When the Internet comes together for a common cause, the results can be astounding. Such was the case when ISIS put out a call for Muslims to rise up against Western infidels. The relevant tweetstorm continues; but the madness started on Sunday evening when ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi sent out a recruitment call through an audio recording. Arab Spring activist Iyad El-Baghdadi swiftly translated the recording. He then posted a series of tweets, which revealed how al-Baghdadi urged Muslims to rise together and defend the Islamic state.
Or else.
ISIS leader: All Muslims should back and support the Islamic State, or else God's wrath will befall us.
— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) December 26, 2015
ISIS leaders: We urgently call upon every Muslim to join the fight, especially those in the land of the two shrines (Saudi Arabia), rise.
— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) December 26, 2015
ISIS leader: Western countries do not dare send their troops against us, that's why they send apostates to fight us.
— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) December 26, 2015
Twitter users were highly amused by this call to arms and responded by mocking al-Baghdadi’s demands for violence. Quite simply, everyone has better things to do than hang out with jihadists:
@iyad_elbaghdadi I wanna wait until April and find out what happened to Jon Snow
— Hind (@hsulaiti) December 27, 2015
I've got Star Wars on Sunday. Maybe later. https://t.co/UQ71PkUi4j
— SAZ (@my55cents) December 26, 2015
https://twitter.com/IdrisMhiri/status/680794762476163073
Cant. Too busy fangirling one direction https://t.co/lzfSEkHOCi
— Mentality Momster (@shireensendiri) December 27, 2015
The vibe also grew pretty personal with obligatory “72 virgins” jokes, which always hits Islamic radicals where it hurts most:
@iyad_elbaghdadi in this special occasion, is there any changes in virgin numbers?
72 is so old school.— Yaß (@yass_many) December 28, 2015
@yalmaamoun @iyad_elbaghdadi I've heard they're offering an extra 15 virgins as part of a special Black Friday deal in 2016* * =Details TBC
— Robbie Bett (@TeeSpirit) December 28, 2015
El-Baghdadi joined in the fun, too, because Twitter can be infectious.
ISIS's leader urgently calls upon every Muslim to join his fight. But it's late here. And tomorrow's Sunday. Come on man, cut me some slack.
— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) December 26, 2015
Within the chaos, something disastrous happened. Media outlets began to confuse El-Baghdadi with the ISIS leader. This should never have happened.
Maybe I should sue every media outlet that mistakes me for ISIS. Looks like a growth business. @indiacom
— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) December 29, 2015
Fortunately, a kind person created this handy infographic for El-Baghdadi, so no one should ever confuse him with al-Baghdadi again.
Thanks @thefnorder for creating this helpful illustration. pic.twitter.com/aQ9bSzPyLf
— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) December 29, 2015