Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage
ﺟﻤﻌﻴﺔ اﺣﻴﺎء اﻟﺘﺮاث اﻻﺳﻼﻣﻲ
Other names: Revival of Islamic Heritage Society/RIHS
Type: Charity (accused of financial and material support to AQ-linked groups)
Country: Kuwait (HQ)
Organisation Ideology: Salafi Fundamentalism
Online Resources
Official website: Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage
1k followers
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10k followers
Overview
The Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage (RIHS) is a Kuwait-based non-governmental organisation that has provided financial and material support to several Al Qaeda linked groups and outfits across the Middle East and beyond. The organisation maintains its headquarters in Kuwait City, but has satellite offices across numerous cities, particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In 2002, the U.S. government designated RIHS in Afghanistan and Pakistan as terrorist organisations. Evidence for the RIHS-HQ in Kuwait at the time, however, was insufficient, and RIHS in Kuwait was not designated by the U.S. government until 2008.
Ties to Extremism
The U.S. cited RIHS’ senior leadership - that manages the day-to-day management of the organisation - as being aware and responsible for the transfer of funds and other material support to Al Qaeda-linked extremist groups such as Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), Lashkar e-Tayyiba and Al Itihad Al Islamiyah in South-East Asia and the Horn of Africa.
The UN also sanctioned RIHS’ outfits in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2002 for its role in “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden”, including “supplying, selling or transferring arms and related materiel to” or “otherwise supporting acts or activities of Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the Taliban”.
RIHS also regularly posts videos on its social media channels showcasing projects it contributed towards, such as orphanages in South-East Asia or Africa. Although these videos are not considered hate-speech, and are clearly promoting the charitable arm of the organisation, the videos and digital content are usually being presented by well-known radical individuals such as Othman Khamees (who has been profiled here on EMAN). This indicates the level of participation of extremist individuals in RIHS. Khamees in the past has made statements such as the killing of apostates, of Shias and other non-Sunnis not being Muslim, and that Christians and Jews were the descendants of apes and pigs. Other notable members of RIHS, as displayed on the organisation’s website include Saleh Al Fawzan, who also labels Shias and non-Sunni Muslim minorities as heretics, and who, in 2003, stated that slavery through war is permissible under Islam.