Always eager to make a bad situation worse, the remnants of the jihadi Islamic State group are calling on God to increase the suffering of nonbelievers from the coronavirus, and claiming that the pandemic was sent to punish their enemies.
ISIS released a new newsletter as part of their al-Naba publication, which recently instructed members on how to deal with the spread of the virus, reports MailOnline.
The articles begins by stating that God “has imposed something of his painful torment on the nations of his creation,” claiming the virus is God’s payback to idolatrous nations, according to Al-Masdar News.
It then calls on God to increase the suffering of nonbelieving nations and protect believers from harm.
“Indeed he is harsh of punishment against the one who rebels against him, and merciful to the one who obeys him and stands with him,” the terrorist group said, as quoted by a researcher.
The terrorist group stated that the outbreak has forced “crusader nations” to retreat and devote their militaries to containing the spread of the virus.
While ISIS does not call the virus by its official name, they do highlight the impacts the illness has had around the world.
A list of ‘religious directives’ on tackling infectious diseases appeared in the same newspaper as the most recent comments.
The list included “stay away from sick people,” “wash your hands before eating” and “avoid travel to affected areas” – curiously similar advice to that being given by world governments.
But it also included decrees such as “put your faith in God and seek refuge in him” and “illnesses do not strike by themselves but by the command and decree of God.”
While ISIS has lost almost all of its so-called caliphate in the Middle East, it is thought to still hold pockets of territory across Iraq and Syria.
