Periodically, Ekhlaas members poll the forum. Usually, the questions are inane (“How much do you love the Islamic State of Iraq?”). But a recent poll posted two months ago caught my eye. The voting seems to be coming to an end, so I’m posting the results.
The question is, “After you arrive in the theaters of jihad (God willing), where will you find yourself?” The respondents can choose from the following (quoting):
- in a martyrdom operation
- in the field of battle fighting the Crusaders [direct fighting]
- producing sophisticated weapons [traditional and non-traditional]
- in leadership positions [company commander – group commander]
- teaching a course on the Sharia
- in the media division
- something else
75 people responded, but only 46 directly answered the question. Some had multiple answers, so I only counted their first choices. Here’s how the results break down:
15 Martyrdom, 22 Fight, 3 Weapons, 3 Leadership, 0 Teaching, 1 Media, 2 Other. Some of the respondents couldn’t choose one and answered with a prioritized list. Others felt they could do several of things at once. For example, one said he could fight during the day and teach religious classes at night.
It’s interesting that so few of the respondents aspire to leadership positions or want to play supporting roles. Perhaps it’s because they are doing that now as forum fighters and feel that when they travel to the front, it’s time to fight. Or perhaps it’s peer pressure: no one wants to appear arrogant by claiming leadership or cowardly by choosing a non-violent option.
Document (Arabic): 6-28-08-ekhlaas-what-service-do-you-want-to-perform-in-theaters-of-jihad
(This is only the first page of the six pages of responses. Follow the numbered links at the bottom for the rest.)
