I'm preparing a rather lengthy article on Al-Qaeda, to be published on - surprise, surprise - September 11th. It is based on my experiences and interviews with members and sympathisers of Al Qaeda in Pakistan and in Lebanon.Due to popular believe, Al Qaeda is seen in many circles as a mainly political movement with a political agenda. Basically, these people say, Al Qaeda is an organisation which uses terror (or resistance) to give a voice to oppressed muslims. The moment the West stops oppressing muslims, Al-Qaeda will stop too.
I wish that was true. But it is, unfortunately, not the case.
Al-Qaeda is very much a medieval Doomsday sect with surprisingly little politics in it. If you really want to understand what Al-Qaeda is all about, you have to step away from politics, away from life in the 21st century. Al-Qaeda is all about a mix of religion (rigidly imitating the Prophet Muhammad), cultural elements (keeping the Arab world and muslim South Asia as backward as possible) and an immense fear factor (for Western-led globalisation and its effects on the muslim mind)
I wish Al-Qaeda was political. Then at least there would be an end in sight to the war. But, as I said, it is not and thus much more difficult to stop.
In his latest speech Bin Laden immediately makes my point. He asks himself how the War in Iraq can be stopped?
You might answer: Well, maybe if the Americans pull out of Iraq.
Or if the US would stop supporting Israel.
Or if the Palestinians get their own state.
Well, Osama's answer is none of the above. His solution: Either we step up our attacks and win the war militarily or you Americans reject your democratic system and embrace Islam.
Wow - that is soooo realistic. Luckily he doesn't want us to perform the silly walk during weekdays.
Anyway, hope you will read my article on September 11th(Tuesday). For those interested in Bin Ladens weird world, please read the full transcript of his speech:
"All praise is due to God, who built the heavens and earth in justice, and created man as a favor and grace from Him. And from His ways is that the days rotate between the people, and from His Law is retaliation in kind: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and the killer is killed. And all praise is due to God, who awakened His slaves’ desire for the Garden, and all of them will enter it except those who refuse. And whoever obeys Him alone in all of his affairs will enter the Garden, and whoever disobeys Him will have refused."
For rest of speech: click here
You can get it as well in a pdf file, although the text is not very clear. for pdf, click here.
Harald Doornbos
(Click 
9 comments:
why is there in de poll not an option to kill one of them and arrest the other guy? But thats maybe cruel, although...
But besides that, is't still a lot of fun to read you blog for a refreshing view on the world.
While I do agree with you that Al-Qaeda would not cease its attacks on the "west" if perceived injustices towards the "Muslim" world were to be dealt with, I think that support for it would diminish dramatically. As a result, recruiting would be reduced and it would be in effect harder to for Al-Qaeda to continue its activity at present levels. So, while Al-Qaeda's core are ideologically driven in spite of what US and European policy does, its agenda would indeed be weakened notably if the Muslim public were to perceive a more accommodative and inclusive attitude from the "west". This would include a genuinely more sympathetic attitude vis-a-vis Palestine.
@ tigermarks
Good and valid point. But it smells a little bit like giving in to terror. I mean, if the world would become more pro-Palestinian and more anti-Israel hoping this would isolate Al Qaeda, then Bin laden could be - kind of rightfully - being accredited as having achieved more for the Palestinian cause than Yasser Arafat.
You theory for sure makes sense, but how far do we have to go to? Israel isn't the only topic.
thanks though for comment.
cheers
@ ingmar
well, I didn't want to make this blog to morbid. Agree with you though.
that said - kill one, arrest the other - that must be Bin Laden dead, Karadzic arrested.
Because we will never be able to arrest Bin Laden and get him a live. I have pretty good sources in pakistan and one told me that Bin Laden has, at any time, a suicide belt strapped around his body. This makes a lot of sense.
1. According to Bin Ladens religious dogma, it would be entirely 'haram' that a kaffir (an unbeliever) would ever touch his corpse.
2. By blowing himself up in case of imminent arrest, he will live on forever. Sure, an arrested Bin Laden in some kind of New York prison - that is utter defeat and humiliation. But by blowing yourself up, there's no corpse, no real evidence. Only a beard and some DNA.
In that case nobody will ever believe Bin Laden is dead. How often is Elvis spotted every year?!
Thanks and take care,
Harald and tigermarks
Terrorists in Spain talked about not having any more terror attacks after Spain will take his troops out of Iraq. Spain did that. I have read that there were couple of terrorist attempts later.
Some muslims blame west for every bad things which happened to the muslims or umma from the Crusades onward, and many muslims believe that umma is now under attack from the west. Now, Quran says that the defensive war is allowed, meaning not only the military (or terrorist) actions but also other support for such actions is allowed. If some muslims believe that umma is under attack than terrorists attacks will not end when/if palestine problem will be solved and/or american troops will move out of Iraq. There will be Afghanistan, Chechnya, Kashmir and so on and so forth.
Furthermore this kind of thinking not only pertains to Al Qaeda but also to other such organisations and even to some states, for example, many clerics in KSA object to terrorist actions against the west not because of their aims but because they are not controlled by "competent authorities" and because they do more harm than good for umma at the moment
I think it is wrong to think of Al Qaeda only as a specific organization (although it is that as well)without taking into account the way many muslims think of Osama and Al Qaeda. I think that for some al Qaeda symbolizes a war muslims are fighting with the west, with USA as its symbol.
ps. sorry for a long post.
Harald, two suggestions for your upcoming article:
1. Osama's call to the west to convert to Muslim is in accordance with the profet's sayings, namely that you should always try to convert your opponents. If they don't want to, then and only then you can attack them. Hence, the call for conversion takes on a sinister meaning: Osama has tried to convert the west. Now that they don't listen, they are responsible for the consequences, not Osama. (in his opinion, that is)
2. Osama has painted his beard. This is interesting since painting your beard is haram (forbidden) in traditional Muslim belief and would even prevent you from entering Paradise. This has something to do with accepting the fact that you grow older with all its consequences (like graying hair) and painting your beard would be equal to objecting to the life God is giving you.
For both cases, check with Muslim experts to be fully sure about them. Just thought they might be interesting for your upcoming article
hey riemer,
thanks!
Riemer
I am not an expert but
Ibn ‘Abbaas reported the Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) as saying: At the end of time there will be people who will use this black dye like the crops of birds; they will not experience the fragrance of Paradise.” [Sunan Abu Dawood Vol.3 Chapter 1569 Hadith No.4200]
However Qaradawi wrote
"Some of the early Muslims, including some sahabah [companions of Muhammad] such as Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, 'Uqbah ibn 'Amr, al-Hassan, al-Hussein, Jarir, and others permitted the use of black dye. Some scholars, on the other hand, do not consider the use of black dye as permissible except during time of war, when the enemy might be impressed by the fact that all the soldiers of the Muslim army look young."
It seems that there is an agreement among muslims scholars (with probable exception of Shafi school) that muslims may colour their hair during times of war.
As for the first point it is, I think, more or less correct. One should invite non-muslims to accept Islam, if they do not agree one should ask them to pay jizya, if they do not agree then one is allowed to start a fight.
@Ella,
Thanks for clarifying this. It was already a bit strange to realize that Osama would be in violation of his faith. With your explanation, the coloring of the hair makes much more sense. It looks now that he's intending to make clear he's at war: he even colored his beard.
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