The leader of Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, the Sunni insurgent group rampaging across Iraq, called on Muslims on Tuesday to join his fight. “Rush O Muslims to your state. Yes, it is your state,” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi said. He said that terrorism is a way for Muslims to live honorably and “insist upon your rights.” He also said the world is split between Islam and the forces of “disbelief and hypocrisy,” including the United States, Russia and Jews. 
 
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 The statement, described as a Ramadan message, was released by a jihadist website and translated by a media arm of ISIS, which announced over the weekend that it would shorten its name. “The Muslims today have a loud, thundering statement, and possess heavy boots,” the statement said. “They have a statement that will cause the world to hear and understand the meaning of terrorism, and boots that will trample the idol of nationalism, destroy the idol of democracy and uncover its deviant nature.” 
 
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 SOCIAL ||||| The leader of the so-called Islamic State has called on Muslims worldwide to take up arms and flock to the "caliphate" it had declared on captured Syrian and Iraqi soil. 
 
 Proclaiming a "new era" in which Muslims will ultimately triumph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi issued the call to jihad - holy war - in an audio message lasting nearly 20 minutes that was posted online on Tuesday. 
 
 Baghdadi, who has assumed the mediaeval title of caliph, used the message to seek to assert authority over Muslims everywhere. He called on them to rise up and avenge the alleged wrongs committed against their religion, from Central African Republic to Myanmar (Burma). 
 
 "By Allah, we will take revenge, by Allah we will take revenge, even if after a while," he said. 
 
 "They have a statement that will cause the world to hear and understand the meaning of terrorism, and boots that will trample the idol of nationalism, destroy the idol of democracy and uncover its deviant nature." 
 
 Wednesday's statement comes as Iraq's parliament adjourned for a week, an hour into its first session, after it failed to reach an agreement on senior appointments. 
 
 Colonial-era borders 
 
 The group, previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), proclaimed the caliphate on Sunday and declared Baghdadi its leader, in a bid to sweep away state borders and redraw the map of the Middle East. 
 
 Translations in English, Russian, French, German, and Albanian were also posted online. 
 
 The declaration of the caliphate followed a three-week drive for territory by ISIL fighters and their allies among Iraqi's Sunni Muslim minority. 
 
 Dominating swathes of territory in an arc from Aleppo in Syria to near the western edge of Baghdad, the caliphate aims to erase colonial-era borders and defy the US- and Iranian-backed government of Iraq's Shia prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. 
 
 While ISIL's power grab may appeal to many fighters, there have already been signs of dissent. 
 
 Some armed groups fighting in Syria have rejected the announcement of the caliphate, saying its terms had not "been realised at present", and urged Muslims to avoid siding with the Islamic State. 
 
 Iraq's Association of Muslim Scholars, which was formed to represent minority Sunnis, said in a statement: "Any group that announces a state or an Islamic emirate ... under these conditions is not in the interest of Iraq and its unity."
– A self-proclaimed "caliph" of the Middle East is urging Muslims worldwide to join the fight in Iraq and one day conquer the world, "if Allah wills." Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the newly named Islamic State (formerly ISIS) that has grabbed swaths of northern Iraq, issued his call today in an online audio tape, the Telegraph reports: "Rush O Muslims to your state. It is your state. Syria is not for Syrians and Iraq is not for Iraqis. The land is for the Muslims, all Muslims. This is my advice to you. If you hold to it you will conquer Rome and own the world, if Allah wills." He also called on judges, doctors, and engineers to add their skills to the battlefield, and told everyday jihadists to intensify fighting for the month of Ramadan, which started yesterday. He described their battle as one between "belief and hypocrisy," the latter including Jews, the US, and Russia, NBC News reports. The Islamic State just pronounced al-Baghdadi as "caliph," a medieval title, but of course not everyone agrees; fighters in Syria and an association of Muslim scholars in Iraq have already issued rejections, Al Jazeera reports. Meanwhile, the Sunni militant group showed off a parade of military hardware this weekend in a Syrian town, including armored personnel carriers, tanks, and a scud missile—but experts say the missile is likely inoperable, the Daily Mail reports. (The Islamic State also crucified eight rebel fighters deemed "too moderate.")