The image is an old official logo of al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and includes several elements common in Islamic imagery. The sun and light rays motif is usually used to illuminate other symbols or text in order to give the images an aura of divinity and/or afterlife. The white path in the center of the image is related to the centrality of the “path metaphor” in the Islamic tradition, according to which being righteous means following “a correct or straight path.” The word “sunna” (written inside/on the path) invokes not only the traditional Islamic body of religious literature, but also the righteous path chosen by the Prophet and first generations of Muslims (salaf) to which jihadi ideology claims to hark back. The green flag bears the shahada, which is the Islamic testimony of faith holding that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is his messenger. Since green is the traditional color of the Prophet Muhammad, green flags (regardless of the text) always conjure up historical, genealogical and religious notions of the Prophet and early Islam. Moreover, because the green represents God’s benevolence and creative power in nature, and is linked to springtime and growth, the green flag usually has an optimistic feel, one that speaks to both the Islamic nature of the enterprise and its success. The captions read as follows: 1) printed on the Qur’an: “inna al-hukm illa lil-lah” (Q 6:57) (“governance/judgment belongs to God alone”); and 2) at the very top of the ellipsis: “wa-qatiluhum hatta la takun fitna, wa-yakun al-din kulluhu lil-lah” (Q 2:193) (“and fight them so that there may be no fitna [discord], and all religion will be unto God”). All the elements combine to send a clear message to the reader that there is one path (sunna), one rule of law to be followed (God’s) and one group to choose who will lead the way (Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat, or AQIM).
