THE KINGDOM AND THE CALIPHATE

The strategy in place was outlined by Baghdadi in his November 2014
announcement (see appendix). Addressing the Saudi people, he said:
“Unsheathe your swords! First, go after the Rejectionists [al-Rafida, that is,
the Shia] wherever you find them, then the Al Salul [that is, the Al Saud family]
and their soldiers, before the Crusaders and their bases.” In Saudi Arabia,
the Islamic State has acted accordingly, with suicide bombers targeting Shia
mosques yielding the most casualties. While there have been more security
incidents involving Saudi security forces (nine) than Shia (six), the group has
managed to kill more Shia (64) than security forces (25). One attack has been
reported against a Western target, a Danish citizen.
The last time jihadis registered this much activity in Saudi Arabia was in
2003–2006, when al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) waged a lowscale
insurgency that killed some 300 people. Over several years, the Al Saud
family managed to destroy AQAP, which then reconstituted itself in Yemen.
It is interesting to observe that the Islamic State’s strategic priorities in Saudi
Arabia contrast sharply with those of AQAP. AQAP’s priorities in Saudi Arabia
were, first, Westerners and Western interests and, second, the Saudi security
forces and the regime. 41 It did not go after the Shia at all. With its anti-Shia
strategy, the Islamic State is trying something quite different. Playing to the
inherent anti-Shiism of Wahhabi religious doctrine, and to the widespread
fears of creeping Shia domination of the region, it is presenting itself as the
champion of Sunni Islam at a time when the Shia are seen to be taking over
the Middle East.
The leaders of Najd Province, in two audio statements released in May and
October 2015, have described and justified this anti-Shia strategy at length. 42
Both statements are diatribes against Shiism. The first (translated in full in the
appendix) accuses the Saudis of failing to carry out their Islamic duty of expelling
the Shia from the Arabian Peninsula and by contrast cites Baghdadi’s order
to “kill the Rejectionists wherever they are found.” “The Al Salul,” it says, “will
never protect you from the Rejectionists. Indeed, they have been unable to protect
their artificial borders from the Houthi scum, so how will they protect you
from the Rejectionists if they join together against you?”
The second statement presents an overview of the Shia threat, which can
be summarized as follows: The Sunnis are under a regionwide attack by an
Iranian-led Shia conspiracy (witness Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, where the Shia are
taking power with Iranian support). The Shia aspire to a massive state in the
shape of a crescent, stretching from Syria through Iraq, down through eastern
Arabia to Oman and Yemen, ultimately encompassing Islam’s holy places
in the Hijaz. The Shia of the Eastern Province are secretly loyal to Tehran
and are readying to free themselves of the Sunni yoke when the time is right.
Meanwhile, members of the Al Saud family are complicit in this plot to the
extent that they care only about their power, wealth, and survival.
Cole Bunzel | 13