Must Read. Mesti Baca. Salafi Terrorism - The Returns from Saudi Arabia's "Investments" In Africa. The Relevance To Malaysia.

 Folks, the Salafis around the world are getting busier than ever.  They are not keeping quiet.

At the very end of last year I did say that 2021 is going to be another miserable year for the Islamic countries. This is becoming especially the case in some African countries with Muslim majorities or large Muslim populations. Jihadi attacks and jihadi terrorism is on the rise across Africa. And almost all of them are related to ISIS which is related to the Salafis which is still linked to Saudi Arabia.  

First here is a collection of bad news from Africa.  Here is a map of Africa so that you can see the vast expanse of territory where all these jihadi attacks are happening. 

1.   Militants Overrun Mozambique Oil Town 

• assault by Islamist militants on northern Mozambique town 
• dozens dead and tens of thousands fleeing 
• Islamic State terrorist network grown in power since 2017
• attacks in oil-rich northern province of Cabo Delgado
• US$60b oil projects near Mozambique’s border with Tanzania.
• Local Mozambican group known as Al Sunnah wa Jama’ah (ASJ)
• ASJ forms ISIS’s beachhead in southeastern Africa 
• launching attacks, disrupting liquid natural gas 
• killed 2,500 people, displaced 700,000 civilians
• hundreds of civilians beheaded since 2017, including 11 yr old children 
• ISIS in Mozambique have upwards of 800 fighters

2.   Al Jazeera: Suspected ADF Rebels Kill 23 In Eastern DR Congo Attack

• militia fighters killed 23 people in yet another massacre in eastern Congo (DRC)
• ADF raid killed more than 20 people
• ADF aim of establishing an Islamic state
• ADF linked to ISIL (ISIS) group

3.   Nigerian Soldiers Kill 49 Boko Haram Fighters

• Nigerian Army killed about 48 Boko Haram terrorists 
• neutralised 39 terrorists in another encounter

ISWAP Jihadists Overrun Nigerian Army Base As Residents Flee
jihadist attack in northeast Nigeria forced people to flee 
Islamic State insurgents overran key army base
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) become dominant threat in region
killing and kidnapping passengers at bogus checkpoints

4.   Sinai Egypt  ISIS In Sinai Leader Killed In Clash With Egyptian Forces - Report

• “Leader of ISIS in Sinai Peninsula, Salim al-Hamadin killed 
• Hamadin “most dangerous takfiri elements in Sinai” 
• responsible for murder of hundreds of civilians, Egyptian soldiers

5. Niger Mourns 137 Victims After Deadliest Attack In Recent Memory

• three days national mourning for 137 victims of raids on villages 
• killings Niger’s worst civilian carnage in recent memory
• attack in January killed at least 100 villagers 
• another attack last week killed at least 58
• questions progress in fight against Islamist militants 
• attacks by local Islamic State affiliate
• Islamic State claimed responsibility for previous raids 

6. Multiple Jihadi Insurgencies In The Sahel

March 17, 100 assailants killed 33 soldiers in central Mali
four days later, perpetrators killed 137 in southwest Niger
58 people killed recently by gunmen on motorcycles
Islamic State claimed responsibility for Tessit attack
Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) operates in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso 
Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) provided reinforcements to ISGS 

7.  Mali   

• IS Claims Attack Against Mali Army That Killed 33 Soldiers Last Monday 
• Islamic State group claimBed responsibility for killing 33 soldiers

8.  Somalia  Somali Military Kills 70 Al-Shabaab Members In Two Operations

• Somali National Army (SNA) killed 50 al-Shabaab fighters

9.  Burkina Faso: Twin 'terrorist attacks' leave dozens dead (from 2019)

• Violence in Burkina Faso as armed Islamic groups spill over border with Mali. 
• 29 people killed in Burkina Faso two separate attacks 

There are more ISIS attacks going on in many of the Islamic areas of Africa than what I have said here. This is just a small sampling that comes into my Inbox from various anti terrorist websites to which I subscribe. They are all the outcome of the years of Salafi influence from Saudi Arabia in these countries. 

For decades now the Saudis have been investing billions of US Dollars to export their Salafi extremism all over the world. Usually the money is disguised as charities and mosque building funds. Now these Saudi investments have taken up a life of their own. 

After Donald Trump, (and hopefully with Biden as well) a lot of the "official" Salafi money coming out of Saudi Arabia has been cut off. Also the crash in oil prices has reduced the amount of money the Saudis have to splurge on exporting their Salafism. 

So the local Salafi outfits all around the world have no choice but to look for their own money. Hence all the violence in Africa that you read above. It is all about gathering money - kidnapping, ransom, stealing cows, extortion, piracy etc etc. 

Before that in Iraq and Syria the ISIS tried the "head on" approach to establish their ISIS ideology and their ISIS state - which they did for a short time in Iraq and Syria. The ISIS actually invaded and held on to territory inside both Iraq and Syria. 

But in both Iraq and Syria the ISIS fighters were quickly defeated by women soldiers from the Kurdish military.  The Kurdish women, including female snipers, played an oversized role in defeating the ISIS in both Syria and in Iraq. 

Kurdish women soldiers of the Peshmerga in Iraq

So since the "head on" approach to setting up an ISIS state has failed the ISIS is evolving. They are changing tactics. In Africa they are disguising themselves behind local grievances. They need not wear their ISIS badge on their forehead anymore. In Africa most conflicts are tribal. In Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Libya and just about everywhere the grievances are largely tribal (different clans, different languages or dialects, religious interpretations).

The ISIS is now trying to sneak into Africa  by identifying with this local tribe or that local group. Their ultimate aim is the same - to establish their Salafi ideology.   

Is this relevant to us here in Malaysia? You can bet your last Ringgit this can have an effect on the dodos here in Malaysia.

I just heard from some folks that now in Malaysia, in our towns and villages there can be three types of mosques - the Pas mosque, the Umno / government mosque and the newest kid on the block the Salafi mosque.  The Pas people dominate the Pas mosques, the Umno people go to the government mosques and the Salafis are beginning to dominate some of the "Salafi" mosques.

The Pas and the Salafis do not seem to get along as much. Jadi Bawang is no more favoured by the Saudis. Well not since he joined the Muslim Brotherhood's World Scholars Council or something like that.  

But that is only part of the matter. There are plenty of local grievances now in the country. With unemployment now going into the millions (1.9 million graduates are "underemployed") there will be fertile breeding grounds and recruitment territory for religious extremists - of all shades and flavours.

Better watch out. Dont say I did not warn you.

What can you do? The first step - talk about it. Tell people, ask people, share information, keep your eyes and ears open. Be aware of what is going on in your country and in your neighborhood. Regardless of whether you are Muslim, non-Muslim etc. 

My solution is the easiest and the best - abolish all religious prosecution against different schools of thought. Whether Shia, Salafi, Sunni, Sufi, Wahabi, Deobandi etc etc just let them believe what they want to believe. And do not stop anyone from speaking their minds. Just make them understand that if they become violent or misbehave they will be thrown in jail. When you have free and open discussion about religion among society then these different groups will suffer an early demise. The public will simply get tired of them. They will just become another set of cuckoos walking around promising the keys to heaven and asking for money at the same time. (Which is what they all are).

We have to defeat them through intellectual discourse. Not through force. And they too must be allowed to discuss freely without being molested by the law or by anyone else. 

Trust me folks. I know ALL their ideologies and ALL their points of view. Just allow them to speak freely and allow others to rebut them freely and all these dodos will just disappear. 

Religious extremism can only survive inside religious cocoons and behind high barriers. Crack open the cocoons and knock down those barriers and let them engage with the rest of the world and their stupidities just crumble. 

Otherwise we are going to be wasting so much time, spending billions, hiring policemen, security personnel, buying monitoring equipment, watching them closely and possibly suffering their violence. 

Nipping them in the bud is so easy and cheap. There is no money involved. Just allow everyone the freedom to speak about religion. Problem solved.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.