Annex 2. One of the first videos of Ansaru, available on 1 June 2012

Translated from Hausa by Nathaniel Danjibo

1The Enlightenment/Information Committee presents an important message from
JAMA’A ATU ANSARIL MUSLIMINA FI BILADIS-SUDAN

2In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

3We reject the reports and explanations that some newspapers and other channels of information propagated and fashioned with regards to this blessed group, Jama’a atu Ansaril Muslimina fi Biladis-Sudan, which wishes the people well.

4Without any cogent reason or reliable source, they have spread the news that Muhammed Nuhu is our leader and that we came out to fight the Jama’a atul Alul Sunna Lid Da’awatis Jihadi. At the same time, some of them [the media] thought that we connived with the Jama’a atul Alul Sunna Lid Da’awatis Jihadi in order to confuse the people, and they have spread other rumours.

5In order to set the record straight and enlighten the people concerning the various lies, we have decided to provide a full explanation with regards to this group. This had already been provided by our leader, Abu Osama, who explained that the reason we took these steps is because of the occurrence of evil and terrorist acts in Nigeria, which the infidels are carrying out against Muslims. He explained our […] clear intentions, calling on the real religion to enlighten the people.

6Assisting Muslims and defending them from terrorism and evil acts inflicted upon them, taking revenge on anybody who inflicts evil on Muslims, restoring right values for Islam and for Muslims […] – these were what led to our emergence. These are our crystal-clear intentions and the reasons for our emergence. There is no connivance or its like with the Jama’a atul Alul Sunna Lid Da’awatis Jihadi, save the fact that they are our brethren in Islam. We accept them as we do every Muslim. Sometimes they are on the right path, and sometimes they commit error. We are together with them when they are on the right path, and we strengthen and support them. However, we do not support them when they commit error.

7However, in our understanding, the leader of the Jama’a atul Alul Sunna Lid Da’awatis Jihadi has gone slightly beyond his bounds by refusing to admonish his followers. In our understanding, he has erred with the kind of position he bestows on himself, referring to himself as the imam, and the teachings he bequeaths to his followers on the problems confronting the country. Furthermore, we do not support his teachings concerning these problems. This is, however, a different issue altogether.

8The issues that the media are projecting, that there is absolute enmity and disagreement between us and the leader of the group [Boko Haram], are further perpetrated lies. Allah the Eternal knows better. However, the deeds of the Jama’a atul Alul Sunna Lid Da’awatis Jihadi continue to perplex and worry us.

9On the 10th of April of this year [2012], that is of the Western calendar – which is the same as the 18th of the month of Jumadal Ulla in the year 1433 of the pilgrimage of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) – some among the followers under the leadership of Jama’a atul Alul Sunna Lid Da’awatis Jihadi were trying to murder a servant of Allah, their fellow Muslim brother and a leading Islamic scholar without committing any offence save that he is among those that would not continue to obey what is contrary to Allah’s injunction; those that are now with Ja’ama tul Ansaru Muslimina Fibiladis-Sudan.

10They carried out these attacks at about 7:30 pm. Before then, another brother, at a location the targeted brother used to visit, confirmed that they had come armed to this location in search of the targeted servant of Allah. They intensified their search for him until Allah the Eternal made it possible for them to find him at a particular time on a given day at the place of another brother, who confronted them and tried to escape. Then they took out their weapons in broad daylight and opened fire on him and those with him in the car. However, Allah the Eternal and Knowing thwarted their mission.

11The beginning of these attacks took different forms, like when they were seen carrying out the attacks and in the presence of many witnesses. In fact, some among the leaders have also confirmed this. They chided them and condemned these attacks. Still, some amongst them have tried to say that the group was not aware of the attacks. We, however, know that if the group carried out the attacks, it would not come out to accept responsibility. And in fact, more than one year ago, this is the same group that issued an assassination verdict in various write-ups of their leader, such as [in Mohammed Yusuf’s] book, where they tried to justify the execution of anybody who disobeys the imam. And in other sections of that book, they have conveyed this same message […]. According to what he [their leader] said on one of the cassettes, either a person is repentant and joins the group or he will have himself to blame.

12Because of these kinds of statements that the group issues, and indoctrinating the people who obey them, for a long time now some members of the group [Boko Haram] have boasted that they will phase out our group. Now they have started. Why does the group not learn from the Messenger of Allah when he was confronted with such situations? Take for example the Hadith of Abdullahi the son of Umar in the Sahih Buhari, when they went to a certain war. Then Khalihu Ibn Walid killed some Muslims by mistake. When they returned from war and the issue was reported to the Messenger of Allah, then the Messenger of Allah raised his hand up to Allah and said […]: In the multitude, everybody is a witness and it is written and read until this date. Even the knowledgeable scholars, such as Abdullahi Ibn Umar, dissociated themselves from such acts, and they refused to revere Khalihu even though he was appointed the commander of the war by the Messenger of Allah for the expected jihad.

13The second example is the killing of Osamatu Ibn Zayed, in Sahil Buhari and Sahil Muslim and several books of the Hadith, when he killed a Muslim in error. The Messenger of Allah was very hard on him, to the point that Sahid Ibn Osama was gravely troubled. He said: “I wished that this had happened before I became a Muslim” – because of the way the Messenger of Allah kept reminding him. In Fat-hil Bari, Alhaju Ibn Haja brought another example […] about the son of Umar when a report came that a certain non-believer was killed before Istitaba, when Shariah had said such should be executed after Istitaba. There and then Umar dissociated himself in the presence of the gathering and said, “Oh Allah, I did not carry out the act and I am not in support of it; and when the report came to me, I did not rejoice. I expressed my sadness.”

14It then behoves us that, if we are following in the footsteps of real leaders before us, it is expected that if such happens, the Jaa’matu Alul Sunna Lid Da’awatis Jihadi group – if it did not sanction the attacks and is not in support of the attacks and is not happy with the attacks – it is expected that the group should come out into the open to exonerate itself. It is the tradition of the Messenger of Allah; it is the tradition of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. And if these kinds of attacks happened without the knowledge of the group, then we would say that it is incumbent upon all of us to be on the right path. We should refrain from blood shedding and the destruction of people’s wealth without any reason derived from either the Koran or the Hadith. We are saying this because these attacks are not the first nor are they the second. In fact, apart from that, we doubt their true intention.

15Last year, they murdered Mallam Tuja, the father of Abba Jinel at Bama Park in Maiduguri, without any cogent, acceptable reason embedded in Shariah. Not long after that, recently, they have killed Babagana Zarami, the older brother of Bashir Abulabule, without any cogent reason acceptable to Shariah. And if we had to give an explanation of these attacks, carried out on the blood and wealth of Muslims without any acceptable reasons derived from Shariah, these types of attacks would not have taken place. Yet they have boasted that they are responsible for carrying out the attacks.

16Oh brethren, we should know that apart from shirk,1 the gravest sin before Allah Eternal is the taking of a life, without a basic reason from His verses or the Hadith of His Messenger. Another offence that may be greater than this, an offence that may be greater than murder, is reverence and obedience to, or an invitation to join, leaders who have chosen the wrong path by carrying out evil deeds – regardless of whether a person is knowledgeable or ignorant about what these leaders do.

17Taking instruction from any leader or champion or any teacher or imam for the purpose of carrying out evil acts without any reason is contrary to Shariah. It is amongst what leading Tawhid scholars would classify as shirqup da’a [wrong predication]. It is for this reason that Ibn Kaiyul, when he was explaining, asked […]: What is reverence beyond expectation? Allah’s Messenger said […]: Reverence is accorded based on what Shariah has approved, and be mindful of what the Messenger of Allah has termed ma’aruf [accepted]. There is something you know that Shariah approves of; there is something you know that Shariah does not approve of; there is also that which you are doubtful concerning whether or not Shariah has approved of it. You should know then that only the first is considered al-ma’aruf [acceptable].

18Whatever you know that Shariah approves of is ma’aruf, but whatever Shariah does not approve of is forbidden. If, in the latter case, you decide to revere your parent, a leader, an imam or a champion, you will be guilty of shirqa, shirqu [the wrong] type of reverence. Allah said […], let us excel in our spiritual deeds […]. And even if it is the Maliki school of thought, or hanifiya Hanafi, or hambaliya Hanbali, or shfi’iya Shafi’i, that you tend to break in order to abide by the word of Imam Malik or Abu Hanifa or Imam Shafi’i or Imam Ahmed, teachers have said you will be guilty of shirqut type of reverence […]. Then what if the one you are according reverence to without investigation is not as knowledgeable as the pious forebears?

19Some love their parents or their teachers or their leaders, hoping that they will not instruct them on things that are not of Allah. If someone finds himself in this situation of reverence, he will be guilty of shirqul muhabba, which is an offshoot of shirqut da’a. If you have not forgotten the explanation of Ibn Khailil, he stated that […] is when someone is worshipped or followed ignorantly. According to the explanation of Ibn Khailil, if you do wrong things ignorantly you are guilty of shirqa and not just offending Allah the Eternal. Therefore, brethren, it is important that we become mindful; we should know that for all our actions and whatever we say, we shall stand before Allah the Eternal, who will judge us.

20My brethren, we should continue to exercise patience with regards to the troubles we receive from our brothers. We should not let that make us deviate from our noble intention; we should not be lackadaisical and embrace evil deeds. It is incumbent upon those who support wrongdoing to wake up; they must know that Allah the Eternal forbids any wrongdoing, even in the slightest way, by those who offend him, or the wicked and oppressive or those who commit bidi’a [forbidden innovation]. […] Let us refer to the Tafsiri [lesson] of Qurbal […] that forbids wrongdoing by a group or belonging to a group that is notorious for evil deeds. Does the magnitude of the bidi’a extend to unbelief or not? If you go against Allah’s wish […], you should not expect mercy […]. It is under this verse that teachers make reference to […] Izfuyanu Sarhi. Someone that associated with an evil king came to seek clarification from Izfuyanu Sarhi. The person said he was only a tailor to the evil king, and asked if he himself was guilty of committing evil against others. Izfuyanu Sarhi said to him: “You, in fact, are among the wicked ones from the beginning.”

21Then my brother, why should you be the one that will be instructed to kill your brother or provide a clue to how he will be targeted or something similar to that? In fact, even if you are instructed to destroy your brother, the Messenger of Allah said […]: Do not hate one another; do not turn your back on others; do not be angry with one another; and do not allow an unbeliever to cheat your brother Muslim. He is your Muslim brother and the Messenger of Allah said you should not oppress your fellow Muslim […]. You must not oppress him; you must not dismiss him so that an oppressor will oppress him; you must not ignore him when he is in most need of your help. […] The Messenger of Allah said all of this. But you stay put and are instructed that you do not have any business with anybody; you should not speak to him even though he is your Muslim brother. The Messenger of Allah said you must not stop speaking to him; yet the imam said you must not speak to him. Then you accept the words of the imam and reject the words of the Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah says do not hate him because he is your fellow Muslim brother, but your champion says you should hate him because he is not your brother. Then you decide to follow the words of your champion and reject the words of the Messenger of Allah. It is important for us to know that this is a grievous offence, which will make us dread what will befall us if we do not desist.

22We should learn from real and reliable scholars, such as Abdullahi the son of Umar and Sa’ad the son of Abu Wakkas, when they aver that Allah says war should only be executed in order to avert trouble. But you prefer war so that there will be trouble. Because if you kill your fellow Muslim brother, do you avert trouble or do you invite trouble? Remember Abubakar among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, the one that shows us mercy with the Hadith he wrote derived from the Messenger of Allah, where he says that if a Muslim and a fellow Muslim confront each other with weapons with the intention to kill each other, the one that is killed and the one that kills will both go to Hell. The Companions of the Prophet said: “We understand the fact that the one who killed enters Hell; but the one that is killed, what is his offence?” “The Messenger of Allah said he too came with the intention to kill.”

23In this era, reliable mujahideen are those like Abu mis Abin Zarkhawi, who said: “It is better for me to be beheaded in public rather than kill a Muslim without any reason.” Shariah has confirmed that it is not right for you to allow anybody to oppress you, to shed your blood or confiscate your property while you fold your arms and watch him. So several Hadith, also in Sahih Muslim, have taught, but especially that of Abdulrazak and the others. An example among the Companions of the Prophet is Abdullahi son of Umar, son of Ahs, as recorded in Aqbul and Sahih Muslim. He was to be oppressed by someone, a commander of Islam who wanted to confiscate his farm. He did not understand why and therefore refused. He and his people took up arms like […] Sahid Abu Zayd, one amongst the Companions of the Prophet […]. Indeed, Shariah said you are not expected to remain idle and allow others to come and kill you or confiscate your property. This means that if anybody seeks to oppress you, Shariah has authorised you to defend yourself. However, we must not go beyond what Shariah has approved and say we will imitate what they do. This would make us deviate from our noble intention; it would send us to perdition. Our real enemies, atheists and Christians, will rejoice when they see us fighting amongst ourselves, and our enemies will be laughing at us. This will make the Lord Almighty angry with us.

24Oh Allah, may you increase in us the knowledge of Shariah, give us the perseverance, and confirm us in the tradition of your Messenger […]. It is better to do the kind of thing that Abu the son of Adam did when he said to his bother: “If you want to stretch out your hand to kill me, I will not stretch out my hand to kill you, because I am afraid of Allah the Almighty and Everlasting.” When his brother killed him, what was his life like? Allah said […]: Brethren, let us know that oppression and wickedness towards Muslims is one of things that will not make us succeed […].