“On the Promise We Continue”

{Audio Statement by Sheikh Ayman az Zawahiri, the Amir of al Qa’ida, to the Leader of the Faithful, Mawlawi Haybatullah, the Amir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, may Allah protect both of them}

In the name of Allah, praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon the messenger of Allah and his family and his companions and those who followed him. To the Leader of the Faithful Mawlawi Haybatullah, may Allah protect him, and support him and guide him with the truth and give him victory of Allah’s deen and His book and Allah’s righteous worshippers. May peace and mercy and Allah’s blessing be upon you. I pray to Allah to support you and your brothers and soldiers and Ansar achieve what pleases Allah which is honour in this life and salvation in the hereafter. I pray to Allah to stay away from all harm and evil in this life and the hereafter. Thereafter:

We and the Muslim ummah and the mujahidin and the muhajirin and those who are on the front lines learned with lots of sadness about the death of our Amir, the Leader of the Faithful Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansur, may Allah’s mercy be upon him and may Allah join us with him in paradise, without any disgrace and not changing. We are happy he stayed steadfast on the haqq as a mujahid and a fighter at the frontlines and and leader and Amir of the mujahidin until he met his Rabb as a martyr in a crusader strike. This is what we consider him to be. Therefore, obtaining the highest level a mujahid seeks which is martyrdom for the sake of Allah. He obtained this honourable level after a life of jihad against the communist Russians and their allies and then again against the American crusaders and their allies and followers. He spent his life in promoting virtue and preventing vice with his Amir and our Amir Mullah Muhammad Omar, may Allah have mercy on both of them and their righteous friends. They waged jihad to cleanse Afghanistan from the oppression and corruption and aggression against Muslims. He left for Allah after a life of forming and carrying out the cornerstones of the Islamic Emirate in the face of all its evil and enemies who were corrupt and those who sold themselves to the West and the East. He spent his life protecting the mujahidin the people who were oppressed when he stood by his Amir with pride, our Amir Mullah Muhammad Omar, may Allah have mercy on both of them and their righteous friends. He refused to hand over any of the Muslims to the kuffar and they stayed steadfast like mountains in front of the violent crusade which tried to get them to bow down. But they claimed they will only bow down to Allah and even if they sacrificed their lives and family and wealth and their whole life. They displayed and example which is honoured in Islamic history and even more in the history of free men on this Earth. Mullah Akhtar Mansur, may Allah have mercy on him, refused to recognise the government in Kabul which was an agent and highlighted the fact that it was an agent created by the crusaders who occupied the lands of Islam. He led his brothers in the Islamic Emirate and looked after their matters and worked in their interest. Allah chose him as a martyr as we consider him to be, after his long life of jihad and hijrah and promoting what is good and forbidding what is evil and being steadfast in front of ibtal and betrayal. I pray to Allah he is among those who Allah spoke to when He said “Do not lose heart or fall into despair because you must get mastery if you are true in Imaan. If a wound touched you be sure a similar wound touched the other ones. Days like this we give to men in turns so that Allah may know those who believe, and that Allah may take Himself from your ranks martyrs. Allah does not love those who do wrong. Allah’s goal is to cleanse those who are true in Imaan and to keep blessing away from those who deny Imaan. Do you think you would enter paradise without Allah testing those who fight hard and stayed steadfast?” {al Imran 139-142} May Allah have mercy on our martyred Amir as we consider him, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansur, who is a mujahid and a muhajir and a person who promotes virtue and prevents evil, who refuses oppression and corruption. Because we accept Allah the almighty’s judgement and because we submit to His will then we ask Allah to help us stick to the truth and Allah’s deen and the Sunnah of the prophet, may Allah’s peace and prayers be upon him, and to maintain on the path of jihad with Allah’s success and thanks. We will continue on the path of jihad and try to united the word of the mujahidin to follow the example of our martyred leaders, may Allah have mercy on all of them. Our Amir who was the lion of Islam, Sheikh Usamah bin Ladin, and our brothers Abu Musa’ab al Zarqawi, Abu Hamzah al Muhajir and Mustafa Abu al Yazidi and Abu Laith al Libi and Atiyatullah al Libi and Abu Yahya al Libi and all the other faithful shuyukh of the jihad. Which is what we consider them to be but we don’t judge anyone before Allah. So, being the Amir of al Qa’ida, I am here with you with our pledge of allegiance to renew the path of Sheikh Usamah, may Allah have mercy on him, in calling the Muslim ummah to support the Islamic Emirate and pledging allegiance to it.

We pledge allegiance to you on the Book of Allah and on the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and on the Sunnah of the rightly guided Caliphs, may Allah be pleased with them. We pledge to you that we will establish Shariah until it is in all Muslim lands, lands ruled and not yet ruled and leading and not leading, with no higher or conflicting authority or power. We pledge to you that we are innocent of every rule and regime and the laws that are made by man and the pledges and treaty that conflicts with Shariah law. Whether it is a regime in Muslims lands or regimes or organisations outside Muslim lands that conflict with Shariah law like the United Nations and so forth.

We pledge to you we will wage jihad to free every inch of Muslims’ lands which have been raped and stolen from, from Kashgar to Andalusia and Caucasus to as Somal and Central Africa. And from Kashmir to al Quds and the Filipines to Kabul and Bukhara and Samarqand. We pledge to you we will wage jihad against rulers who provide alternatives to Shariah law and who implement on the Muslim people the rules of the kuffar and who spread corruption and who make Muslims slaves to murtad regimes and collaborate with them. Also those who lower Shariah law and promote the philosophies of the kuffar and who surrendered the wealth of Muslims to the enemies. We pledge to you we will support the poor believers wherever they are and we will promote what is good and prevent what is evil to the best of our capabilities. We pledge we will protect the Islamic Emirate and its leadership as long as it leads by Allah’s Book and the Sunnah of Allah’s messenger, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him. We pledge to you we will establish a caliphate on the manhaj of the prophet which is based on the choice and what is satisfactory to Muslims. A caliphate which spreads justice and promotes consulting one another and obtains security and stops oppression and brings back the rights and raises the flag of jihad.

We pledge all of this to you and we shall hear and obey in bad and good times, and difficult times and easy times, to the best of our capability. We ask Allah to aid us in fulfilling our pledge and to help you with your burdens. Our master the Leader of the Faithful Mawlawi Haybatullah, may Allah protect and guide him. Allah Azz wa Jall honoured you and the two which came before you, the Leader of the Faithful Mullah Muhammad Omar and the Leader of the Faithful Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansur, may Allah have mercy on all of them. And the Islamic Emirate and the jihad against the Russian invaders and their communist allies. Allah provided you established the first legitimate emirate after the Ottoman caliphate fell. There has been no legitimate emirate in this world other than that. It waged jihad for the sake of promoting what is good and forbidding what is evil and to establish Shariah law. Mujahidin and the muhajirin knew of its legitimacy and it being sincere and therefore they pledged allegiance to it. The Imam Sheikh Usamah bin Ladin, may Allah have mercy on him, pledged allegiance to it and called for Muslims to do the same thing. He proclaimed his pledge was an overarching pledge and that all those who pledged allegiance to Usamah bin Ladin, may Allah have mercy on him, and al Qa’ida fell under it. Allah Azz wa Jall honoured you with standing in front of the campaign of the crusaders and honoured you with protecting your mujahidin brothers and sacrificing your wealth and power and lives and money for their protection. This is a grace given by Allah to whoever he wills.

Today your Muslims brothers and sons stand in front of a global fight which seeks to destroy Islam and Muslims from Kashgar to Tangier and the mountain peaks of Caucasus to Central Africa. In the middle of these disasters and wars being poured out onto them, they see the Islamic Emirate as a fortress of Islam and safe place for Muslims. Seek the aid of the most capable and majestic Allah, and they will keep you in high regard. In conclusion, I ask Allah the exalted to raise your ability and be obedient to Allah, and establish Allah’s law and support Allah’s followers and wage jihad against Allah’s enemies. We are your soldiers and Ansar and are one of your batallions. Allah almighty said “Whoever keeps his duty to Allah then Allah will grant a way out for him. And Allah will provide that person where he has no expectation. And whoever puts his trust in Allah, Allah will grant him strength.”

Your brother Ayman az Zawahiri

Amir of al Qa’ida

Written on 29 Sha’ban 1437

(27 May 2016)

As Sahab Media Production

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