Testimony: “Why I left ISIS”

[…] Then, the little things started drawing my attention… things which no one on the outside seemed aware of. Such as the fact that majority of the land gained by ISIS and currently under ISIS control was not actually captured by them. Rather, it was other groups who bore the victory but somehow, ISIS took control, either because the neighbouring groups didn’t feel capable of fighting Muslims or because the ISIS supporters in the area just happened to be the majority. The actual ISIS takeovers such as Palmyra, was nothing but desert area, easy pickings for anyone. But that’s not what got to me. After all, if Allah really wanted, He could allow anyone control over anything, friend of His or foe.

What hit me, was the qualities that I started noticing in those who supported ISIS. Besides the general obsession with them, they had a kind of harsh, arrogant mentality. Wallaahi, I am not saying this because I oppose them, I am speaking out of experience of dealing with these people. For them, there was only one right or wrong. You were either Muslim or Kaafir [non-Muslim]. Now that may not seem such a bad thing, but what it meant was that if you did not conform to their expectations, you were a Kaafir. For example, if you had any differences on Fiqh [the theory or philosophy of Islamic law] – Fiqh, not Aqeedah [mandatory beliefs for Muslims], in you – you were not of them. This despite the fact that even the sahaabah [the companions of Prophet Muhammad] ( radhiyallaahu anhum ) differed in jurisprudence.

Another quality that I noticed was that you could do the world for them, but if you disagreed on one issue, you became the worst person in their midst. However, what got to me the most, was that they seemed to think it okay to break pledges. I had been brought up with the teaching that lying is a sin which can make you part of the munaafiqeen [religious hypocrites], yet these people saw no wrong in not keeping to their agreements. I remember a case of a brother who was forced by his ISIS supportive in-laws to divorce his wife. Why? Because she wanted to go to Raqqah and he didn’t. So he agreed, but after taking a promise from them that his son would not be taken without his permission, nor would she leave during her iddah [the period a woman must observe after the death of her spouse or after a divorce, during which she may not marry another man] (which is Islamic anyway) and that he would get to be with his son 3 out of the 7 days a week. Just over a month down the line, the girl and her family disappeared. It was later that day that he learned they had left for Raqqah.

Is this what the Islam of our so-called khilaafah [Caliphate] teaches us? Ungratefulness, bad character and broken promises? But this was not the worst… What happened in Halab was the point which made me figure there is no point in being with them. Groups of mujahideen were fighting Bashar Al Assad and from all appearances, were close to a victory. Now when I say mujahideen, I speak of other men who have also given up their lives to fight to establish Shari’ah rule in Syria. Men who may not be perfect, but neither do they claim to be. Men who have been branded Murtaddeen [apostates] by ISIS just because they fight alongside others fighting the regime who may have ulterior motives. This, despite the fact that Nabi [the Prophet] ﷺ set out for Uhud with one thousand men, three hundred of whom were hypocrites. Yes, Allah weeded the hypocrites out and this we see happening in Syria too – that the groups sponsored by the kuffar [highly derogatory Arabic term used to refer to non-Muslims, i.e., in this case, “the West”] slowly end up disbanding or backing off. But why should the rest who fight the kuffar be branded thus? So what does ISIS do? ISIS sends in men to pull off a ‘martyrdom operation’ on Muslim brothers fighting the regime. Muslim brothers backed by Muslim people, fighting to establish the rule of Allah, get blown up because ISIS considers them Murtaddeen.

SubhaanAllah, I wanted to weep when this news reached us. Suddenly, the Muslims were attacked from both sides, the regime on one end and ISIS on the other. What a mess!

So yes, my beloved brothers and sisters seeking the truth: ISIS seems all green and rosy on the outside, but Nabi (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) has warned us against the false dawn that comes before the true dawn. Don’t allow the rosy picture painted by ISIS supporters to fool you. […]

Read in full Why I left Jama’at Dawla at abuziyaad’s Blog

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