The collapse of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) across much of northeast Syria has raised fears and concerns about the SDF-run prisons and camps housing Islamic State (IS) members and their families as well as civilians who were residing in IS-held areas and became displaced as a result of the milirary campaign against IS. The al-Hol camp, located near the border with Iraq, is one of the largest such camps. The SDF has withdrawn from it and its administration has now been taken over by the Syrian government.
It should be noted that there is somewhat of a disconnect between the sentiments of some Syrian government fighters and supporters and the sentiments of at least some of those located in al-Hol camp. For some Syrian government fighters and supporters, the women and children of al-Hol in particular are Muslims who have been oppressed by the SDF and misled and abandoned by IS. For some of those in al-Hol camp who support IS, the Syrian government fighters and supporters are no better than the SDF: rather, they too are ‘apostates’ from Islam and still acting under the supervision and directives of ‘Crusader’ America.
It is very much in this spirit that the Islamic State has put out this week’s editorial in its al-Naba’ newsletter.
The editorial interprets the SDF’s loss of al-Hol as simply an indication that the U.S. is no longer willing to partner with the SDF and prefers the government of Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Muhammad al-Jowlani) because it is willing to be more subservient to the U.S. and its interests than Assad or the SDF ever were.
Playing on the Arabic word “hol” (which can be translared as “horror”), the editorial argues that it is the supporters of Sharaa who are living in a big “horror” that cannot be compared to the sufferings of Muslims in al-Hol, because Sharaa’s supporters have sold out religion and are simply the supporters of another Taghut (idolatrous tyrant) who does not differ from other Tawaghit in the region or the Pharaoh of the Qur’an (the archetype Taghut). But deluded, they falsely see him as a liberator and conqueror. This reality is a sample of the broader situation of the Muslim Ummah, with only a few true believers rising up and taking action against this crisis (typical of the Islamic State’s vanguard rhetoric).
Below is the editorial fully translated with annotations.
Our Hol and your Hol are not the same
With the Jowlani regime’s control over the prisons and camps of horrors, the theatrical acts of handing over rule to a Taghut who has outdone his “Nusayri”[i]and “Communist” predecessors in submission and loyalty to the Crusader West are completed. Trump expressed this very thing in his discussion of the Kurdish administration when he said: “They were working for themselves more than for us”— an intentional precise indication that Trump wants a “Syrian administration” that works for him more than it works for Syria, and it seems Trump has finally found what he wants.
Trump has found a new dog more loyal than “Mazloum Abdi”! [ii]But the problem is that those who rear dogs do not stick to a specific type no matter how loyal the dog is to his master, for the one who enticed Trump with Jowlani will entice him with someone else besides him one day, especially since he is head of a “transitional period” whose transitions are so quick.
Nor far from all this are the statements of the conductor “Tom Barrack”, who said that “the main purpose of the SDF was to serve as a fighting force against the Islamic State, and that purpose has finished.” That is, they have found the one who fights for them more than the Communist administration! The strange thing is that the supporters of the Syrian Taghut were overjoyed with the statements of “Donald” and “Tom” and widely disseminated them in an act that lacks awareness and is the product of the old Pharaonic rearing: “And so he misled his people and they obeyed him.”[iii]
Trump wants a “Syrian administration” that works for him more than it works for Syria, and it seems Trump has finally found what he wants.
From the security angle, the Crusaders have planned well for the operation and managed it with all caution, in fear that the “Kurdish administration” might commit some stupid acts in the last moments, because the first mistake in dealing with this “ticking timebomb” is the last mistake. These are the Islamic State’s prisoners, the mark of patience and steadfastness, for they were the target of this military operation that America itself led with the participation of the apostate armies of disgrace.
A state of revenge against and reviling of the mujahidin has prevailed, as shown by the supporters of the Syrian Taghut following their army’s receiving of the camps of horrors, and these people have promoted the notion that their army has liberated the women and children who were the victims of hijra,[iv] jihad and Shari’a, in an attack on the obligation of jihad that God the Exalted has willed for on the prophetic methodology, whereas these people want it on the methodology of “Tom Barrack.”
These slaves rebuke us because of the humble believing women who have endured the horrors! These people have forgotten that they, before others, have themselves been languishing in camps that are larger than al-Hol and called liberated towns, with the guardians of the Taghut shutting their borders upon them, and imposing upon them the beliefs, loyalties and affiliations they have desired.
The entire Ummah is languishing in a big horror made for them by the Tawaghit on Crusader and Jewish orders in advance, and they have confined the Ummah in it and told them: “Here, take your food and drink. Build your world and sell out your Hereafter.” And so the majority have submitted and a small group have risen up, and so the majority have rebuked the believing minority for their patience and purity, after abandoning them, going as far as possible to ensure they are abandoned, and standing in the camp of their enemy.
All of you, you scum—soldiers and supporters of the Taghut—find yourselves in a big horror. Between you and the horrors of separation there is no sort of comparison. Are the mujahid and the one who sits back equal? Are the free and the slave equal? Are the supporter of Tawhid and the one who abandons it, sells it out and violates it equal? So don’t be so harsh upon them, try to do what they did yourselves, and you will not accomplish a tenth of what they have accomplished.[v]
From the security angle, the Crusaders have planned well for the operation and managed it with all caution.
The heroes of al-Hol, Shaddadi and Ghuwayran[vi] are paying the price for the Shari’a, while you are paying the price for democracy. They are paying the price of Tawhid,[vii] you are paying the price of servitude to the Taghut. They are paying the price of jihad, you are paying the price of sitting back, they are paying the price of pride, you are paying the price of humiliation many times over. So there is no equality. They have seen what the companions of their prophet (SAWS) saw in the battle of the confederates,[viii] and the hypocrites rebuked them for it at the time. And we are certain in the promise of God—for the one who is steadfast and whose life is extended—that He will show that person the conquest of Mecca, Rome and Bayt al-Maqdis.[ix]
The scum’s clapping for the Taghut’s seizure of the prisons of horrors and their seeing that as a liberation for the dignity that he has been holding captive since he ruled Idlib, is a mini version of the Ummah’s condition when the greater Dajjal[x] comes out and is followed by many people who knew previously that he would be their demise and temptation! But despite this, they fell into the temptation, after a seal was set on their hearts, their sights were blinded by what their hands had gained, and so they saw the Dajjal as their saviour, just as these people have seen Jowlani as a conqueror and liberator.
The Noble Qur’an has specified to us what happens to such people, for the Exalted has said: “And We have destined many jinn and men for hell. They have hearts by which they do not discern, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have hears with which they do not hear. These people are like cattle, and indeed they are even more misguided. These people are the ignorant ones.” [xi]Ibn Kathir[xii] said: “The meaning is they do not benefit at all from these body parts that God has made a cause for guidance...the Almighty has said: “Deaf, dumb and blind, they do not return.” He has said this regarding hypocrites. And He has said regarding the disbelievers: “Deaf, dumb and blind. They show no understanding.” They have only been deaf dumb and blind regarding guidance.”
The heroes of al-Hol, Shaddadi and Ghuwayran[vi] are paying the price for the Shari’a, while you are paying the price for democracy.
All these Qur’anic meanings are witnessed by us with our very eyes in the supporters of the Taghut Jowlani, who think they are far-removed from these characteristics and rulings because they think that their Taghut differs from other Tawaghit of the age, just as they think they differ from other supporters of Tawaghit.
Here is a call to the students of knowledge on the need to polish studies of doctrine and manhaj[xiii] that help to reach the minds of the supporters of the Tawaghit, and the need to explain and clarify them in light of the two sources of revelation.[xiv] For however distant are the abodes and eras, and however much the languages and ethnicities differ and the systems of rule change, the Tawaghit are one and their supporters are the same, ranging from Pharaoh to Jowlani. The one who supposes there is a difference between one Taghut and another, or between the supporters of one Taghut or another, is mistaken. Soon enough the soldiers of “Jowlanism” will bring out everything in their hearts and will exactly follow in the footsteps of “Pharaonism.” So surely they are the followers of a Taghut who is just like Sisi, Ibn Zayed and Ibn Salman[xv]? “Are your disbelievers better than those, or do you have a guarantee of immunity in the books?”
Then this is a Qur’anic whisper of faith in the ears of our brothers who have been distressed by this great rise of the scum who hold these positions and affiliations. For that afflicted your Prophet (SAWS) on the path of his da’wa[xvi]and jihad, for his Almighty Lord addressed him with these verses: “And We know that you are afflicted by what they say.”[xvii] So what was the divine directive in these sorts of situations? Ibn Kathir said: “And indeed We know oh Muhammad of their harm that is afflicting you, with the distress in your heart, but this should not make you give up, nor should it divert you from your conveying of God’s message. Put your reliance in God, for He suffices for you and gives you victory over them.”
Then remember the words of the Pleasant, Knowing, the Just Ruler, the Exalted: “And do not reckon that God is ignorant of what the oppressors do. He is rather giving them respite to a day on which the eyes will stare.”[xviii] So the story has yet to be completed and continues in this world before the Hereafter. Indeed we see the people’s[xix] fates of perdition are nearer than before, but we ask the Almighty, through His bestowal and generosity, that these fates of perdition should be at the believers’ hands.
[i] Derogatory term for Alawite, referring here to the Assad regime.
[ii] Head of the SDF.
[iii] Qur’an 43:54, referring to Pharoah and his people.
[iv] Migration in the path of God.
[v] The remarks here are adapted from verses attributed to al-Hutay’a, a seventh century Arab poet. They are translated somewhat freely.
[vi] A prison in Hasakah housing Islamic State fighters. Site of an attempted prison break in January 2022.
[vii] Islamic monotheism.
[viii] Also known as the battle of the trench, the confederates being those who allied against the Muslims.
[ix] Jerusalem.
[x] Antichrist/false Messiah.
[xi] Qur’an 7:179.
[xii] 13th century Qur’anic exegete, frequently cited by Islamic State.
[xiii] Methodology/program.
[xiv] The Qur’an and Sunna.
[xv] Muhammad bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince.
[xvi] Call to Islam.
[xvii] Qur’an 15:97.
[xviii] Qur’an 14:42.
[xix] i.e. The disbelievers.
Published originally on January 24, 2026.
