayings of the prophet. It is easy to fool uneducated Muslims with this type of language, as well as educated Muslims might fall into the same trap. even the language that the speaker used and ideology is 14 hundred years back. the only hope within the Muslims is to get educated and understand the situation more in order to prevent the Muslims and all Arabs in general to fly 14 hundred years back.

VOICE CLIP REPORT

Ansar bait Al-Maqdis is group typically operates in North Sinai. it is believed that this group is in charge of many terrorist attacks. nowadays, they mainly fight against the Egyptian military, officers, and police. Also, Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis directed many attacks against Isreal.  The definition of Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis is Supporters of the Holy House, Supporters of Jerusalem, or Champions of Jerusalem. Many members of this group were members in a jihadi groups before, and their militants are fully trained. the purpose of this blog to provide brief description of Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis’ back ground, leadership,  and ideologies in order to understand more about the Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis groups.

Ansar bait al-Maqdis is well advanced group in term of military power. They own advanced weaponry, including man-portable air-defense systems, rocket-propelled grenades, and Grad rockets. According to intelligence reports, the group is thought to have around 1,000members, and many of whom served another jihadi group in the past such as Tawhid wal-Jihad and the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) in the Environs of Jerusalem.

Egyption officials have suggested that Ahmed Salam Mabruk has played a leadership role. Ahmad Salam Mabruk has long history in terms of violent extremism militant across the region. Mabruk has strong ties to Ayman al-Zawahiri and Al-Qaeda.  He faced charges related to his activity with al-Gama’a al-Islamiya, one of Egypt’s most active extremist groups in the 1990s, and he was released in 2012. The Egyptian military claim that they have killed two of their leaders Ibrahim Mohamed Farag Abu Eita and   Shadi Meneai. However, Ansar Bait al-Maqdis has dines his death as well as his leadership of the Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis.

Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis focus was targeting Israel. However, after the removal of the previous president Muhammed Morsi, ABM has shifted action towered the Egyptian government due to the war against Islam, and blocking the boarders between Egypt crossing with Gaza, which was closed after a deadly attack on policemen.

It seems that the Egyptian military are lacking of information about the ABM. Recent news shows that ABM is supporting the Islamic state in Iraq and Sham. However, the ABM members have dined this sort of information. Also, the Egyptian army claims that they have killed Shadi Meneai, who they believe is one of the leaders of ABM. However, ABM dines that Shadi Meneai is killed as well as they dine that Meneai is one of the leaders. The question we must think about, why ABM dines that they join ISIS, and why they dine Meneai’s leadership and death.  If this information is true, the most important question is why they are dining it. Moreover, if this information is false, who came up with these sorts of information.

the media  have announced the joining of militants groups Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis and Isis.  it is claimed that the ABM was pledging loyalty to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham. However, the members and leaders of ABM denying the statement. they said that the media must be accurate with their sources and stick with ABM official announcement.  According to Zack Gold, an adjunct fellow focusing on Middle East policy at the American Security Project, claim that this is not the first time we hear that ABM supports ISIS. also, he claim that many ABM members are fighting alongside with Isis.   Alleged statement swearing allegiance to the Islamic State in the Arabic language is unclear with no terms and conditions. it says only the ABM agrees on choosing Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi as a khaif, a leader of Islam.

ABM controlling part of the Sinai peninsula, have caused many deaths between them and the Egyptian army fighting in the Sinai peninsula, and other terrorist acts. even though the ABM approaches is similar to ISIS.however, ABM is still refusing and denying the announcement. ISIS would gain a great support if they get the formal allegiance with ABM as well as ABM would. 

This article was posted in diigo about Ahmed al-Darawi who died in the battlefield recently fighter for the Islamist jihadist. Ahmed al-Darawi, an Egyptian citizen,  was an idealistic participant during the uprising, he morphed from a prominent rights activist into a die-hard fighter for the Islamic State. many of his friends and colleagues were shocked when they heard the news. Researchers who study jihadist groups online believe he had a twitter account. one of his twittes  was” How sweet life is between the Quran and my Kalashnikov,”

This is clearly not the only one issue. many Muslims in the world especially from Europe went to support ISIS and other groups claiming that this is the massage of the Quran and the ways of the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. therefore, we need to understand what is the massage of the Quran that turns people into jihadist. the Quran is divided into two sections. the first section is Makkiah chapter, which the verses and chapter were reveled in the city of Makkah. these chapter mainly discuss how a person live under a unjust state, country, or community, such as Syria. all of the solutions are aproach peacefully, or flee of there is no other option. none of these chapters mention the word jihad, holy war, or fight in order to build a new state.

Second is the Madania chapters, Chapters and verses reveled in the city of Madinah. prophet Muhammad was selected through Mubaia, an old form of voting, by the people of al-Madina to be their leader. tribes and leaders of Makkah were not satisfied when the Muslims built their own state and because many of tribes around the gulf supported the prophet Muhammad. therefore, the economy of the tribes of makkah sturrgled at that time. the tribes of mekkah had to fight against the Islamic state in al-madina. therefore, the Madnia chapters discuss the need for law and to defend the state and protect the people, and must not harm anyone unless they attack the Islamic state. however, Muslims nowadays use the Madania chapter in the quran in order to give them the excuses to fight.

every Muslims dream to live under true Islamic state based on the Quranic laws because it gives equal rights to people, freedom of choice, freedom of speech, voting, and it gather all religions, and focus own the common between other cultures, believes, etc and leave the differences. However, with the interpretation of Isis and other militants group makes the dream almost impossible to reach. Unfortunately, many people like Ahmed al-Darawi    went to fight to establish the dream with people who do not understand what the true dream is.

a recent article news discuss that fighters  joining the militants  groups in Syria and Iraq from different parts of the world and especially Europeans. the fighters face difficulties to reaching their destination due to the heavy security in their airport. however, taking a cruises is the option for the fighters to join the militants. Turkey, which shares borders with Iraq and Syria, has been a transit point for militants trying to get to Iraq and Syria. the international police claim that they are trying to expand their screening systems to make sure cruise ships, hotels, etc. is safe. turkey is also involved with this situation. the article says that turkey has been a transit point for militants trying to get to Iraq and Syria. chief Ronald Noble spoke in the general assembly this week confirming that Turkey is involved. also, he did not mention any other involving countries.

it seems that the situation is not clearly clarified. at the beginning of the article, the fighters are mainly from European countries. also, all of the fingers are pointing at turkey only. what makes the situation even more mysterious is that the Chief Ronald declined to identify other targets.

looking at this situation from realist point of view. it is inexcusable act from Turkey and other counties that are helping the fighters to reach their destination. these types of acts hurt the sovereignty of a country.  because maintaining security is one of the most important approaches to  the realist point of view. there is a high chance that the realist with respond strongly specifically the fighters then the countries who support them.