Jihadist social media accounts have been ablaze with incitement and celebration of the California wildfires. In one such case, a pro-ISIS jihadist TikTok account posted a graphic showing a man carrying a firebomb against the red backdrop with a wildfire burning.

The fires have burned more than 40,000 acres.

The graphic shows Arabic writing that roughly translates into English as “The time is now.” The following scene shows a burned-out section of Los Angeles with lyrics that say in Arabic, “O what victory for whoever gains martyrdom honestly, his sins will be wiped away as his blood spills and the flowers are perfumed by its scent, and his wounds will smell like musk.”

Islamic terrorists typically post songs called nasheeds that are paired with images of violent acts on social media. They often serve as a sign for sleeper cells to go into action. This was the case prior to the ISIS attacks in France a decade ago.

“Your blood will flow for your heinous crimes.” Videos like these define a conflict (between Islam and the West or between Islam and hypocrites or apostates), place blame, and evoke moral outrage toward enemies,” the Carter Center noted in a report on ISIS terrorism.

“Such scenes are designed to convince individuals who experienced the conflict firsthand as well as those Daesh propaganda seeks to reinforce a simplistic but emotionally satisfying division of the world into two camps — good and evil. All people are subsumed under this division; no gray zone can remain. They demand explicit action on behalf of the audience: Join the fight.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Los Angeles office (ATF) noted in a post on X that it was investigating a possible arson cause for the fires.

“ATF will take the lead in determining the origin and cause of the Pacific Palisades fire. Certified fire investigators have been on scene and will continue to work in conjunction with state and local investigators to determine the cause of this tragic event,” the statement said.

Jihadists have discussed using wildfires as a form of terrorist activity for years. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) told how lone jihadists could set wildfires in the Western U.S. in Issue #9 of its Inspire Magazine in 2012.

The article titled "It is of your freedom to ignite a firebomb” written by the anonymous “AQ Chef” discussed the massive amount of property damage that could happen if jihadists used firebombs. It encouraged jihadis to pray to Allah and to find wooded areas with large amounts of dry undergrowth and in areas that have high winds. The issue went into detail how to build firebombs.

Los Angeles has both.

“The burning of hundreds of hectares of wood that is used in wooden commercial products causes significant losses to the factories and companies of wooden products and everything that is linked to this trade. Especially when the cause of fire is deliberate and organized frequently. That means the continuity of loss. It also means more losses for insurance companies,” Inspire said. “… [T]he most important damaging result that is the spreading of terror among the targeted community.”

ISIS similarly urged its supporters to create wildfires in California in 2020.

Satellite images show that three fires began simultaneously.

Jihadist involvement in setting some of the fires has yet to be determined.

Several individuals were arrested and were believed to have committed arson in connection with the fires.

A man was arrested in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles Thursday after being observed carrying a blowtorch. California State Parks officials similarly announced Friday the arrest of a female suspect on suspicion she was involved in arson.

Police detained a man identified as Ruben Montes on Sunday after he was observed lighting fires in Irwindale.

Accounts from across the Muslim world celebrated the fires saying they were punishment for American support for Israel.

Khalid Griggs, imam of the Community Mosque at Winston-Salem and a leader of the Islamic Circle of North America, posted an image on his Facebook profile comparing the Los Angeles wildfires with Gaza.

5Pillars, a British Islamist site, similarly celebrated the fires saying they were divine retribution for Gaza.

“Whilst I feel for the innocents who have lost their homes, and am not suggesting that all those who have been affected deserved it, I can’t help but view these wildfires as a general lesson for us all, from Allah SWT,” 5Pillars writer Maria Akbar wrote.

“It was Israel, backed by the U.S., that set Gaza alight with their bombs and rockets; and now LA is being set alight by the Almighty.”

The article continued, “The Israelis/Americans destroyed buildings, homes and businesses in Gaza; now the same is happening in LA. Everything people worked for, their livelihoods, memories, lives, has been destroyed in an instant.”

Although terrorism has yet to be established with California wildfires the celebration and calls for incitement by Islamist accounts could be a warning for the future.

One individual in Cairo was representative of countless other accounts saying, “America is incapable of putting out fires and needs your prayers. O Allah, rain gasoline on 95 on them,” wrote Mahmoud R Nasr, a participant in an Islamist Facebook group.

Other accounts show AI-generated images of downtown Los Angeles in flames.

Pro-Taliban accounts celebrated the wildfires on social media.

“Taliban media activists happy about the terrible fire on American soil Afghan Taliban media activists have expressed their joy over the Los Angeles fires by launching a campaign. This is while the Taliban regime receives cash from American taxpayers every week,” Aamaj News, an Afghan news account loyal to the former government of Afghanistan, said.