Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
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Pundicity: Informed Opinion and Review
 

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi's Blog

The Lull in the Attacks Against U.S. Forces in Iraq and Syria: Overview and Analysis

In a recent feature item on the kidnapping of Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov in Iraq, ABC News counted more than 170 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria and Jordan (the Jordan incident being the one that killed three U.S. personnel) since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on 7 October. In so far as these attacks have been claimed and identified, the vast majority if not all of them can be traced to Iranian-backed armed groups operating in Iraq, in particular the groups operating under the umbrella of the 'Islamic Resistance in Iraq' (Kata'ib Hezbollah, Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada', Harakat al-Nujaba' and Ansar Allah al-Awfiya').

Yet it is to be noted that the last time that the 'Islamic Resistance in Iraq' claimed an operation against U.S. forces was on 4 February, more than a month ago: in that case, targeting the Americans stationed in Syria. In a statement on 9 February, the 'Islamic Resistance in Iraq' denounced U.S. retaliatory strikes in Iraq that most notably killed Kata'ib Hezbollah official Abu Baqir al-Sa'adi (who was involved in targeting U.S. forces in Iraq during the period of the U.S. presence in 2003-2011), saying that the American retaliation would only make the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq, in its publicly declared factions, more committed to its responsibilities towards its people, country and Ummah, whatever the circumstances." The statement further called on "brothers in jihad to join the ranks of the resistance, in that they should be determined to actually participate in expelling the occupation at this historical stage for Iraq and the region."

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Thu, March 7, 2024  |  Permalink

The Protests in al-Suwayda' Six Months Later: Interview

In the primarily Druze province of al-Suwayda' in southern Syria, protests demanding political change have been occurring on almost a daily basis for more than six months now. I myself have been skeptical from the outset about whether they matter in the bigger picture, and still believe that this assessment holds. But what is the current status of the protests? Do they still have the same momentum? And what is their future direction? What are some of the different ideas espoused about the future of Syria and al-Suwayda' in the protests? Does the 'autonomous administration' of the U.S.-supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) provide a model? What about talk of turning towards armed rebellion?

To discuss these matters, I conducted an interview recently with Aysar Morshed, an opposition activist based in al-Suwayda'. Last year, I interviewed Aysar a few months prior to the outbreak of the latest protests, and he predicted that there would be a general uprising or rebellion in al-Suwayda' because of the deterioration in the living situation. This interview was conducted on 3 March. It is slightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Wed, March 6, 2024 12:00 PM  |  Permalink

The Iraq Civil Postal Regulations (1918)

The following rare book sets out the Iraq Civil Postal Regulations, published at Baghdad in 1918 by the British forces that were occupying the city following its capture from the Ottoman Empire in the previous year. I have no particular comment to make on these documents and publish them here as a matter of archival work and historical interest.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Wed, March 6, 2024  |  Permalink

Islamic State Reports on Operations in Mozambique: Translation and Overview

For the Islamic State, the group's "Mozambique province" has propaganda value as an illustration of the group's global reach despite the loss of its territorial caliphate in Iraq and Syria. But the Islamic State's far-flung affiliates in Mozambique and elsewhere are not tied to the Islamic State for reasons divorced from the group's ideology. Rather, the ideology is an integral part of the bond, and one aspect of that ideology is the notion of waging war on Christians so long as they are Christians who do not submit to the dhimmi pact or convert to Islam, regardless of 'grievances' like oppression of Muslims by Christians. This pride in persecution of Christians is constantly emphasised in the propaganda, as illustrated in these reports from the most recent issue of the group's al-Naba' newsletter (issued last Thursday) with a report and infographic regarding Mozambique, which I translate below.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Thu, February 29, 2024  |  Permalink

Anti-Jewish Polemic: Julian of Toledo's 'Concerning the Proof of the Sixth Age' (III)

[For the prior two books of 'Concerning the Proof of the Sixth Age', see here and here].

In the first two books of his De Comprobatione Sextae Aetatis, Julian of Toledo tried to show that the Old and New Testaments do not give any weight to the number of years that have passed since the beginning of the world with regards to the question of the coming of Christ. In this third and final book, he focuses on the issue of generations, the differences in chronology between the original Hebrew and Septuagint versions of the Old Testament/Tanakh (the Septuagint being its Koine Greek translation, named for 70 translators who reputedly worked on it), and the actual number of years that have passed since the beginning of the world. His main arguments can be summarised as follows:

. The number of years that have passed since the beginning of the world is ultimately not relevant to distinguish the ages of the world and recognise the time of Christ's birth in the sixth age of the world. Rather, the number of generations matters.

. The first two ages of the world consist of 10 generations each. This is because the first two generations can be compared to the stages of infancy and childhood when one has the basic five senses but lack of cognitive discretion and the ability to act meaningfully. As such, with these five senses being present in both males and females, 5x2=10, and thus the first two ages span 10 generations each.

. The third, fourth and fifth ages consist of 14 generations each. This is because they are like adolescence, young adulthood and adulthood, when humans gain cognitive discretion and the ability to act meaningfully. Thus, both males and females then have seven senses, as it were. Thus, 7x2= 14, and thus these three ages span 14 generations each.

. Christ was to be born in the sixth age in the same way that there are seven days of creation and man was created on the sixth day. Thus the sixth age corresponds to humanity's renewal through the first coming of Christ, prior to the end of the world.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Wed, February 21, 2024  |  Permalink

Among The Samaritans

The Samaritans, who properly refer to themselves as the Israelites, are most familiar to the wider public as a monotheistic community distinct from the Jews and mentioned in the New Testament. Yet they have managed to survive till the present day, with the community that once had millions of members now numbering less than 1000 people and mainly divided between the village of Kiryat Luza in the West Bank (located next to Samaritan holy site of Mount Gerizim) and Holon that lies within Israel's 1948 territory.

The Samaritans of Kiryat Luza, who moved there from the Palestinian city of Nablus following the outbreak of the First Intifada, occupy a limbo position. They hold identity documents from both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and can freely move between the territories controlled by the Israel and Palestinian Authority: a privilege in comparison with both Israeli Jews and Palestinians. The main entrance into the village via Nablus is manned by the Israel Defence Forces. In the village itself, it becomes readily apparent that Palestinian Arabic is the primary language of communication among the Samaritans, but there is also a general working knowledge of Israeli Hebrew.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Fri, February 16, 2024  |  Permalink

مقابلة مع قائد فيلق الوعد الصادق الشيخ محمد التميمي

إنّ فيلق الوعد الصادق هو فصيل من فصائل "المقاومة الإسلامية" في العراق وله تاريخ طويل حيث قام في أيام الاحتلال الأمريكي الذي أعقب الغزو الأمريكي في عام ٢٠٠٣، كما كان الفيلق من الفصائل العرافية التي قاتلت في سوريا الى جانب قوات الحكومة السورية. أمّا في الفترة الأخيرة، فبرز الفصيل مع اصدار بيان أقسم فيه أنّه سيواصل قتال الوجود الأمريكي في العراق، برغم اعلان كتائب حزب الله عن تعليق عملياتها ضد القوات الأمريكية على اثر مقتل ثلاثة جنود في مقر واقع على الحدود بين الأردن وسوريا، علما أنّه من المرجح أنّ الاعلان جاء نتيجة الضغط على الكتائب من قبل إيران والحكومة العراقية. واستنكر فيلق الوعد الصادق الضربات الأمريكية، قائلا بأنّها تشكل انتهاكاً للسيادة العراقية، كما اتهم الأردن بالمشاركة في الضربات، مما جعلها هدفاً "للمقاومة."

تسليطاً للضوء على تاريخ فيلق الوعد الصادق وموقفه من الأحداث الجارية في العراق والمنطقة، أجريت مقابلة مع قائد الفيلق الشيخ محمد التميمي.

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By أيمن جواد التميمي  |  Fri, February 9, 2024 7:15 PM  |  Permalink

Interview with Shaykh Muhammad al-Tamimi of Faylaq al-Wa'ad al-Sadiq

Faylaq al-Wa'ad al-Sadiq ("The True Promise Corps") is an Iraqi 'Islamic Resistance' faction with a long history, having emerged in the days of the U.S.-occupation of Iraq following the invasion in 2003 and being one of the Iraqi groups that have fought in Syria. Most recently, the group has come to some prominence for issuing a statement in which it vowed to continue fighting the U.S. presence in Iraq despite Kata'ib Hezbollah's announcement of a suspension of operations against American forces in the wake of the killing of three U.S. soldiers at a base on the Jordan-Syria border- an announcement that likely involved Iranian and Iraqi government pressure on Kata'ib Hezbollah to take a step to de-escalate. Faylaq al-Wa'ad al-Sadiq also denounced retaliatory U.S. strikes as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, accusing Jordan of participating in the strikes and saying that Jordan had now become a target for the 'resistance.'

To learn more about Faylaq al-Wa'ad al-Sadiq's history and its perspective on current events in Iraq and the wider region, I decided to conduct an interview with its leader Shaykh Muhammad al-Tamimi, which is presented below. The interview is slightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Fri, February 9, 2024 6:38 PM  |  Permalink

The Alawites of Iraq

Iraq is known to have a variety of religious minority communities, including more familiar ones such as Yezidis (who gained worldwide attention because of the Islamic State's attempted genocide against them in 2014) and Christians, and less familiar ones such as the Kaka'is. Arguably among Iraq's least known religious minorities are the Alawites, a Shi'a-offshoot who are also known as Nusayris. The designation of Nusayris is often considered derogatory when used by non-Alawites. The Alawites are much more readily associated with Syria where they are far more numerous, even though the sect's origins ultimately go back to Iraq. In this post I present a brief overview of this community.

In Iraq, the Alawites have constituted one of the country's smallest minorities. What may constitute a surprise is that the Iraqi Alawites are not associated with the predominantly Shi'a regions of central and southern Iraq, but rather historically with the town of Anah in western Anbar, which is not too far from the border with Syria, is now known to have a predominantly Sunni Arab population, and unfortunately fell under the control of the Islamic State in 2014. It is also apparent that the Alawite presence in Anah was not a recent import from Syria but rather longstanding. Most notably, the renowned Islamic historian and jurist Ibn al-Sam'ani (d. 1166 CE) wrote in Kitab al-Ansab (a biographical dictionary) about the epithet al-Ani:

"This refers to Anah, which is a locality near Haditha of the Euphrates [also located in western Anbar]. Its people are Nusayris who believe in the divinity of Ali bin Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him). I heard our shaykh 'Umar bin Ibrahim bin Hamza al-Husayni in al-Kufa say: I entered Anah of the Euphrates while heading back from al-Sham [Syria], so they asked me what my name is. I said: 'Umar. So they attacked me and almost killed me because my name is 'Umar, until I said: I am an Alawi, Kufi and Zaydi man in terms of school of thought and lineage [i.e. the suggestion being that he has Shi'i credentials], from among the Ahl al-'Ilm [i.e. Islamic scholars], until I left that place."

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Mon, February 5, 2024  |  Permalink

The Life of Muhammad 'Abd al-Majid Fa'ur from al-Fu'a

The originally Shi'i locality of al-Fu'a in Idlib province (presently occupied by insurgents who have settled displaced Sunnis in the homes of the original inhabitants) is known to have thousands of 'martyrs' on the government side of the Syrian civil war, including individuals who have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Syria. One of those 'martyrs' (though not killed by the Israelis) is Muhammad 'Abd al-Majid Fa'ur, whose life I document briefly here.

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By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi  |  Tue, January 30, 2024  |  Permalink

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