1. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan 1
A Special Topic Course
Presented by:
www.IslamicStateOfAmerica.com
Understanding Islam:
For Such A Time As This
Lesson 10: The “Seven Sons of Satan”
2. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Review: The Rise of Terror
• Salaf doctrine expressed by ibn Taymiya (1263 – 1328 AD)
– Father of modern terror. Strong belief that Islam had lost its way.
• Muhammad ibn Al’ Wahhab (1703 – 1792 AD)
– Islam had “become soft” and he called for a return to 3rd century
(Islamic calendar) ideals
– Established pact with King Saud to bring ideals to his kingdom
• Muslim Brotherhood (Founded 1928)
– Assassinated President Sadat. Started first civil war in Syria 1982.
Started second Syrian civil war 2011.
– Took over Egypt (Muhammad Morsi) after “Arab Spring”, then pulled
from power by military. Manifesto for penetration of United States.
• Hamas, Hezbollah: Shi’a-based, grew out of Muslim Brotherhood
• Fatah, Al’ Qaeda, Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram, al Shabbab, others
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3. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Review: Muslim Brotherhood
• Literally “The Society of Muslim Brothers”
– Creed: “Allah is our objective; the Qu’ran is our law, the Prophet is our leaders; Jihad is our
way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.”
• Now one of the most influential and largest Islamic movements.
– Goal is to “instill the Qur’an and Sunnah as the ‘sole reference point… for ordering the life of
the Muslim family, individual, community and state,” and Islamic nations must be reunited
into the Caliphate.
• Supported Egyptian revolution of 1952.
– Assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat after Peace Accords, then banned in Egypt.
– Created Hamas in 1987 (government in Gaza).
– Legalized after fall of President Hozni Mubarak during the Arab Spring and rose again to
power in Egypt in 2012 under new President Mohamed Morsi, with 52% of the popular vote.
Overthrown in military coup after severe unrest due to poor management of Egypt
• Seek the overthrow of US government in favor of sharia law
– 1982 manifesto for global caliphate and subjugation of all nations
– 1991 plan for insidious infiltration of US society and government through “gradualism”
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4. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan 4
Islamism Overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LGzrYUGXdI
Video: Radical Islam: The Most Dangerous Ideology
5. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Jihad and Jihadists
• “The struggle” “Effort” “A call for action”
– Mujihadeen = a jihadist
• Declared by early Muslim leaders as a 6th pillar of faith
– A call to mobilize the resources, energies, capabilities of individuals in
service of a higher cause
• Portrayed by modern apologists as internal struggle
– “Spiritual experience on the inside”
• Triggered by an order given by a legitimate authority
– Theological force. Can’t be canceled, except by legitimate authority
– Condition #1: Umma (community) in physical danger of attack
– Condition #2: Promote, propagate and conquer for Islam
• Expand the Muslim world. The Umma is not static
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6. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Hezbollah, Hamas, Fatah
• Hamas = Sunni, funded by Iran
– Holds Gaza Strip
• Fatah = Sunni, various funding
– Holds West Bank
• Hezbollah = Shi’a, funded by Iran
– Based in Lebanon
• Muslim Brotherhood
– Active in Egypt
– Started war in Syria
• Syrian Ba’athists = Alawite Shi’a
– Party of Bashar al Assad. Funded by Iran
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7. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Hezbollah
• “The Party of God”
– Shi’a political and paramilitary organization based in Lebanon. Founded
1985. Surge of support after 2006 Lebanese civil war. Manifesto 1985:
– “... We are an umma linked to the Muslims of the whole world by the solid
doctrinal and religious connection of Islam, whose message God wanted to be
fulfilled by the Seal of the Prophets, i.e., Prophet Muhammad. Our behavior is
dictated to us by legal principles laid down by the light of an overall political
conception defined by the leading jurist....As for our culture, it is based on the
Holy Quran, the Sunna and the legal rulings of the faqih who is our source of
imitation.”
– Significant political force for Lebanese Shi’ites providing education,
hospital, agricultural services
– Leading resistance movement. Responsible for multiple suicide attacks
and bombings
– Aligned with Syrian government (Alawites) against rebels (Muslim
Brotherhood). Receiving “game changing weapons” from Syrian
government. Attacked occasionally by Israel to stop weapons flow.
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8. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Hamas
• The Islamic Resistance Movement
– Founded 1987 by Palestinian wing of Muslim Brotherhood
– Funded by Iran
– Charter calls for destruction of Israel and creation of Islamic state in
what is now Israel, West Bank, and Gaza Strip
– Notorious for suicide bombings and attacks on Israel
– Runs extensive social programs, including hospitals and schools
• Won many elections in Gaza after death of Arafat
– Gained majority of seats defeating Fatah in January 2006
• June 2007 Palestinian gov’t dissolved
– Civil war between Hamas and Fatah
– Hamas seized Gaza Strip
– Fatah took the West Bank
– Regarded by Palestinians for efficiency,
and lack of Fatah corruption
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9. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Fatah
• Reverse acronym from the Arabic name
Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini
– Palestine National Liberation Movement
– Founded 1954, dominant political force 1967
– Joined PLO in 1967, Arafat Chairman 1969
• Key sponsor of terror
– 2,432 guerilla attacks on Israel in 1969 alone
– Trained militant insurgents around world
– Funded by Russia, China. Involved in numerous wars, including
Lebanese civil war, Jordan, attacks on Israel, attacks in Europe
• Renounced terror 1993
– Arafat won Nobel Peace Prize in 1994
– Died 2004, party split 2005
– Major opposition is Hamas
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Yassar Arafat, Chairman PLO
10. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Al Qaeda, Taliban, Offshoots
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• Al Qaeda = Sunni
– Funded by Saudi
Arabian donors and
multiple other sources
• Taliban = Sunni
– Particularly hard-line
fundamentalists
– Funded by sale of
opium grown in
Afghanistan
– Outside funding from
Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia and Iran
11. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Al Qaeda
• “The Base”
• International Sunni Islamist movement
– Founded 1988 after invasion of Afghanistan
– Alleged inspiration for terror groups worldwide
– Headed by Osama bin Laden
• After Soviets retreat from Afghanistan…
– Osama bin Laden returns to Saudi Arabia, offers his Mujihadeen army
to help protect Saudis from Iraq. King Fahd refuses offer
– bin Laden speaks out against Saudis, forced into exile in Sudan. Loses
passport 1993, loses Saudi financial backing. Citizenship revoked April
1994. Expelled from Sudan 1996. Killed 2011.
• Taliban takes over Afghanistan
– bin Laden returns to Afghan roots.
– Teams up with al Zawahiri on Second Fatwa
• Second and last emir of Egyptian Islamic Jihad
• Expanding aggressively into northern Africa
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12. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Taliban
• Sunni Islamist movement
– Founded 1994. Most members are Afghan
refugees and Pashtuns educated at Islamic
schools in Pakistan
– Arose from anger over murder of civilians by
Mujihadeen warlords in Afghanistan.
– Departure from Sufi Islam of Mujihadeen anti-
Soviet rulers. Strongly oppose Shi’a Islam.
• “The Shar’ia does not allow politics or political
parties. That is why we give no salaries to officials or
soldiers, just food, clothes, shoes and weapons. We
want to live a life like the Prophet lived 1400 years
ago and jihad is our right. We want to recreate the
time of the Prophet and we are only carrying out
what the Afghan people have wanted for the past 14
years.”
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13. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan 13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iij38tUZOIg
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)
Video: Afghanistan’s Helmand province may fall to Taliban
14. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Al Shabbab
• "Muhahideen Youth Movement”
– Offshoot of Islamic Courts Union
• Wahhabist roots in Sunni Islam. Hostile to Sufi
– Aligned with al Qaeda and ISIS
– Holy war against Somalia government
and its Ethiopian allies
– Foreign jihadists from multiple countries
• Reduction in effectiveness after Kenyan
forces engaged terrorists in southern Somalia
– Suffering heavy military losses
– US airstrike killed 150 fighters this week
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Mukhtar Robow
2nd Deputy
15. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Boko Haram
• "Western education is forbidden”
– Founded 2002, radicalized 2009, aligned with ISIS, al Qaeda
– Seek to rid Nigeria of western influences
• Attacks began 2011
– 2.3M people displaced, 250,000 refugees
– Captured French tourists, 276 schoolgirls, Chinese workers
– 2015 massacre in Baga killed over 2,000. Raided Cameroon
– 2015, 400 women/children. 145 killed in multiple mosque attacks
• Governor of Borno, July 2014
– “Boko Haram are better armed and are better motivated than our own
troops. Given the present state of affairs, it is absolutely impossible for
us to defeat Boko Haram.”
• President of Nigeria, December 2015
– Declared Boko Haram ”technically defeated”
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16. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
The War In Syria
• Five years of war
(Mar 2011)
• 250 – 470K dead
• 6M+ refugees
• Proxy war between
Syria, Iran and
Russia against the
US, Saudi Arabia
and jihadists
• Dangerous
intersection of
political and
religious agenda
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(Note the salute to President al-Assad)
17. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Assad’s repressive Socialist
Ba’ath one-party regime
Poor Sunni ethnic groups
aligned w/ Muslim Brotherhood
Shi’a (Alawite) regime, Iran,
Russia, and Hezbollah
Sunni Islamist terror groups,
Arab Gulf states, and the US
Which War Are They Fighting?
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18. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Sectarianism Led to Formation of Syria
• Under French mandate, Alawites were
granted autonomy in territory along coast
from Lebanon to Turkey. This lasted until
1937, then incorporated as state of Syria
• 1963 coup brought Ba’ath Party to power
under Alawites led by al-Assad. 1982 revolt
by Sunnis against al-Assad. Put down in
massive massacre at Hama (25,000 dead)
• Latest uprising against al-Assad (the son)
began in March 2011, as an outlet for long-
suppressed grievances, led mostly by poor
Sunnis from marginalized areas.
• Many of rebel forces are backed by
Muslim Brotherhood, who want al-
Assad gov’t replaced with Islamic
state (Shari’a law)
Ethnic cleansing… leading
to a culture of revenge
Hama
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19. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
Which Side Do You Pick?
• Syria?
– They will exterminate as many
Sunnis as possible in the
wrap-up of the war
– They will continue to rule their
Sunni poor with an iron fist,
empowered even more by the
win over the majority Sunnis
– Iran gains an even more firm
foothold on the doorstep of
Israel and in Lebanon
– Russia gains a firm foothold in
the Middle East as an ally of
Iran and Shi’a Islam, and the
enemy of Islamic Sharia states
• Free Syrian Army?
– They will exterminate or drive out
every Alawite. Ethnic cleansing.
– They will institute Sharia law and
will establish an Islamic state, run
by the Muslim Brotherhood
– Islamic states will ring 2/3 of
Israel’s borders and pinch Jordan
– Shi’a and Alawites will pour into
Lebanon and southern Turkey,
waging a gory guerilla war to
retake their lands
– The guerilla action, funded by
Iran, will spill over into Hezbollah’s
action against Israel
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20. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan
An Intractable Problem
• Chemical weapons
• Tactical and ballistic missiles (Scud)
• Anti-aircraft weapons
• Anti-ship missiles
• Thermobaric weapons
• Anti-tank missiles
• Syrian Armed Forces
• Shabiha
• Hezbollah
• Iran Revolutionary Guard
Rebels
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
Turkey
USA
• Free Syrian Army (FSA). Muslim
Brotherhood. Syrian Islamic
Liberation Front. al-Nusra Front (al-
Qaeda affiliate)
Destroy Assad’s regime, then
set up an Islamic state.
• Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and
the Levant (ISIS).
Establish the caliphate now,
then destroy Assad’s regime
Syrian
Gov’t
Russia
Iran
Hezbollah
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21. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan 21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKb9GVU8bHE
Video: Syria's war: Who is fighting and why
22. Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
The Seven Sons of Satan 22
• Lesson 11
• ISIS
– Islamic State
– Caliphate emerging
– Apocalyptic goal
– Nations gathering
– Fighters from around the globe
– No easy answers…
• Pray!
– For wisdom, for God’s grace, and for His hand in our lives
In Our Next Lesson