The caliphate continues: Muslims in Somalia and Egypt pledge allegiance to the group’s new top dog.

al-shabaab

Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi may have gotten the caliph job over Abdullah Qardash, who was named as al-Baghdadi’s successor in previous reports, precisely because he is a Quraishi, that is, a member of the Quraish tribe of Mecca, to which Muhammad also belonged. That is a requirement for the caliphate.

In any case, the jihad will go on. The movement was never based on the charisma of a powerful leader, and will not die with him. Mainstream analysts often miss this because they don’t have the remotest idea of what a caliphate really is, and why it matters.

“Somalia’s Islamic State affiliate vows support for group’s new leader”, Reuters, November 3, 2019:

CAIRO (Reuters) – Somalia’s Islamic State affiliate, one of the most important outposts of the militant group, swore allegiance in a statement on Sunday to the new leader named by the organization following the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Somalia’s Province posted pictures on Telegram of around a dozen fighters standing among trees, with a caption saying they were pledging allegiance to Quraishi.

Quraishi was named as the organization’s leader on Thursday in an audio message that also confirmed Baghdadi’s death and vowed revenge against the United States….

“Egypt’s Sinai Province Swears Allegiance to New Islamic State Leader,” Reuters, November 3, 2019:

Egypt’s Islamic State affiliate, Sinai Province, has sworn allegiance to the new leader named by the group following the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the affiliate said on Telegram on Saturday.

Sinai Province, which has waged an insurgency against the Egyptian state, posted pictures of around two dozen fighters standing among trees, with a caption saying they were pledging allegiance to Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi.

Quraishi was named on Thursday in an audio message that also confirmed Baghdadi’s death and vowed revenge against the United States. U.S. special forces killed Baghdadi in a raid in northwest Syria….

Muslims in Somalia and Egypt pledge allegiance to the group’s new top dog