As most people expected, Al Nusra Front doesn’t want to be part of the IS’ Islamic utopia.

Via LWJ:

Nine leading rebel groups in Syria have rejected the Islamic State’s claim that it has established a Caliphate stretching across parts of Iraq and Syria.

In a statement released online, the nine groups say “the announcement by the rejectionists [the Islamic State] of a caliphate is null and void,” both “legally and logically.” The nine groups, all of which have long been opposed to the Islamic State, say that the announced Caliphate will not change how they deal with the organization.

The signatories warn other jihadist individuals and organizations not to support the Islamic State. They argue that the decision to announce a Caliphate is self-serving and an attempt to “abort the blessed revolutions in Syria and Iraq.”

Two of the nine signatories are the Islamic Front, a powerful rebel coalition that includes the al Qaeda-linked Ahrar al Sham, and the Majlis Shura al Mujahideen (MSM) in Deir Izzor. The MSM is an alliance of groups, including the Al Nusrah Front, that is opposed to the Islamic State in eastern Syria.

On its Twitter feed, the MSM posted a link to the statement rejecting the Islamic State’s announced caliphate. The MSM says the Islamic State’s announcement is part of “a systematic campaign to distort sharia terms” and the Islamic State has “distorted jihad, sharia, and [the rules for] punishment, and now they want to distort the Caliphate.”

In addition to the Islamic Front and the MSM, the sharia councils of seven other groups signed the rejection of the Islamic State’s Caliphate.

The reaction from the Al Nusrah Front’s leaders was equally dismissive. The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, grew out of the Islamic State’s predecessor organizations, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS). Despite these common roots, the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State have been openly at odds since last year.

In a series of tweets in both English and Arabic, Abu Sulayman al Muhajir, a top sharia official in the Al Nusrah Front, sharply criticized the Islamic State’s announcement. While using the hashtag #Khilafah_Proclaimed in his tweets, Abu Sulayman argued that the Islamic State’s failure to consult jihadi leaders before making the announcement “is a clear breach of Islam.”

“The situation has not changed at all here,” Abu Sulayman said in one tweet, referring to Syria. “Only difference I see is there is a stronger ‘Islamic’ justification for them [the Islamic State] to kill Muslims.” The Islamic State has long justified the killing of other rebel fighters and leaders by arguing that it is the only legitimate authority in Iraq and Syria.