The Islamic State's Diwan al-Da'wa wa al-Masajid (Da'wa and Mosques Department), as its name suggests, has been responsible for da'wa [proselytization/religious outreach] and control of the mosques in areas that came under the control of the organization. Many activities of the diwan have been recorded in propaganda releases of the Islamic State. The internal documents of this post constitute a report by the diwan's branch office in the Ramadi belt area (i.e. the periphery of Ramadi) in the month of Sha'aban 1436 AH (i.e. May-June 2015 CE), shortly following the Islamic State's capture of Ramadi city.
The structure of the Ramadi belt office is given as follows:
- Office amir
- Deputy amir
- Administrative official
- Mosques official
- Assistant mosques official
- Da'wa official
- Assistant da'wa official
- Media official
Incidentally, the person listed as the mosques official in these documents is one Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Iraqi, a kunya also listed in a contemporary document as the amir of the 'Ramadi [city] sector' office. Could this case constitute an overlap of positions?
Note also the references to lecturing on ghalul [stealing from spoils of war] and distributing a publication pertaining to it, suggesting that unlawful looting was a problem among Islamic State fighters.
I give a full translation of the documents below, with any explanatory notes in square brackets.
The monthly report for the Da'wa and Masajid office, Ramadi belt area, for the month of Sha'aban 1436 AH.
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Praise be to God the Lord of the Worlds and prayers, peace and salutations be upon the Messenger of God, his family and companions. As for what follows:
First: The framework.
The framework is composed of:
1. The office's amir: Anwar Nawaf Hamid: Abu Ali.
2. The deputy: Yasin Mus'ab Jasim: Abu Taha.
3. The administrative official: Farhan Muslih Mahmoud: Abu Sariya.
4. The masajid [mosques] official: Hayder Nouri Shakar/Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Iraqi. The assistant masajid official: Yusuf Khayr Allah Salman/Abu Junaid al-Rawi.
5. The da'wa official: Yasin Mus'ab Jasim/Abu Taha. The assistant da'wa official: Muhammad Aqil Muz'al/Abu Bakr.
6. Media official: Muhammad Khayr Allah Salman/Abu Tayyiba.
First: The work of the amir of the office.
On 1 Sha'aban 1436 AH, the Da'wa and Masajid office in the Ramadi belt area held its second meeting and the following matters were discussed:
1. Preparing the programs of the month of Sha'aban and distributing them to the mosques.
2. Distributing da'wa print publications to the mosques in the area.
3. Da'wa for the Muslim populace in more than one lecture and urging them towards jihad and steadfastness.
4. Preaching in one of the mosques of the al-Tash area and by God's grace, a large number of the youth gave allegiance.
5. Directing to remove what remains of the practices of innovation in the mosques.
6. Mobilizing the brothers affiliated with the Da'wa and Masajid office for ribat by night with the security brothers and the Islamic police.
7. Implementing da'wa in particular for the brothers on ribat on the frontlines after putting in place the program for them, and it was implemented by the brothers in da'wa.
Second: the work of the administrative official.
1. The opening of the file of receipts of handing over and receiving sums of money, and likewise the file for receipts of handing over pieces of furniture to the mosques.
2. Giving sermons and lectures in the al-Hussein mosque, and likewise complying with the month of Sha'aban program for daily lessons prepared by the centre.
3. By God's grace, I visited a number of the reception rooms of the military brothers and I called on them and encouraged them for ribat and distributed small books for them like the book Akhlaq al-Mujahid [Manners of the Mujahid], Ijabat al-Su'al 'an 'Ahkam al-Ghalul [Responding to the Question about the Rulings of Ghalul], Mukhtasir fi Fiqh al-Jihad [Summary of the Jurisprudence of Jihad] and other small books in the presence of the brother the amir of the office.
4. Calling on the brothers at the checkpoints to be patient and restrained, complying with the program of Akhlaq al-Mujahid and some gifts were distributed to them.
5. Calling on the Muslim populace to join the state of the Caliphate in Ramadi general hospital through my visit to the hospital and clarifying the matter on which the Islamic State has arisen and they showed their satisfaction and affection for the State.
6. Distributing some aid to the displaced families and people of modest means.
7. Organizing the record of office hours in the office and likewise bringing natural gas and distributing it to the brothers who are members of the office.
8. Undertaking some sudden visits to the brothers on ribat in the office.
9. Working on the account of incidental expenditure payments for the month of Sha'aban.
Third: the da'wa work
a) Particular da'wa
1. Visiting three military reception rooms in the 11 kilo area [area in the Ramadi belt area] and program prepared by the centre was distributed: Ta'allamu Amr Dinikum [Learn the Matter of your Religion], Akhlaq al-Mujahid, Ijabat al-Su'al 'an Ahkam al-Ghalul, and other books, and a brother from each reception room was appointed to teach the brothers the program after it was clarified to them.
2. Visiting three reception rooms in the al-Tash area and a speech was given about the importance of seeking 'ilm [Islamic knowledge] and the importance of tawheed [monotheism] and the rulings pertaining to ghalul [stealing from spoils of war], and the program prepared by the centre was distributed to them, as well as some of the print publications and books.
3. Visiting six reception rooms in the al-Tash area and they were encouraged to be steadfast and patient, and the programs were distributed to them.
4. Putting up murals about the importance of jihad and ribat and encouraging tem.
b) General da'wa
1. Continuing the course established in the Nabi al-Rahma mosque.
2. Putting up murals about the hudud in the general areas.
3. Distributing the print publication Tanwir al-Adhan in the 5 kilo area [an area in the Ramadi belt area]- al-Zaytun neighbourhood, to the Muslim populace.
4. Participating in the campaign to clean the Khilafa mosque in Ramadi city in cooperation with the brothers in the Ramadi city office.
5. Distributing the jiz' 'amm [a part of the Qur'an] to some of the courses in the mosques.
Fourth: the work of the Masajid official
1. 13 brothers were recruited and by God's grace they gave their allegiance and joined the ranks of the Islamic State.
2. Innovations were removed from the following mosques: al-Shuhada', al-Tawheed, al-Hussein, al-Hassan al-Basri, al-Salihin.
3. Continuing to give daily lectures for the month of Sha'aban in the al-Shuhada' mosque.
4. Removing some of the materials in the damaged mosques and compensating for the deficiency from them in the mosques in which the Friday and five prayers are established.
5. Distributing sermons to the preachers in the mosques.
6. Continuing with the course established for the repenters from the police and military.
7. Going out with the media official brother to photograph the damaged mosques.
8. Giving lectures in the al-Tawheed, Ibn Taymiyya, al-Taqwa and Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab mosques.
Fifth: media work:
1. Printing the daily lessons for the month of Sha'aban.
2. Printing the unified sermons for the mosques affiliated with the area.
3. Photographing and printing the programs and print publications and distributing them to the Shari'i brothers and those on ribat on the frontlines, and likewise the brothers in da'wa in order for them to distribute them: Ta'allamu Amr Dinikum, Akhlaq al-Mujahid, Ijabat al-Su'al 'an Ahkam al-Ghalul, Mukhtasir fi Fiqh al-Jihad.
4. Photographing the Friday sermon in the al-Urwa al-Wuthqa mosque in al-Ta'mim.
5. Visiting the damaged mosques in the military areas and photographing them, as it was difficult to visit them before the conquest [of Ramadi].
6. Removing some of the innovations from the al-Hassan al-Basri mosque with the attendance of the Masajid official, and documenting them in photos.
7. Working on an inventory of things present in the office.
8. An inventory of the mosques from the perspective of having electrical generators.
9. Distributing the print publication Ahkam Bay'at al-Khilafa [Rulings on Allegiance to the Caliphate] to the Muslim populace after Friday prayers and documenting that in photos.
Sixth: impediments:
1. The lack of specification for incidental expenditures for the office for the large number of mosques and their needs and the ongoing courses with the observation of the debts resulting from some of the mosques.
2. The need for some gifts for the courses established in the mosques.
This is so and we ask God Almighty to render our work pure to His noble face and to grant us and you success in obedience to Him and pleasing Him.