A group in Jordan's capital Amman calling themselves Al Farooq circulated an announcement on social media this week, claiming they planned to begin implementing Sharia Law in a northern area of the capital called Abu Nusair.
Al Bawaba obtained a copy of the statement, pictured below.
Translation: A few years ago, everybody noticed the spread of vice and drugs in Abu Nusair area, in north Amman. The absence of police and other security forces was very obvious, as if they were urging and encouraging this vice. This caused the phenomenon to increase and to appear in public, despite efforts by some good people [in the area] giving advice and the good word.
After huge efforts, we have united ourselves with a lot of those who are mindful of their religion and community to form Alfarooq group, we've also appointed a leader. We've done this in order to work closely to stop those vices and apply the Sharia laws.
Sharia refers to a wide framework of legal codes based off Islamic doctrines in the Quran and hadiths, and versions of it have been applied all over the Middle East — from Saudi Arabia, to hard-line groups like Daesh and al-Qaeda.
So far, it's unclear when — or if — a group has actually formed in Amman. But on the heels of the statement's release, Jordan's General Security Forces issued their own, dismissing the Al Faqooq group. Circulated on social media, they said security forces were looking for the source of the statement, but that it was likely an "individual act" with little actual grounding. They also said the document was only available in 'electronic form' and that no hard copies had been distributed around the area or in the rest of the capital.
