A video, claiming a group of Bangladeshis have declared themselves as followers of ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has surfaced online.
The video shows a group of five people taking Bay'ah to follow Al-Baghdadi. The video was uploaded in YouTube on August 2 with an English title ' Muslims in Bangladesh Give Bayah to the Caliphah Ibrahim (Hafiahulla)'.
In Islamic terminology, Bay'ah is an oath of allegiance to a leader. It is known to have been practiced by the prophet Muhammad.
The international militant outfit Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is now known as Islamic State (IS).
In the video, a five-member group appeared in masks carrying the Quran in hand.
They were seen taking oath in Bangla to follow Caliph Ibrahim ibn Awwad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad al-Badri al-Husayni al-Qurashi as spiritual leader after Prophet Muhammad.
Among them one was leading the Bay'ah saying: "We will follow Caliph Ibrahim as spiritual leader until death and will organise the Muslims by his leadership believing only in Allah as the supreme authority and Al Quran".
The key administrator in the oath also promised that the group would not split till death.
The masked people were waving a banner written in Arabic.
This is the first time a video depicted a Bangladeshi group taking oath to organise Muslims under one of the top Islamic militant ISIS leaders Abu Bakr al Bagdadi.
The video was uploaded by someone named Kamal Ahmedsama.
On June 29, the top leaders of ISIS announced the reestablishment of the Caliphate in the areas under control in Syria and Iraq.
Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi, the emir of the group, was subsequently appointed Caliph Ibrahim. Under its former name ISIS, it was formed in April 2013, as an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Iraq. It has since been disavowed by al-Qaeda, but has become one of the main jihadist groups fighting government forces in Syria and Iraq.
Security experts opined that the reestablishment of an Islamic extremist group and the Khilafah ideology have substantial consequences in the world for global Jihad.
