He was present at the eventual loss of the city at the Second Battle of Fallujah, but he managed to evade capture by American forces and fled the city.[1][2]
Al-Janabi later gave an interview with the Al Jazeera television network.[2]
After the Fall of Fallujah to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and other anti-government Sunni forces in January 2014, Janabi returned to Fallujah, and began making weekly sermons at the Saad bin Abi Waqas mosque in northern Fallujah. At the mosque Janabi told worshippers that "Blood is on the hands of all policemen. Police buildings were used to torture and to extract confessions ... and must be cleansed." Referring to the Iraqi Army, he also claimed that "We swear by God almighty and the blood of martyrs that the Safavid army will not enter the city except over our dead bodies."[4] He also distributed leaflets announcing a new "Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" to enforce its strict Islamic code.[5]
During his sermons, about 200 masked ISIL militants using looted police vehicles guarded the road leading to the mosque, where worshippers were checked for weapons.[4]
As of 2015, he was a preacher and a "Sharia Council" member for the Islamic State.[6]
