Al Shabaab Faction Pledges Allegiance to ISIS

A new video purportedly released by Al Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia, shows 50 fighters renouncing their fealty to al Qaeda to join the Islamic State. The announcement comes after a well known, United Kingdom based Al Shabaab Islamist preacher Sheikh Abdulkadir Mumin pledged allegiance to ISIS earlier this month. The above video was released on November 8, 2015 and is titled “Bay’ah to the Leader of the Faithful and Caliph of the Muslims Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Joining the Caravan of the Caliphate.”

Pledging allegiance to the Islamic State is known as bay’ah. The term has been around since the era of Muhammad, when bay’ah was the way rival tribes could enter the Islamic community.

According to CNN, the faction split in Al Shabaab has not been taken lightly by leaders. The Amniyat, the secret police of the terrorist group, have begun to arrest members who switched loyalty to ISIS. CNN sources state that “Somalia’s security apparatus estimate that about 100 fighters would likely defect to ISIS, among the estimated 1,400-strong insurgent group.”