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It’s Not ‘ISIS’, It’s the ‘Allah Finger’
Front Page Magazine ^ | 10 Mar, 2926 | Daniel Greenfield

Posted on 03/10/2026 6:02:39 PM PDT by MtnClimber

When Emir Balat, accused of taking part in throwing IEDs at a rally against the Islamization of New York City near the mayoral residence, was being led out by an FBI agent, he raised his right finger upwards in what media accounts incorrectly described as an “ISIS salute”.

The New York Post called it “a universal salute for ISIS”. But there is no such thing as an ISIS salute. It’s the traditional Islamic salute used during prayers to their deity and, much like “Allahu Akbar” is used by Islamists proclaiming that they represent Allah and are combating infidels.

ISIS beheaders held up one finger after beheading their non-Muslim victims, but so do most Muslims. The ISIS flag, a terrifying black and white chimera to most westerners, simply declares that Allah is the only deity and Mohammed is his messenger: the founding premise of Islam.

The persistent myth of an ‘ISIS salute’ continues to crop up when media outlets try to distinguish between Islam and some imaginary ‘extreme’ version of it represented by Islamic terrorists. The BBC and a UK police force previously apologized for calling the ‘Allah finger’ an ISIS salute.

What the ‘ISIS salute’ lie really reveals is the length to which authorities and the media will go to cover up the Islamic theology behind Islamic terrorism. What the Gracie Mansion bombing suspect likely meant to convey was that the murderous attack had been carried out in Allah’s name, that he was operating under Islamic law, and had no regard for our justice system.

Islam is not an inward-facing faith. Its followers do not shout “Allahu Akbar” or hold up one finger as part of some ‘inner struggle’ of faith, as apologists have mischaracterized Jihad, but as symbols of their external struggle and a justification for violence against all non-Muslims.

The significance of the ‘Allah finger’ is not an inward acceptance of Allah’s supremacy, but a contention that the ‘fingerer’ is a monotheist while those outside the circle are ‘polytheists’ or pagans who, under Islamic law, may be freely killed, raped and enslaved by the followers of Islam. Much as ‘Allahu Akbar’ is a proclamation of Allah’s supremacy over non-Muslims and thus a triumphal declaration that Islam will defeat them, their religions and their ‘gods’, so too the ‘Allah finger’ easily becomes a justification for violence in the name of Islamic supremacism.

Islam is perpetually frozen in the moment of its founding Jihad. Its traditional followers see themselves as a small minority tasked with the primal Mohammedan mission of forcing their friends and neighbors to accept Islam, either through persuasion (Dawah) or force (Jihad.) Different Islamic movements, groups and individuals may vary in the tactics they use, how much they rely on one or the other, and how they pursue even violence, but the endgame is the same.

The ‘Allah finger’ helps us understand that mindset which bridges ISIS and the mosque next door. What may seem like a declaration of faith is actually a symbol of conquest. The constant need for expansion makes faith into an external expression and its preferred outlet is violence.

When Muslims praise Islamic terrorists, they are often mistranslated as “martyrs”. But “martyr” is a Greek term meaning “witness”. The martyr in Christianity testified to his faith in life or death. The martyrs of Christianity eventually became those who testified for their faith by giving up their lives. The equivalent term in Judaism is “Kedoshim” or “sanctified ones”. Much as Islam appears to share a common meaning with ‘peace’, the Arabic term “shaheed” appears to also mean ‘witness’, but the Islamic ‘Shaheed’ is most often used to refer to Muslims who murder in the name of Islam. The witnessing of Islam is not passive: it is a violent Jihad against all others.

What the Koran wants most from Muslim is not inner faith, but outer violence, best expressed through the subjugation of non-Muslims under Sharia law. Personal conduct matters less because all is forgiven and paradise is granted to Jihadis. That is why the worst possible men aspire to it. The man (or woman) who truly believes in Islam holds up his finger, shouts “Allahu Akbar” and throws an IED in order to make Islam “supreme over all unbelievers”.

ISIS in America does not exist as an organized force, but as a series of Telegram channels, Discord chats and other crowdsourced means of communication reaching young Muslims who have been inspired by the teachings of their religion to wage relentless war against infidels.

What has set ISIS apart all along is not that it invented some new ‘extremist theology’ as experts, politicians and the media have been desperately trying to convince us, but that it takes Islamic law seriously and unapologetically. People argue that Islam needs a reformation. ISIS is it. Every Islamic ‘reformation’, like Wahhabism, has brought Islam closer to what it once was. The mission of these reformations is to scourge out any western influences, eliminate any of the liberalizing tendencies of the late Ottoman period, and recommit to the caliphate mission.

ISIS is just unapologetic Islam. The ISIS salute is the traditional ‘Allah finger’ used in Islamic prayers. The attacks carried out by Muslim men who pledge allegiance to it is just Jihad.

The media outlets that describe the ‘Allah finger’ as an “ISIS salute” are eventually forced to retract, often under pressure from Muslim Brotherhood groups like CAIR, and admit it’s a traditional Islamic sign. They will add that it has nothing to do with terrorism. That part isn’t true.

What is more true is that there is no meaningful distinction between Islam and Islamic terrorism. The red line between some mainstream form of Islam and terrorism never existed and doesn’t exist. Most Muslims reject ISIS not because of attacks like the one outside Gracie Mansion, but because the Islamic terrorist group, originally operating as an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Iraq, claims exclusive religious authority and declared that all who do not accept it are fair game for terror.

That and that alone is what Muslims object to about ISIS.

If there were some fundamental theological differences between ISIS and Islam, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former Al Qaeda and ISIS affiliated leader now in charge of Syria, wouldn’t be accepted and celebrated by most Sunni Muslims. And the Muslim Brotherhood, which dominates most mosques in America, wouldn’t have spawned Al Qaeda and then ISIS, while pressuring Congress to accept and drop all sanctions on Syria’s Al Qaeda regime.

Most ‘splits’ within Islam, including the primal Sunni and Shiite split, were not really formed around actual theological differences, but as power struggles between different Muslim factions. In Islam, religion is power and power is religion. That’s why the ultimate expression of Islam is Jihad.

The ‘Allah finger’ and “Allahu Akbar” are not mystical expressions of faith in an esoteric creator, but the chain of command in a military hierarchy that begins with Allah, goes through Mohammed and then down to any Islamic faction willing to wage war on the infidels.

The ‘ISIS salute’ may not be exclusive to that Islamic terror group, but it really is a military salute. The Gracie Mansion bomber was likely indicating his role in a military hierarchy at war with the United States of America and the entire non-Muslim world.

“The minarets are the bayonets, the domes are the helmets, the mosques are our barracks, the believers are the soldiers,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s Islamic dictator, once recited. With equal simplicity, the brutal mass murderer also stated that, “Islam cannot be either ‘moderate’ or ‘not moderate.’ Islam can only be one thing.” That thing may sometimes pretend to be other things, but in the end Islam is the same thing that Mohammed created over 1,000 years ago.

Islam is Jihad. And when we import Islam, we import an ancient war machine dedicated to conquering us through lies, through persuasion and finally through bombs and terror.


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: allahfinger; danielgreenfield; deathcult; emirbalat; fingerofshahada; frontpagemagazine; giveobamathefinger; givingallahthefinger; greenfield; hamas; hezbollah; iran; isissalute; islam; israel; jihad; letsgobarack; mohammedens; moslem; mozlem; muslimproblem; newyorkcity; nycfailedbombing; satanicdeathcult; shahada; shahadagesture; sultanknish; usbualshahadah; waronterror; yemen

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To: BenLurkin; Deaf Smith; ETCM

“Who the heck made a painting out of this clown?”
~~~~~~

The original photo is in the article linked below. I’d presume that the image is copyrighted, so maybe using an AI altered and generated image prevents having to pay large fees to the copyright holder.

<<>> Suspected terrorist defiantly flashes ISIS salute after he’s busted for tossing explosive device near Gracie Mansion

https://nypost.com/2026/03/09/us-news/shackled-terrorist-defiantly-flashes-isis-salute-after-hes-busted-for-tossing-explosive-device-near-gracie-mansion/


21 posted on 03/10/2026 6:54:35 PM PDT by deks (America cannot be made great in complete isolation from the adversaries that are harming Americans)
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To: MtnClimber
Every so often Dan writes a humdinger. This is one of them. It needs to be read two or three times for its historical significance. The press, the pacifists, the politicians are want to confuse the true story of Islam. For example, they will describe the Iranians as ‘radical’ when in fact all Islamists are radical. There are many other euphemisms that are used regularly to water down the true reality of Islam. I can only believe that when people rationalize the truth about Islam and Allah's death cult that these people are being influenced and blinded subconsciously by the Devil. Why else would people appease and cover for an enemy that is intent on killing them? Speaking of 'radical' this thinking is the most twisted thought process can think of.
22 posted on 03/10/2026 6:56:08 PM PDT by iontheball (, )
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To: Paladin2

cataloged.....


23 posted on 03/10/2026 7:03:56 PM PDT by Paladin2 (YMMV)
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To: one guy in new jersey; Albion Wilde

It’s a ©AP photo that was published in the following article....

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2718143/Obamas-monsters-ball-How-White-House-opened-doors-Africas-evil-dictators-homophobes-turned-blind-eye-human-rights-record.html


24 posted on 03/10/2026 7:06:52 PM PDT by deks (America cannot be made great in complete isolation from the adversaries that are harming Americans)
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To: MtnClimber

Blessed be the LORD, my Rock and my great strength,
Who trains my hands for war
And my fingers for battle
Psa 144:1


25 posted on 03/10/2026 7:13:19 PM PDT by Z28.310 (Overthinkers Annonymous suggestion; "Do not simply comply". ..especially with ClusterB disorders)
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This article explains the sign and its usage in detail (which Snopes tried to debunk)....

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/02/rebutting_snopes_on_obamas_muslim_gang_sign.html

<<>>Rebutting Snopes on ‘Obama’s Muslim Gang Sign’

Just after Obama walked on stage, an off-camera voice coming from behind him cried, “Allahu Akbar.” This is a Muslim expression meaning “God is the greatest,” a cry that Muhammad, the creator of Islam, made frequent use of to incite people to violence and to praise their violent deeds.

Obama’s hand gesture was in response to this cry. It happened quickly. Eight seconds into the video below (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc6XHQHeWnM&feature=youtu.be&t=8s), you can see that he raises his right hand rapidly, and as it reaches the level of his face, a thumbs-up gesture has formed. His hand then disappears behind his head for the briefest moment, and when it reappears, his thumb is folded under his index finger.

It is by then a fully formed and perfectly executed usbu al-shahada – the finger of shahada, shahada being the fundamental declaration of faith of Muslims: There is but one God and Muhammad is his messenger. This is not finger-pointing, or making a point, or getting attention in order to ask a question, or the wagging of a finger.


26 posted on 03/10/2026 7:15:59 PM PDT by deks (America cannot be made great in complete isolation from the adversaries that are harming Americans)
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*
usbu al-shahada = finger of shahada (shahada is the first pillar of islam)

The blood in the first image signifies martyrdom

bandicam-2026-03-10-20-30-42-432

27 posted on 03/10/2026 7:37:04 PM PDT by deks (America cannot be made great in complete isolation from the adversaries that are harming Americans)
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To: MtnClimber

We have a finger signal like that, too. Several, actually.


28 posted on 03/10/2026 7:39:45 PM PDT by Tacrolimus1mg (Do no harm, but take no sh!t.)
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To: MtnClimber
I don’t even understand why the OK sign is offensive.

I think it was supposed to be some kind of secret KKK recognition sign, which no one ever heard of, but all of a sudden every media outlet was going ape-excrement over it.

29 posted on 03/10/2026 7:39:45 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: 100American; 21twelve; 2nd amendment mama; A Conservative Thinker; Absolutely Nobama; ...
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam and leftism.

Islam is Jihad. And when we import Islam, we import an ancient war machine dedicated to conquering us through lies, through persuasion and finally through bombs and terror.

Excellent essay from Daniel Greenfield.

Ping out to the Daniel Greenfield Ping! list.

As always, please FReepmail me if you want on or off the esteemed Daniel Greenfield ping list.

Daniel Greenfield's website: The Sultan Knish blog

30 posted on 03/10/2026 9:17:07 PM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: MtnClimber

31 posted on 03/11/2026 1:29:28 AM PDT by Nateman (Democrats did not strive for fraud friendly voting merely to continue honest elections.)
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To: I want the USA back

islam = Totalitarian communism + worshipping satan (aka allah, lucifer, etc...)

That’s all you need to know to understand that satanic death cult.


32 posted on 03/11/2026 1:46:16 AM PDT by newfreep ("There is no race problem...just a problem race")
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To: Paladin2

The one finger salute proclaims they are warriors for their moon god
ISIS, that dude, 0bama.
They all proclaim they have submitted to their moon god.
They cannot help themselves


33 posted on 03/11/2026 3:47:32 AM PDT by Steven Tyler
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