EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Has Hit List of Western Muslim Leaders

The latest issue (number 14) of the Islamic State’s propaganda magazine, Dabiq, published April 13, contains a hitlist of Muslim leaders in the West, specifically naming 21. A 22nd (Nihad Awad of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Council on American Islamic Relations) is pictured, but not named. 

Those whom the Islamic State is targeting are listed in a section entitled “Kill the Imams of Kufr (the infidels) in the West.”

It includes leaders from the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.

The list of leaders is very diverse and includes several who are linked to Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, despite the fact that the Islamic State’s ideology is directly descended from that of the Muslim Brotherhood. Indeed the theme of the issue, entitled The Murtadd Brotherhood, is focused on the illegitimacy of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Others on the hit list are Salafi leaders, Sufis or politicians. It even includes one jihadist, Ab? Bas?r at-Tart?s?.

The section closes with an exhortation to kill these and other unnamed leaders. Dabiq writes:

“One must either take the journey to d?r al-Isl?m, joining the ranks of the muj?hid?n therein, or wage jih?d by himself with the resources available to him (knives, guns, explosives, etc.) to kill the cru­saders and other disbelievers and apostates, including the im?ms of kufr, to make an example of them, as all of them are valid – rather, obligatory – targets ac­cording to the Shar?’ah, except for those who openly repent from kufr before they are apprehended.”

The list shows the extent of the Islamic State’s adherence to the doctrine of takfir, which enables them to brand any Muslim who does not submit to their authority and hold by their interpretation of Islam a heretic worthy of death.

Clarion Project is reprinting the entire list here:

Hamza Yusuf

Suhaib Webb

Muhammad al-Yaqoubi

Hisham Kabbani

Yasir Qadhi

Bilal Philips

Pierre Vogel

Tawfique Chowdhury

Waleed Basyouni

Abdullah Hakim Quick

Ab? Bas?r at-Tart?s?

Mohamed Elibiary,

Arif Alikhan,

Rashad Hussain,

Keith Ellison,

Huma Abedin

Muhammad Abdul Bari,

Sayeeda Warsi,

Waqar Azmi,

Sajid Javid,

Ajmal Masroor

Note: Although Nihad Awad's name does not appear in the section, his picture does appear at the beginning of the section. One is therefore led to assume he has also been included on the hitlist. 

Read the full issue on Clarion Project.