Islamic State: ‘Why We Hate You and Why We Fight You’

In the most recent issue of their online magazine Dabiq, the Islamic State issued precise marching orders to Muslims throughout the world, urging them to take up jihadist terror according to a model of simplicity and effectiveness.

The magazine, titled Break the Cross, professes a divine origin to Islamic terrorism, asserting that “Muslims have been commanded to terrorize the disbelieving enemies of Allah.”

Along with the general summons to terrorize infidels, ISIS offers “a final word of advice to you regarding your operation,” telling prospective jihadists not to make “intricate plans,” but instead, “keep it simple and effective.”

“If you can obtain a weapon, do so and use it, as soon as possible and in a place that will cause the most damage and panic,” the article reads, “bringing death and injury to the enemy of Allah, the disbelievers.”

The Islamists also resent their terror being qualified as “senseless violence,” insisting rather that there is meaning and purpose behind it.

“One would think that the average Westerner, by now, would have abandoned the tired claim that the actions of the mujahidin – who have repeatedly stated their goals, intentions, and motivations – don’t make sense,” the magazine states.

With all the crimes against Muslims, the authors continue, the “only thing senseless would be for there to be no violent, fierce retaliation in the first place!”

The Islamic State accuses Westerners of repeating a lie that they don’t believe, namely, that Islamic terror is senseless and without religious motivation.

“The point is, people know that it’s foolish, but they keep repeating it regardless because they’re afraid of the consequences of deviating from the script,” they write.

To correct the “false narrative” about Islam, the magazine launches a litany of reasons “why we hate you and why we fight you.”

The list begins with the most serious crime of the West: its failure to embrace Islam and convert. Christianity is blasphemy and an offense against Allah, the jihadists assert, one which is punishable by death. The text states:

We hate you, first and foremost, because you are disbelievers; you reject the oneness of Allah – whether you realize it or not – by making partners for Him in worship, you blaspheme against Him, claiming that He has a son, you fabricate lies against His prophets and messengers, and you indulge in all manner of devilish practices.

“Furthermore, just as your disbelief is the primary reason we hate you, your disbelief is the primary reason we fight you, as we have been commanded to fight the disbelievers until they submit to the authority of Islam,” the authors add.

“So in the end, you cannot bring an indefinite halt to our war against you. At most, you could only delay it temporarily,” they write.

Besides this, the Islamic State author enumerates other reasons why jihadists hate and fight the West, such as the separation of church and state, the freedoms that allow atheism to exist, and for crimes against Islam and Muslim states.

But after all this, they return to the fundamental reason: that the West is Judeo-Christian and refuses to embrace Islam.

Summing up, the writer states:

The fact is, even if you were to stop bombing us, imprisoning us, torturing us, vilifying us, and usurping our lands, we would continue to hate you because our primary reason for hating you will not cease to exist until you embrace Islam. Even if you were to pay jizyah [tax for infidels] and live under the authority of Islam in humiliation, we would continue to hate you.

Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter  Follow @tdwilliamsrome.