文武両道, Bunbu no Ichi, Pen and Sword in accord – Musashi. A simple concept to grasp. A warrior must pursue both the Way of the pen and the Way of the sword, yet if one were to have a look at our Ummah today, how many men are walking this two-fold Way? Not many. Many will walk the Way of the pen to achieve great things but just as many will walk the Way of the pen to become armchair strategists. This is pitiful.
I have always been drawn to the Way. Since childhood, I’ve always wanted to understand war. Its history, development, theory, and application. I dreamt of jumping out of planes, kicking down doors, and killing bad guys. I wanted mastery of my body, my sword, and my rifle. This may have been naivete or an ancestral whisper from violent pastoralist days of old. Either way, I eventually grew up and decisions had to be made. I came to the decision that upon the completion of my university degree, I would join the UK Navy—specifically, a famous combat arms unit that would be used as a footstool to special forces. Due to years of compounding ignorance: a lack of Islamic education, apathy, and struggles with faith, this was a fully justified decision that was Islamically not a problem. In becoming engrossed in the way of the sword, I relegated myself to a blunt instrument to be wielded by whoever had the resources to drop me into a hostile environment in the dead of night. When one fails to see the Way in everything, he will explore every offroad it has to offer. This was accompanied by a complex web of coping mechanisms to smother the fitrah. Surely, you’re thinking, the masculine urge to find yourself on the battlefield could not possibly overpower your fitrah? To the point of allowing yourself to be wielded by the AGC to put down Muslim brothers and sisters? That’s exactly what it was. Countless hours of fatwa shopping, listening to the words of the Islamic Religious Advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff, adverts targeting Muslims and conversations with friends who enlisted led to a barely dodged great act of betrayal to the Ummah and a potential risk to my afterlife. After all, this is a common occurrence amongst those of us who have chased our worldly desires to the extreme. Ruin and destruction await. I know of a Muslim in an intelligence unit who after the events of Oct 7th and the subsequent destruction of Gaza, is riddled with guilt and helplessness. Due to no doing of my own, I received God’s Providence. I took my prayers, the company I keep, and the educational material I consumed seriously. I learned how grave a betrayal it would be to join a kaffir army, to slay Muslims for the advancement of liberal Western democracy. So, I accepted my position in this world. The masters I would have served have long parted with this world, the institutions that I would have fought under are now historical eccentricities. My station for now is that of a ronin. A masterless warrior wandering the realm, perfecting the art of war. Anything martial and partisan.
You’re never going to be SF
Upon this realization, I took straight to YouTube and 4chan. Bastions of ideas then, fed-infested cesspits now. The American tactical/gun scene is filled to the brim with Gucci gear-clad ex-SOF operators flexing their CQB skills. When is this useful? Rarely, for the partisan. Imagine the government or the native population of a particular Minecraft server was to become hostile to Muslims, to the point of violence. What are you going to do? How is your 3-day CQB course going to help when Marines kick your door down, flashbang you, and then put two in your chest, try clearing a room filled with trained infantry and see how well that goes. You will never best a conventional infantry unit at conventional warfare. They are trained and designed to engage in conventional warfare with ruthless force, precision, and accuracy. Let us hypothetically say that you and your group of Muslims, for whatever reason, best a conventional unit at their trade. They have drones, planes, helicopters etc. You are screwed either way. So, unless you part with your loyalty and your soul and join a western SF unit, these things have no major bearing on your adventures in partisanship. Knowledge of them is never a bad thing as warfare is unpredictable and knowing how to clear a room should you find yourself unfortunate enough to be in a situation where that is necessary. Your trade will not consist of CQB, trench warfare, door kicking, patrolling, holding an area for long periods, etc. Had the Vietcong fought like a regular army against the US, we’d have ourselves a new star on the American flag. Their communism aside, we learn a lot from these groups. Their strongholds are areas where some sort of overhead cover is available, and the terrain is difficult to traverse. Jungle for the VC and FARC and caves for the Taliban. This means that the areas you hold are made almost impossible to access by a conventional military and should a bombing campaign ensue, retreat to a tunnel/cave system is easy. The methodology of the Partisan is different from that of a conventional soldier, but the Way can be seen in everything. Study this and you shall see.
Partisanship
The methodology of the Partisan is simple. You take the rigid structure of a doctrine-based conventional military and exploit it for maximum damage and minimal casualties for your side. The partisan does not have unlimited resources, be it human, weaponry, or otherwise. Each partisan is incredibly valuable, and their survival is paramount to a successful insurgency. Mass casualty events can and should be avoided unless a commander deems it a reasonable loss compared to potential gain. The Partisan’s bread and butter is the ambush. Take an armored column for example, take out the front and rear vehicles that mark your kill zone and rain fire on your enemy. There are many stories of 3-man teams in Afghanistan taking out an entire column thanks to 2 RPGs and a PKM. This is a general strategy and should be studied further. The individual Partisan should be proficient with his weapon. Mastery of tools is paramount. You must operate a rifle in tandem with a sidearm, ensuring transitions are quick. Whilst practicing, time standards should be upheld for drills. Familiarity with weapon systems and other tools scavenged off defeated foes is paramount. NVGs are rare when an occupying force is controlling what enters and exits your territory, make use of them when found and know how to deploy them effectively. The commander should have intimate knowledge of military doctrine. This changes through time and from place to place. An example to make this concrete is Hamas’ response to the IDF’s doctrine. The IDF will use bombs extensively, they call this preemptive striking but really, it’s a terror tactic and a way to ensure that entering Gazan territory is easier for their combined arms units to cross. Hamas would respond by utilizing their tunnel system to pop out and fire RPGs or place explosives on tanks, APCs, bulldozers, etc. Other examples of doctrine include the Phalanx, the shield wall and at a smaller scale level, the way units are taught to respond to contact. These are all to be studied as they all have blind spots which can be exploited. This is basic but good enough to set you on a path for preparing for Jihad. It cannot be denied that men crave war or at the very least mastery in the art of war and this can be done through rigorous training and gaining an understanding of theory and its application. It is truly a shame for a man to go an entire lifetime without wishing to embark on Jihad, basking in the glory that victory or death brings. It is a symptom of a weak spirit. As “unlikely” as any of these scenarios are to come to your door as a Westerner, dismissing this as survivalist/prepper LARP is to be dismissed. Setting the intention for Jihad and training in the case that Allah was to bless us with the opportunity is reason enough to train 100 lifetimes.
Methods
Resources for learning are easy to find online as there are plenty in number. Beware, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Eventually, a community of brothers getting together to train/run courses would be useful. This is an ongoing effort, and I can’t outline everything in this article, however, in terms of individual practice I can prescribe some things. For our American brothers, you have it the easiest. You can own firearms and there are plenty of shooting ranges to go to. You will want to look at drills you can practice on the flat range to get comfortable manipulating your rifle and sidearm. Work on a smooth draw and knock your time down. There are even courses held by ex-military guys that you can attend if you wish. For the non-American, where gun control laws are restrictive. Your best bet is dry fire training i.e. airsoft. Before you laugh, check out the video by T.REX ARMS on the subject. Grab an airsoft rifle and pistol. Sling on the rifle and holster for the pistol. You’ll also want a vest and belt system. Again, the internet is your best friend. Fitness is paramount, tactical retreats and running in caves and tunnels will be a common occurrence. Being fat is unacceptable. It will get you and your friends killed with no gain. Being weak-minded is unacceptable. If you cannot exact focused acts of violence upon the enemy, you are of no use. If when pursuing the Way, you get discouraged because people call you a LARPer, you never had a chance. Train in the rain, in the snow, in the mountains, in the woods. Anywhere, anytime.
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