Abu Muhammad al-Adnani: The Syrian Face of ‘Islamic State’

Abu Muhammad al-Adnani: The Syrian Face of ‘Islamic State’

One of the major pieces of advice that jihadist ideologues have been giving their followers in the new areas where they are operating is to make local members leaders in order to reassure their local hosts and convince them to adopt their jihadist ideology. Abu Musab al-Suri, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi and Ayman al-Zawahiri each have advised the need to do this on various occasions (Al-Monitor, January 14, 2013; Terrorism Monitor, July 9, 2009; al-Hayat, November 11, 2013).

Despite its deep rift with al-Qaeda and other mainstream jihadists, the self-proclaimed Islamic State has followed this advice. They recently promoted Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, a Syrian member, to be their spokesperson. The Islamic State has been involved in the Syrian civil war since 2012-2013 after the escalation of violence in the country and militarization of the peaceful protest to topple Bashar al-Assad regime. [1]

New Spokesperson

Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, whose real name is Taha Sobhi Assa’d Falaha, has grabbed the attention of media and observers on three occasions. The first was when he openly criticized the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Responding to al-Zawahiri’s criticism of the Islamic State’s behavior in Syria, al-Adnani stated his organization’s position toward al-Qaeda:

Later, al-Adnani made the headlines when he appeared with his face blurred in the video the Islamic State made after it took control of Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul. In it, Al-Adnani declared the destruction of the border between Iraq and Syria. [3] Later, on August 18, the U.S. State Department designated al-Adnani as a “Global Terrorist.” [4]

Between Iraq and Syria

Al-Adnani is a product of jihadist networks that were created in Syria, which was the gateway to Iraq after the American invasion in 2003. At that time, however, he was following the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who wanted to form a jihadist group that was more Levant-oriented. Links between the two men may have started when al-Adnani was in Lebanon; he migrated there from his hometown – Binnish in Syria’s Idlib governorate – in order to work as a builder in 1998. [5] According to an Islamic State ideologue, al-Adnani and 35 other Syrian jihadists pledged allegiance to al-Zarqawi in 2000 to wage war against the Assad regime in Syria. [6] However, it is not clearly in any of the biographies written about al-Adnani whether or not he met al-Zarqawi personally before the American invasion of Iraq. Hence, it is impossible to know how this bay’ah happened.

According to a leading jihadist ideologue, al-Adnani showed an interest in religious studies from an early age. [7] Others say he was also a shy and unsocial individual until he returned to his hometown as a jihadist leader in 2011. [8] Before that, he was arrested by the Syrian authorities on multiple occasions – one time on the border with Iraq, when he was trying to sneak back to fight against the Americans in 2003. [9] At that time, the Syrian regime was turning a blind eye to people flocking to Iraq.

Al-Adnani finally managed to cross over into Iraq and joined al-Zarqawi (who was killed by a U.S. air strike in June 2006). Al-Adnani gradually rose through the ranks of al-Qaeda in Iraq, starting out as a trainer in the Haditha training camp in Iraq’s western Anbar province and then in the al-Jazira training camp. [10] Since al-Adnani lacked military experience, his role was likely linked to providing religious education for the other trainees. Indeed, he later became the religious adviser for the organization in al-Anbar before becoming the spokesperson for Islamic State. [11]

Conclusion

Al-Adnani had been studying religious doctrine informally, which meant that he studied a certain topic on his own and then presented his credentials for approval by another jihadist cleric. This process is becoming easier due to the Internet. Al-Adnani’s credentials were approved in Iraq by the late Abu Anas al-Shami, a Jordanian who was al-Zarqawi’s religious adviser, and by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi himself. [12]

Three main conclusions can be drawn from al-Adnani’s promotion to the position of Islamic State spokesperson. First, this jihadist group has the ability to generate leaders by investing in skills that members already have. Secondly, the jihadist networks in Syria that emerged following the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 have played major roles throughout the Syrian civil war, which suggests that the border regions of both countries became a jihadist hub and explains the Islamic State’s ability to control those border regions. Thirdly, al-Adnani’s profile shows that the Islamic State is utilizing existing jihadist literature when establishing its own policies in the areas it controls.

Murad Batal al-Shishani is an Islamic groups and terrorism issues analyst based in London. He is a specialist on Islamic movements in the Middle East and in the North Caucasus.

Notes

1. The Islamic State was previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and its predecessor was al-Qaeda in Iraq, which was known as al-Qaeda in the Land of Mesopotamia.

2. A speech by Shaykh Abu Muh?ammad al-Adnani Ash-Shami, “Sorry, Amir of Al-Qaeda,” Al-Furqan Media Foundation, May 11, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrwvi5vqC_w.

3. The video can be watched here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Xh2EPr6qM.

4. “Terrorist Designation of Abu Muhammad al-Adnani,” U.S. State Department, August 18, 2014, https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/230676.htm.

5. A short biography of al-Adnani can be found here https://www.alaraby.co.uk/politics/03f67daf-e170-4368-88bd-6b221ddd3ca9.

6. Islamic State ideologue Turky Bin Ali (a.k.a. Abu Hamamm Baker al-Athri), a biography of al-Adnani, May 26, 2014, which can be read here https://www.gulfup.com/?ziPYqa.

7. Ibid.

8. Al-Araby, Op. Cit.

9. Bin Ali, Op. Cit.

10. Ibid.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.