AMMAN — A local jihadist group on Wednesday denounced Al Qaeda leaders as illegitimate and pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State (IS).
In a statement, the Sons of the Call for Tawhid and Jihad, the youth wing of Jordan’s hard-line Salafist movement, denounced leading Al Qaeda clerics Abu Mohammad Al Maqdissi and Abu Qatada as “illegitimate”, pledging heir full support for the Islamic State and its recently announced caliphate.
In the statement, the jihadists rebuked Maqdissi and Abu Qatada for their criticism of the IS and refusal to recognise their Islamic caliphate.
The group went on to threaten Maqdissi — former head of the Jordanian Salafist movement and vocal critic of IS — urging him to “return to righteousness”.
The statement, posted on jihadist web sites and forums, stressed “the right and duty of all to support IS”.
The Sons of the Call for Tawhid and Jihad coalition of young jihadists reportedly represent over 70 per cent of Jordan’s 6,000-strong Jihadi Salafist movement.
The statement comes one week after Maqdassi issued a fatwa (Islamic edict) declaring the recently announced caliphate as “null and void”, questioning the IS' leadership and adherence to Islamic principles.
According to researcher and expert in Islamist movements Hassan Abu Haniyeh, the recent tensions come as part of a wider ideological split within the jihadist movement dating back to the 2006 rift between Al Qaeda leadership and Abu Mossab Al Zarqawi, former head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, IS' predecessor.
While Maqdissi and Al Qaeda have long pushed for a more gradual approach for establishing an Islamic state, preaching the need to reach a consensus among Muslim scholars and clerics, Abu Haniya says Zarqawi and his more hard-line followers advocated establishing a state by force, rejecting cooperation with other Islamists or other national groups.
“The gains by the Islamic State in Iraq shored up support not only in its base, but won the support of many jihadists who previously had reservations," Abu Haniya said.
Pro-Al Qaeda clerics and Salafist leaders claim that the movement has suffered mass defections to IS in recent weeks, with Jordanian fighters aligned with Jabhat Al Nusra in the Syrian towns of Daraa and Ghouta Sharqiyeh pledging their allegiance to IS.
Mohammad Shalabi, or Abu Sayyaf, head of the Jordanian Salafist movement, said as many as 800 Nusra fighters have switched sides and joined IS over the past three weeks.