April 02, 2008

Zawahiri To Release "Town Hall" Type Video Soon

Posts are going up on jihadist message boards claiming that Ayman al-Zawahiri is set to release a video responding to questions posed by people around the world.

We'll keep an eyeball on this and post if anything happens.

stein hoist: Laura Mansfield. via email.

Update by Howie: The message was audio only with an English transcript. The first thing I see is Zawahiri's excuse for al-Qaeda in Iraq's bombing of markets was that "enemies" were known to gather. Any Muslims that were present has been warned to stay away, so they failed to heed the warning and were killed.

Below the fold.

In the name of Allah, and all praise is due to Allah, and may prayers and peace be on the Messenger of Allah and his family, companions and allies.
Muslim brothers everywhere: peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
As for what comes after:
I thank all who took an interest in as-Sahab’s invitation to an open meeting with me, and I thank in particular the unknown soldiers from those garrisoned on our frontlines in Jihadi media. May Allah reward them well for the efforts they made to achieve this meeting, and I hope that Allah guides us in it to what He loves and is pleased with, and that the questioners find in it benefit for them. And I hope that those who sent in their questions have not become upset by the passing of some time between the posing of the questions and the giving of the answers. Allah knows that I did my best to make the answers come close after the questions, but there are circumstance which impose themselves, including – for example – the insistence of the brothers in charge of security that certain procedures be followed in communication, and – for example – my preferring to give priority over all other releases to the production of the book The Exoneration, which replies to the misconceptions of what was called the document for the guidance of the Jihad, or – after examination – the document for bringing the Jihad to its knees. And all praise to Allah for making that possible, and from Him we seek help for every good thing.
It had been my intention prior to the arrival of the questions to respond to every question which reaches me, with the exception of two types of questions: those dealing with personal differences and quarrels, and those dealing with matters of security. However, I found that the brothers honored me with a flood of questions which cannot possibly be replied to in their entirety. So I sought guidance from Allah and chose from them 90 questions, which in fact number more than 100, because many of the questioners ask a number of questions. I think that what I have chosen are the most important questions, and I think that the answers to them respond to most of the questioners, because there are many repeated questions. And the listener or the reader will notice that I have given more room to the opposing questions, despite them being less than the supporting questions, and that is in order to encourage the opponents to bring their objections to light so they can be replied to and refuted and so the proofs of the Mujahideen can be shown.
In view of the large number of questions, I saw fit to spread my responses over two installments. I begin with the first installment, and I say, seeking help in Allah:
In the beginning of my response, I will answer in detail, than refer repeat questions to similar ones I have already responded to.
I have also divided the questions into groups as much as possible, because one questioner might ask a number of questions on more than one subject.
For Allah we work and He guides to the path. I have no power to accomplish anything save through Allah. In Him I put my trust and to Him I turn.
I begin with the first group, which concerns the killing of innocents.
1/1: The questioner Mudarris Jughrafiya [Geography Teacher] asks, “Excuse me, Mr. Zawahiri, but who is it who is killing with Your Excellency’s blessing the innocents in Baghdad, Morocco and Algeria? Do you consider the killing of women and children to be Jihad? I challenge you and your organization to do that in Tel Aviv. Why have you – to this day – not carried out any strike in Israel? Or is it easier to kill Muslims in the markets? Maybe it is necessary [for you] to take some geography lessons, because your maps only show the Muslims’ states.”
My reply to Mudarris Jughrafiya is that we haven’t killed the innocents, not in Baghdad, nor in Morocco, nor in Algeria, nor anywhere else. And if there is any innocent who was killed in the Mujahideen’s operations, then it was either an unintentional error, or out of necessity as in cases of al-Tatarrus [taking of human shields by the enemy]. I explained in detail the ruling concerning al-Tatarrus in the book The Healing of the Believers’ Chests and in the eighth chapter of the book The Exoneration, and the brother Abu Yahya al-Libi has a book called Al-Tatarrus in Contemporary Jihad.
I would like to clarify to the brother questioner that we don’t kill innocents: in fact, we fight those who kill innocents. Those who kill innocents are the Americans, the Jews, the Russians and the French and their agents. Were we insane killers of innocents as the questioner claims, it would be possible for us to kill thousands of them in the crowded markets, but we are confronting the enemies of the Muslim Ummah and targeting them, and it may be the case that during this, an innocent might fall unintentionally or unavoidably, and the Mujahideen have warned repeatedly the Muslims in general that they are in a war with the senior criminals – the Americans and Jews and their allies and agents – and that they must keep away from the places where these enemies gather.
The Crusader-Jewish propaganda claims that the Mujahideen kill the innocent, but the Muslim Ummah knows who its enemy is and who defends it.
Shaykh Usama bin Ladin says in his latest speech, “I reassure the Muslims in general and our people in the neighboring states in particular that they will only receive every good thing from the Mujahideen, Allah permitting, because we are your sons defending the Ummah’s religion, and in the same way we are defending its sons. And the victims among the Muslims’ sons who fall during the operations against the unbelievers and Crusaders or their usurping agents are not intentional. And Allah knows that it saddens us greatly, and we are responsible for it, and we seek Allah’s forgiveness for it, and we ask Allah to have mercy on them and cause them to enter his spacious Gardens and compensate their families and near ones well.
“It is not hidden from you that the enemy intentionally takes up positions in the midst of the Muslims, for them to be human shields for him. And here I emphasize to my brothers the Mujahideen to beware of expanding the issue of al-Tatarrus, and to make sure that their operations targeting the enemies are regulated by the regulations of the Shari’ah and as far as possible from the Muslims.
“Rather, our hostility is directed towards the puppet rulers, those whom we don’t reassure, but in fact strive to topple them and bring them before the judiciary of the Shari’ah. How can we reassure them, when they have allied themselves with the Ummah’s enemies and done all manner of things to it? How can we reassure them, when they have made the law of men partner to the Law of Allah the Most High? And how can we reassure them, when the road to the widest front for the liberation of Palestine passes through the territories controlled by them?” These were his words, may Allah protect him.
As for the statement of the questioner, “I challenge you and your organization to do that in Tel Aviv,” I don’t know – hasn’t the questioner heard that Qaida al-Jihad struck the Jews in Jerba, Tunisia, and struck the Israeli tourists in Mombasa, Kenya, in their hotel, then fired two missiles at the El-Al airliner carrying a number of them? Hasn’t the questioner heard what Shaykh Usama bin Ladin (may Allah protect him) mentioned in his latest speech, that the battalions of the Mujahideen, after expelling the occupier from Iraq, shall make their way towards Jerusalem? Hasn’t the questioner heard that Allah (the Glorious) has honored us with the dealing of blows to America – the head of international unbelief – and its allies – like England, Spain, Australia and France – in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen, and Algeria? And those are Israel’s fathers, creators, guardians and protectors.
And then why does the questioner focus on how al-Qaida in particular must strike in Israel, while he didn’t request – for example – the Jihadist organizations in Palestine to come to the aid of their brothers in Chechnya, Afghanistan and Iraq? If this is become of his good opinion of al-Qaida and that it must strike Islam’s enemies everywhere, then we thank him for his good opinion, and we promise our Muslim brothers that we will strive as much as we can to deal blows to the Jews inside Israel and outside it, with Allah’s help and guidance. And from Allah we seek help.

2/1: The questioner Talib Jami’i Tib al-Jazaa’ir [University Student, Medicine, Algeria] says, “Al-Qaida Organization in the countries of the Islamic Maghreb: is killing women and children Jihad in your view? I want al-Zawahiri to answer me about those who kill the people in Algeria. What is the legal evidence for killing the innocents? The blood of sixty Muslims was spilled on the 11th of December in Algeria, and al-Qaida claims for itself an explosion in which Muslims who worship Allah (the Glorious and Great) alone died. There is no power nor strength except with Allah. So congratulations to the champion al-Zawahiri and Droukdel on the killing of the innocent students, children and women in this ‘Eid. What is the sin of the innocent? Allah suffices us and is the best of protectors against you.”
My reply to Talib Jami’i Tib al-Jazaa’ir is the same as my reply to the previous questioner, but I add that those who were killed on the 11th of December in Algeria are not from the innocents. Rather, according to the communiqué from the brothers in al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, they are from the Crusader unbelievers and the government troops who defend them. Our brothers in al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb are more truthful, more just and more righteous than the lying sons of France who have sold Algeria to it and America, and who woo Israel in order for the head of the Crusade, America, to be pleased with them. These criminals who have attacked the Shari’ah and excluded it from government by force and rigging, and who have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims, and who help the Americans and their Crusader allies to kill millions of Muslims cannot possibly be truthful nor just.
The operation on the 11th of December was against the headquarters of the United Nations and the Constitutional Assembly and Police Academy, not against children’s schools or women’s hospitals. And the United Nations is an enemy of Islam and Muslims: it is the one which codified and legitimized the setting up of the state of Israel and its taking over of the Muslims’ lands. It is the one which considers Chechnya an inseparable part of Crusader Russia, and consider Ceuta and Melilla inseparable parts of Crusader Spain. And it is the one which codified the Crusader presence in Afghanistan through the Bonn conference, and codified the Crusader presence in Iraq through its various resolutions, and approved the separation of East Timor from Indonesia, while it doesn’t recognize that [right] for Chechnya, nor for all the Muslim Caucasus, nor for Kashmir, nor for Ceuta and Melilla, nor for Bosnia.
Allah granted success to the heroic Amir and – as we consider him – martyr Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi (may Allah have mercy on him), and he blew up the headquarters of the United Nations in Baghdad at the beginning of the Crusader invasion of Iraq, and its remnants turned back in flight. And thus he ruined the Crusaders’ plans to cover the Crusader invasion with international forces which wouldn’t provoke Arab and Islamic sensitivities. This is the same ruse which the Crusaders used in Lebanon, and so the forces of Hizbullah withdrew 30 kilometers to the rear and approved an international Crusader presence to occupy the lands of the Muslims on Lebanese soil, and the leadership of Hizbullah even promised to preserve the safety of those Crusader forces occupying the Muslims’ lands.

3/1: The questioner I’laamiyyah [Informational] says, “1 – Does the doctor have assurance that those who were killed in the Algeria operations were unbelievers? And what is it that makes legitimate the spilling of the blood of even one Muslim?
“2 – What is your opinion of what Shaykh al-Qardawi said regarding the operations?
“3 – Why do you intentionally direct sharply-worded advice to HAMAS through audio recordings? The one who is keen on Islamic unity and the supreme interest seeks other methods of offering advice and understanding the other’s stance by way of channels of dialogue, not media channels.
“4 – Don’t you think that al-Qaida provides great services in ways it could never imagine to American intelligence by deeming permissible the blood of Muslims in the states of the Arab world?
“5 – What is the legal authority of al-Qaida from among the Ummah’s scholars?”
I think I have responded to the sister I’laamiyyah’s first question previously. But in turn, I ask her: and what is HAMAS’s justification for killing those whose killing is not permitted from the children in the Israeli colonies with the blessed Qassam rockets which don’t differentiate between a child and an adult, and moreover, perhaps [don’t differentiate] between the Jews and the Arabs and Muslims working in those colonies or in the streets and markets of Occupied Palestine, even though the Shari’ah forbids their killing. I request the sister I’laamiyyah to refer to the eight and ninth chapter of the second part of The Exoneration.
As for her second question about what Shaykh al-Qardawi said regarding the operations, it is a question which I had wished would be directed to me, and my response is:
First: al-Qardawi believes the senior criminals and accuses the Mujahideen of lying. He dealt in this fatwa of his with what happened in the cities of Batna and Dellys, and described what happened in them as killing of innocents and making the blood of the Muslims lawful. In this, he is repeating the same lies of the criminal Algerian regime. The operation in the city of Dellys was against a naval base, and not on a children’s school. As for the operation in the city of Batna, it was an attempt to kill the criminal president who has killed thousands of innocents and who combats Islam, prevents the rules of the Shari’ah from implementation, is loyal to America and France, and recognizes Israel through his membership of the United Nations and through his approval of the Arab surrender initiative. The martyrdom-seeking brother, when the security personnel discovered him, blew himself up in their midst, and they comprise most of those killed. This is the Mujahideen’s version, and I saw a news tape which confirms it, and the Mujahideen as far as we are concerned are more truthful, just, and righteous and sounder in creed than the senior criminals to whom al-Qardawi ingratiates himself and whose lies he promotes.
Second: al-Qardawi disregards the difference between the charter of al-Qaida Organization in the Countries of the Islamic Maghreb and the Algerian secular constitution. And here I quote parts of the charter of al-Qaida Organization in the Countries of the Islamic Maghreb, in order to clarify the extent of the clarity of their methodology and creed and the extent of the injustice of those who accuse them of delinquency, extremism and following of the Kharijites. In this charter, we read, in regard to the purpose for which the organization was set up:
- “So that the religion be for Allah in its entirety, and that Allah’s word be supreme.”
- “Our creed is the creed of the pious predecessors from the noble Companions, their followers, and those who followed them, and foremost among the predecessors is the Messenger of Guidance, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).”
- “It is the obligation of every Muslim and Muslimah to judge by the Book and established Sunnah in all issues of doctrine, law and morals, and not to reject anything of that or interpret it.”
- “We do not label a Muslim as an unbeliever because of any sin, large or small, as long as he doesn’t deem it lawful, and the blood of the Muslims and their wealth is inviolable due to Islam.”
- “We seek refuge in Allah from the stance and ideology of the Kharijites, those who deemed the Muslims to be unbelievers and deemed their blood and wealth to be Halal without right. And these Kharijite renegades have been concurred with by the Takfir and Hijrah Group who deem the Muslims – in whole and in part – to be unbelievers. These have gone astray from the path.”
- “The fundamental rule concerning our Muslim Ummah is that the Muslim is inviolable in his blood, wealth and honor where he is found, unless he commits that which dictates that his blood and wealth be made permissible.”
- “The Salafist Mujahideen are part of the Muslim people and their brothers in religion.”
- “Those who attack the people and its elderly men, its women and its children are the Tawaagheet [Taghuts – idol-kings] and the secret intelligence agencies, in order to distort the image of the Mujahideen and cast doubt on the Jihad. And they were joined in this corruption by those misguided ones from the Takfir and Hijrah group who emulate the Kharijite renegades. We, the Mujahideen, declare to Allah the Most High our innocence of this corruption.”
- “We believe in praying behind the people of Bid’ah [innovation in religion] and immorality if that [i.e., congregational prayer] is only possible behind them.”
- And they believe that they are “an interim means which aims in the end to set up the group of Muslims – the rightly-guided Caliphate – and considers it to be a sacred goal which all Muslims must be eager for and must strive to achieve according to ability.”
And with that it becomes apparent the extent of al-Qardawi’s injustice in his fatwa when he describes al-Qaida Organization in the Countries of the Islamic Maghreb thus: “How do those who spill the blood of their people claim that they are Islamists? And from where do they derive their dark ideas which deem permissible the wholesale slaughter of the people?” And thus: “They have no role model except for the Kharijites, who deemed permissible the blood and wealth of all Muslims other than themselves.”
Third: al-Qardawi’s endorsements are not reliable. Isn’t he the one who said about Hosni Mubarak and his government in the al-Azhar declaration which he signed in 1989, “We believe in the Iman [faith] of those in charge in Egypt, and that they don’t reject any of Allah’s rulings, nor deny any principle of Islam, and that they work for the Islamic Da’wah [call] to reach its utmost in terms of achievement and implementation, but awaiting the appropriate time is what calls for delaying.”
And ever since the day this declaration was published 19 years ago, he continues to wait, and he waited before it for decades. And the appropriate circumstances have yet to reach his rulers, whose faith he believes in, and who he believes don’t reject any of Allah’s rulings, nor deny any principle of Islam, and work for the Islamic Da’wah to reach its utmost. Where? In the peace accord and normalization with Israel? Or in the hotels of the Israel prostitution trade in the Sinai? Or in the blockade of the Palestinians in Gaza? Or in the military courts which kill and repress the Muslims? Or in the abattoirs of State Security? Or in the American bases in Egypt, from which the Crusader forces set out – and still set out – to kill the Muslims and destroy their countries in Afghanistan and Iraq? Or in the vulgar media? Or in the immoral Culture Ministry? Or in the secular constitution and laws? Or in the class of corrupt plunderers led by Hosni Mubarak and his son?
Fourth: al-Qardawi helps the Crusaders against the Muslims, and has neither apologized for nor gone back on his error in the fatwa of helping the Americans against the Muslims, which he signed along with Tariq al-Bashri, Haytham al-Khayat, Muhammad Salim al-‘Awa and Fahmi Huwaidi and whose text included the following:
“The question deals with an extremely complicated case and very sensitive situation facing our brothers, the Muslim military personnel in the American army and in other armies which they might be placed in under similar circumstances.” That is, this fatwa isn’t suitable only for their brothers the military personnel in the American army, but in fact, is also suitable for their brothers in the French and English army, and moreover, the Israeli army and other armies.
The fatwa continues, “But the source of the difficulty and unease which befalls the Muslim military personnel in fighting other Muslims is that it is difficult – or impossible – to differentiate in fighting between the true criminals being targeted by it and the innocents who have no part in what happened, and that the authentic Prophetic Hadeeth says, ‘If two Muslim face each other with their swords, and one of them kills his companion, the killer and the killed are in the Fire.’ It was said, ‘This is for the killer, but why the killed?’ [He replied], ‘He wanted to kill his companion’ (narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim).
The reality is that this noble Hadeeth deals with the situation in which the Muslim has control over himself and is able to get up and fight and is able to refrain from [fighting], and it doesn’t deal with the situation in which the Muslim is a citizen and soldier in a state’s regular army, complying with and obedient to the orders given him, because if he did otherwise, his loyalty to his state would be in doubt, in addition to the numerous detriments which would result from that…
“As for the difficulty it causes, it is in that the fighting is indiscriminate. Thus, it is the obligation of the Muslim to intend to contribute to this fighting, and that he achieve truth and erase falsehood, and that his work aims at the prevention of aggression against the innocents or reaching its perpetrators in order to bring them to justice.”
What is this justice to which the American soldier will bring other Muslims? It is the American justice which the Quran described in its statement, “Is it the judgment of the days of Ignorance which they seek? And who is better than Allah as a judge for a people who have faith?” [5:50] And also, why didn’t al-Qardawi and his companions request the Muslims to fight the senior criminals of the Americans in order to bring them to the justice of the Islamic Shari’ah to make them account for their crimes against the Muslims for decades?
The fatwa continues, “And if the Muslim military personnel in the American army are able to request to serve temporarily during these imminent battles in the rear ranks to work in the area of rations and the like – as mentioned in the question – without that causing for them and other American Muslims any difficulty or detriment, then there is no problem in them making this request. However, if this request will cause detriment or difficulty in the form of doubts about their loyalty, or exposes to them to suspicion or false accusations, or harms their employment prospects, or casts doubt on their patriotism, or something similar, then this request is not permissible.” That is, that the mere suspicion of harming employment prospects – like a delay in promotion, for example – prevents the Muslim from requesting to serve in the rear ranks, and he must fight and kill his Muslim brothers and kill them, to protect his employment prospects!
The American fatwa continues, “The conclusion is there is no problem – Allah willing – in Muslim military personnel taking part in fighting during the expected battles against those who are thought to practice terrorism or shelter those who practice it and provide them with the opportunity to train and set out from their countries.” That is, al-Qardawi and his companions don’t just permit fighting against the Muslims who practice what they claim is terrorism according to their American school of thought, but also against those who are thought to practice that, or are thought to help them in that.
“Monstrous is the word that comes out of their mouths. They speak naught but a lie.” [18:5]
Had this fatwa come out in a Muslim state or an unbelieving state which respects itself, it would have taken its signers to court on the charge of grand treason. Allah suffices us and He is the best of protectors. How right was al-Mutanabi when he said:
And beside the Romans there are Romans behind your back
So to which of your two sides will you turn?
Fifth: al-Qardawi’s stance towards Palestine is doubtful. Al-Qardawi’s web site quotes him as making the following statements in the fifth conference of the al-Quds Foundation in March of 2007 in Algeria:
“The ‘Allamah Dr. Yusuf al-Qardawi, president of al-Quds Foundation International, addressed a message to the Arab leaders participating in the Riyadh summit in which he urged them not to take any step toward normalization of relations with Israel as long as it doesn’t withdraw from the occupied territories and allow the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“Shaykh al-Qardawi, in response to a question at a press conference regarding whether he had a message for the summit, said, ‘There are [various] orientations at the summit: some people [Arab states] normalized with Israel, others reject the idea…we won’t normalize, and we won’t accept normalization as long as the occupation continues.’
“He continued, ‘We will accept normalization with Israel only if a true Palestinian state is set up which owns its sky and borders and the right to defend itself. In this situation alone we might think about recognizing Israel if there is a need for that.’
“Al-Qardawi added that ‘al-Quds foundation doesn’t interfere in what the Arab leaders decide,’ but at the same time, he stressed his rejection of normalization with the Israelis before Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories and the setting up of the Palestinian state.”
These dangerous statements show that al-Qardawi has no objections to recognizing Israel – and even normalization with it – if what is called the Palestinian state is set up on the remaining scraps of Palestine.
I warn my brothers the Muslims in Palestine and outside it from an orientation spreading amongst the leaderships of a well-known Islamic group and among political leaderships affiliated with Islamic activism in Palestine, [an orientation] which calls for setting up a Palestinian state on the parts of Palestine which were occupied after 1967 and forgetting the parts of Palestine which were stolen before that. The mask fell away from this orientation in the Makkah accord which gave up four-fifths of Palestine, and al-Qardawi – as is clear from his words – supports this orientation.
Thus, the Muslim Ummah in Palestine and everywhere must be extremely wary of that orientation and confront it with strength and resolve.
As for her second question regarding the criticism of HAMAS, I would like to bring three things to the attention of the noble sister:
The first is that I took a gradual approach with HAMAS, from support to repeated advice to warning to general criticism, but when they signed the Makkah accord, frank criticism was a must. I took a gradual approach with them, but they didn’t heed the opinion of their brothers and continued in what they had plunged into, from their entering the elections in compliance with the secular constitutions to their abandonment of their brothers in Chechnya and finishing up with their abandonment of four-fifths of Palestine in Makkah.
The second is that I always differentiated in my messages between the political leaders of HAMAS and the Mujahideen of HAMAS and the rest of the Mujahideen in Palestine. I criticized the leaders of HAMAS and will continue to criticize them as long as they adhere to the secular Palestinian constitution and as long as they don’t declare their abandonment of the Makkah accord. As for the Mujahideen of HAMAS and the rest of the Mujahideen in Palestine, I supported them and continue to support them, and I call on the Ummah to aid them, especially the tribes of the Sinai.
Some criticized me as acting aimlessly, one time offering my condolences to the Ummah on HAMAS and another time requesting support for it, but this is not fair, for my words are clear, public and on tape. I offered my condolences to the Ummah – and continue to offer my condolences to it – on the political leadership of HAMAS, and I requested the Ummah – and continue to request it – to aid all the Mujahideen in Palestine, including the Mujahideen of HAMAS.
Third: if the noble sister thinks that my method isn’t proper, this doesn’t excuse her from the responsibility of declaring the truth clearly and through the method which she deems to be proper, and criticizing the leadership of HAMAS in its observing of the secular constitution and in its abandonment of the Muslims in Chechnya and its giving up four-fifths of Palestine in Makkah.
As for sister I’laamiyyah’s statement that al-Qaida provides great services in ways it could never imagine to American intelligence by deeming permissible the blood of Muslims in the states of the Arab world, I believe that the one who provides great services to the Americans is the one who permits the Muslims in the American army to kill the Muslims in Afghanistan and destroy [Afghanistan] out of concern for their employment prospects, and the one who doesn’t forbid recognition of Israel and normalization with it if what he calls the Palestinian state is set up.
As for her question regarding the legal authority of al-Qaida from the scholars of the Muslim Ummah, I request her to read the third chapter of the second part of The Exoneration.

4/1: The questioner Nuh says, “My question to the doctor: what is the juristic basis which al-Zawahiri relies upon in killing the Muslims in Algeria and elsewhere on one hand, and calling HAMAS sinful and [addressing to them] biting critiques which went to the extent of accusing them of polytheism on the other hand? My other question is: where is the Jihadi action against the usurping Jews in Palestine?
I responded earlier to brother Nuh’s question about the killing of Muslims.
As for his question concerning my critiques of HAMAS, I would like to clarify several things:
First: I didn’t utter words accusing HAMAS of being sinful or being unbelievers.
Second: I began with HAMAS with support, then advice, then warning, then criticism of its leaders –not its Mujahideen – when the political leaders signed the Makkah accord.
Third: if we were to suppose that my method was bad, isn’t it the duty of brother Nuh to confront HAMAS’s abandonment of the right of the Shari’ah to rule and the Makkah accord with a nice – yet strong and clear – method?
As for brother Nuh’s question about operations in Palestine, I answered it previously.

The second group of questions, which deal fundamentally with Iran:
1/2: The questioner Muhammad Sameer says, “I don’t believe that my questions will reach or be answered, but I will pose them.
“1 – Why did you alter the book of the Shaykh Doctor Fadl [Sayyid Imam al-Shareef] and claim that it was written by your legal committee? What are your legal justifications for forging a book whose author didn’t permit you to meddle with it? And what is your response to the accusations directed at you, especially what was said by Doctor Fadl about you being an agent of Sudanese intelligence and carrying out operations in Egypt for it in exchange for a material reward of $100,000?
“2 – Why haven’t we heard you attack Iran in the same way that you attack other states of the East and West, whether Muslim or unbelieving, with the exception of Iran? While you know that Iran has committed crimes which make it deserving of being mentioned and attacked in numerous recordings, and this is what you haven’t done at the same time that you attack and accuse of treason those of the Islamists who differ with you in things great and small.
“3 – Why did you call the martyr Dr. Abdullah Azzam an unbeliever and refuse to pray behind him in Peshawar? This is what the wife of the martyr Azzam said in an interview with her with a Turkish paper: that you refused to pray behind him and incited the Muslims against him. And what is the extent of the correctness of what has been said regarding you having a hand in his assassination?
“4 – Don’t you agree with me that the frequency of your appearances on the satellite channels confirms what Doctor Fadl said about you: that you are no more than an sonic phenomenon who loves to show off and be famous, or so the doctor claimed?
“Thank you for your open mindedness, if it is indeed the case.”
My response to Muhammad Sameer is:
1 – In regard to the first question regarding the book al-Jaami’ [fee Talb al-‘Ilm ash-Sharif], it is an old subject, and we in al-Jihad Group sufficed with clarifying it in a memo we distributed to our brothers in the Mujahid Islamic groups, and we sought Allah’s reward for the insults and injustices we suffered because of it. And I wouldn’t have dealt with this subject [here], were it not for two things: the first is that I had promised to respond to the questions posed to me, and the second is that the brother Muhammad Sameer thought that his questions will not be responded to. I ask Allah that this be the last time I deal with this subject.
I say, and guidance is from Allah: the issue of the dispute concerning the al-Jaami’ book comprises two problems: one of them is minor, and we don’t care about it, nor about the dispute surrounding, and the other is major, and it is the duty of every honest Muslim jealous for his religion to confront it.
As for the minor problem which we don’t care about, it concerns to whom belongs the rights to publish, review and release the al-Jaami’ book. To summarize, this book was written as a collective effort of al-Jihad Group. The group spent on it the funds of the Jihad, and provided to its author an office, a library, a scribe, materials and funds on the understanding that he would produce a book supporting the Jihad and repelling from it misconceptions, and that it, as a collective effort of al-Jihad Group, would be reviewed and approved by the group. These are the rules which the author practiced when he was Amir of the group, and so we applied them to him.
But had the group known that [the book] would comprise any of the errors to some of which I will refer, it wouldn’t have spent even one millieme on it, nor freed up even a minute of its time for it, and the proof of that is that when we discovered during our stay in Peshawar – coincidentally and without the author wanting that – that he had declared the Muslim Brothers [Brotherhood] group to be unbelieving in the early drafts of the book, we objected strongly to him, and told him that this is something unacceptable, because that is an legally undisciplined opinion, in addition to the troubles it would stir up.
This is the minor problem which we don’t care about and which the author of the “document of guidance” exaggerates and considers to be a huge tragedy while disregarding and closing his eyes to the major errors in the book. And we sought Allah’s reward for the money and efforts we wasted on it and the curses and insults we suffered for it. And we left the al-Jaami’ book to him to print it however he wished and give its profits to whomever he wished.
As for the major problem in the book which we were deceived about and which we only discovered after the author finished writing, handed over his final copy and departed the Sudan, it is that the book contains a number of dangerous errors, among which is, for example:
- That he considers that all who were killed or imprisoned in fighting the apostate governments before the Da’wah [call] and formation of supporters to have neither righteousness nor piety: i.e., that we must produce a book in our name in which we curse our Mujahid brothers, the captives and martyrdom-seekers.
- That he considers that Jihad against some of the scholars of the Islamic groups is more appropriate than Jihad against their rulers, and he referred to an incident between him and Shaykh Abdullah Azzam (may Allah have mercy on him) and described him in an extremely ugly fashion. And what is worse is that he repeated this talk with the addition of further bad descriptions in the “document of guidance,” and I pointed that out in The Exoneration in the sixteenth note in the first part and in the seventeenth chapter of the second part.
- That the author considers that those who don’t declare the Taghuts’ aides to be unbelievers one by one is himself an unbeliever, even if he be from the Mujahideen fighting those Taghuts.
- That the author considers that the Egyptian Islamic Group is from the extremist Murji’ah, and he described Dr. Umar Abd al-Rahman (may Allah free him) with inappropriate terms.
- And that the author considers that everyone who participates in the elections is an infidel, and is not excused by misinterpretation.
So we discovered the extent of the deception with which the writer of the “document of guidance” had deceived us, and so we left the al-Jaami’ book to him and released a new book in which we cleansed the al-Jaami’ book of those errors, and we placed the name of al-Jihad Group on it and approved it after reviewing it. And books of Tahdheeb [rectification, refinement, and revision] are well known in the history of knowledge, like Tahdheeb al-Kamaal, Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb and Minhaj al-Qaasideen.
And we placed on it the name “‘Abd al-Qadir bin ‘Abd al-‘Aziz,” which is a symbolic name of al-Jihad Group and not the real name of the author of the “document of guidance,” to the extent that many of the brothers imagined that it was a symbolic name of mine!
Thus, I say to brother Muhammad Sameer : we neither forged anything nor meddled with anything, but rather, we applied to the author of the “document of guidance” the established rules of al-Jihad group which he used to apply to others, and we released another, revised book, and left to him his original book.
So it is incumbent upon the brother Muhammad Sameer and everyone possessing jealousy for the Jihad and Mujahideen to refrain from occupying himself with the problem of to whom belongs the right to review and publish the book, and [instead] must confront these errors to which I referred.
The author of the “document of guidance” attempted to practice with us the same method he used with us in the letter Butlaan Wilayat al-Dareer [Invalidity of the Blind Man’s Rule], which he wrote despite my objection to its manner of approach, and on which he didn’t place his name, in order to escape criticism. And immediately after I became Amir of al-Jihad Group, I stopped the publication and distribution of that letter, and I offered my apology to the brothers of the Islamic Group through His Eminence Shaykh Rifaa’i Taha (may Allah free him), and they – with our thanks – accepted this stance. [And all that was] out of my concern for uniting the Mujahideen and lifting from them injustice, as the author had claimed that the ordeals, arrests and torture being suffered by the Islamic Group were because of their deviation from the Shari’ah’s ruling.
As for the claim of the author of the “document of guidance” that I was an agent, it is a lie and false, and my reply to him is that if he is accusing me of being an agent, then he is also accusing himself, as he was my Amir and partner, and he for years – until he left the Sudan – was eating from the funds of al-Jihad Group which he claims was collected in various ways including treachery and mercenary work, so why did he collude by keeping silent about those funds while he was eating from them. Why didn’t he speak up all those long years? Why did his conscience only wake up in the State Security Investigation Department?
2 – As for the question concerning Iran, I ask the brother to refer to my latest conversation with as-Sahab Foundation entitled “A Review of Events.”
3 – As for the third question about my declaring Shaykh Abdullah Azzam an unbeliever and that I wouldn’t pray behind him, it is a statement which is the complete opposite of the truth, and I remind the virtuous sister Umm Muhammad (may Allah protect her) that my wife, the martyr – as we see her – Umm Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on her) used to go with my permission to attend her lessons and meetings.
4 – As for his question about my being a sonic phenomenon, I tell the noble brother: leave my intention alone, because only Allah knows it, and look at my words, and if you find in them goodness, then follow it, and if you find in it something else, then explain it and advise me.
I hope that brother Muhammad Sameer has found me to be open minded, and I in turn ask him to be open minded to some pieces of advise I advise him with: first, that he not interfere in people’s intentions, because only Allah knows them, and second, that he occupy himself with lofty matters and abandon gossip, and third, that he read the letter The Exoneration. And may Allah guide him and us and the Muslims to what He loves and pleases him.

2/2: The questioner Ayman says:
“1 – Is what some of the hired media stations repeat about the presence of a relationship between al-Qaida and Iran of the Magians true? And if it is true, what are the excuses and objectives behind this connection? And does the end justify the means?
“2 – It is repeated – especially on the al-Arabiyyah channel – and held up as the biggest evidence of a relationship between al-Qaida and Iran, that the person call Sayf al-‘Adl is one of the biggest leaders of al-Qaida Organization and a senior member, and is present in Iran and directs operations and gives instructions from within Iran, according to the claim of the secularist, hireling al-Arabiyyah channel. Does Sayf al-‘Adl exist? What is his nature? And is he really present in Iran, and of his own accord?
“3 – What is your frank opinion of the organizations which are called patriotic and those which are called Islamic and are present at this time in the Holy Land, especially in Gaza? And what is the reason for giving every opinion, or what is the argument for that? Is your opinion based on the facts on the ground through intelligence services of yours present in Gaza, or is it based on the information media of these groups? These groups are (1) Fatah (2) HAMAS (3) Islamic Jihad (4) the Army of Islam (5) The Swords of Truth Brigades (6) The Army of the Ummah.
“4 – Our great Shaykh: what is your opinion regarding the visit of the person called Khalid Mish’al to Iran and his placing of a wreath of flowers on the grave of the interred Rejectionist Khomeini? What is your opinion of the visits of the leaders of HAMAS to Russia and their kissing of them? And you don’t have to be reminded of the Russians’ actions in Chechnya and the countries of the Caucasus. Is there any reason in all of existence which permits them to throw themselves in between two dirty, unclean laps: one the lap of Chosroes and Iran of the Magian Rejectionists, and the other the lap of Communist Russia and its murderous Czars?”
My reply to brother Ayman’s first question about Iran is that he refer to my conversation with as-Sahab entitled “A Review of Events.”
As for his question about the location of Sayf al-‘Adl, it is something I am unable to tell him.
As for his question about the six organizations he mentioned, I respond to it by stressing that we invite all people to Islam, and we invite the Muslims and their organizations to unite around the word of Tawhid [Islamic monotheism – i.e., there is no god but Allah], and from the requirements of this word is that they work to help Islam by ruling by his Shari’ah and not making it equal to any other rule, and that they confront the invaders usurping the homelands of the Muslims and neither recognize nor respect any obligation or agreement which gives up even a hand span of them, and that they work to dethrone and remove the corrupt, corrupting, hireling rulers who dominate their homelands.
As for his question about the visit of Khalid Mish’al to Iran, I don’t have the necessary information in order to talk about it, but I clarified my stance towards Iran and Hizbullah in my latest conversation with as-Sahab. As for his stance towards Chechnya, I criticized it previously.

3/2: The questioner Taalib al-Du’aa [Requester of Prayer] says:
“1 – What is your stance towards the Shi’ite laity in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Azerbaijan and the Gulf states, especially those who have not joined in projects which harm the Ummah in general and the Mujahideen of the people of the Sunnah in particular?
“2 – What is your view of the position of our brothers in the Ansar al-Islam group (formerly Ansar al-Sunnah) in Iraq that Bay’ah (the pledge of allegiance) should be to the Islamicly legitimate group with the oldest and firmest foothold in the country and to whose Islamic legitimacy the scholars have bore witness to – and they mean their group – and that the latter is the one which pledges allegiance to the former and not the other way around? Is there any clarification you would like to direct to them, especially since you requested them in your latest speech to pledge allegiance to our brothers in the Islamic State of Iraq?”
My response to the first question of Taalib al-Du’aa is that my stance towards the Shi’ite laity is the stance of the men of knowledge of the people of the Sunnah, which is that they are excused through their ignorance. As for those who participated with their leaders in cooperating with the Crusader and attacking the Muslims, their status in that case is that of the groups refraining from the laws of Islam. As for their laity who haven’t participated in aggression against the Muslims, and didn’t fight under the standard of the global Crusade, our way with them is invitation and displaying of facts, and clarifying the extent of the crimes committed by their leaders against Islam and Muslims, and how they cooperated with the Crusaders in the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, and how they claim to defend the People of the House [of the Prophet] but when they fought each other, they destroyed the two domes of al-Husayn and al-Abbas (with both of whom Allah was pleased), and how they claim that their goal is the liberation of Palestine, but Hassan Nasrullah welcomes the international Crusader forces which occupied Lebanon and came between its people and the Jihad in Palestine, and Rafsanjani states that we don’t aim to remove Israel, and Iran is a member of the United Nations with Israel, and the United Nations charter obligates all members to respect the unity and safety of the other members territories and sovereignty.
As for my view of our brothers in Ansar al-Sunnah, it is one of total respect and appreciation, and the summing up of my opinion is what I referred to in my recent message in terms of unity with the Islamic State of Iraq.

The third group of questions, which revolve fundamentally around Egypt:
1/3: Brother Noon bin Nuqtah [N, son of Dot] sent a question from one of his brothers in which he says:
“1 – We want information on the Islamic Army in Iraq and the faction which it follows. Is it possible that some of its members are linked to American intelligence? And what is the nature of the dispute between it and the ‘Islamic State of Iraq’?
“2 – In regard to the battles of Fatah al-Islam, we want to know the real reasons for the start of the battles there and a brief evaluation covering – if Your Excellency would be so kind – these points: (a) the gains (b) the losses (c) the condition of the Mujahideen of Fatah al-Islam (d) how the siege there happened.”
Then brother Noon bin Nuqtah asks a question of his own in which he says,
“As for my question, I ask you about the way to respond to the retractions of Sayyid Imam. I know well that they aren’t retractions aimed at a specific state like Egypt, but rather, target the Jihad and al-Qaida and the two Shaykhs (may Allah protect them). So how can they be rebutted? And what is demanded from the brothers in publicity at this stage? And will your response to these retractions have a negative effect and make the retractions expand from a narrow framework to a wider framework because of the media’s following of your communiqués and messages? May Allah honor you. So will showing concern over this event have a negative effect, or is it important to respond?”
My reply is:
I ask brother Noon bin Nuqtah to convey my Salaam and prayer to all at his end and to everyone to who he is able to convey it.
As for the Islamic Army and the nature of the dispute between it and the Islamic State of Iraq (may Allah help it), the Commander of the Faithful Abu Umar al-Baghdadi detailed it in his speeches, so refer to them.
As for the battles of Fatah al-Islam, the best source for an answer to that is the latest speech by the virtuous Shaykh Shakir al-‘Absi (may Allah protect him), so refer to it.
As for my discretionary judgment about responding to the “document of guidance,” it was my issuing of the book The Exoneration, so refer to it.

2/3: Al-Batar [The Saber] asks:
“Our virtuous Shaykh, I read good things about your brother Shaykh Muhammad al-Zawahiri and his resolve in captivity (may Allah free him). If you could, give us a bit of information about this Mujahid (may Allah free him) lest Jihad media not give him his due, with an introduction to the most famous of the group of 30 which refused the latest revisions and thus were isolated in solitary confinement.
“Another question: what is al-Qaida’s position vis-à-vis Egypt, in which the dogs of Mubarak rule tyrannically and which has been misplaced by the defeatist ideology of the Muslim Brothers, and whose youth are eager for sacrifice and the beginning of a new round against the regime?”
My brother Muhammad al-Zawahiri was born in the year 1953 CE, and graduated from the College of Engineering in 1974, and was at this time a member of our Jihadi group and was sentenced in absentia to 3 years imprisonment in the Jihad case of 1984, and traveled numerous times to Afghanistan to take part in the Jihad. And through his work in the Islamic Relief organization, he visited a number of countries in the Islamic world and became acquainted with the Muslims’ situation in many of their countries. The Saudi government tried to arrest him in or about 1993, but Allah favored him to depart the kingdom safely, and he continued the Jihad, Hijrah and diligent work due to which he was sentenced to death in the case of the returnees from Albania until he was captured in the Emirates, which extradited him at America’s orders to Egypt, thus taking part with America in its war on Islam after the events of Nairobi and Dar al-Salaam. And the Egyptian government kept news of his handover a secret for nearly five years, during which he was completely isolated, before they revealed the affair. And when the compromises of the author of the “document of guidance” came to light, he confronted them strongly, and continues to be resolute on the truth – by Allah’s grace – despite the death sentence passed on him. We ask Allah for us and all the captives of the Muslim a rapid release and resolve on the truth.
As for the group of thirty, I would like to explain that the rejecters of the compromises of the “document of guidance” aren’t just thirty, but rather are the majority of those belonging to the Jihad movement and al-Jihad Group in particular as well as many of the brothers of the Salafist movement, and that those who agreed with the author of the “document of guidance” are few in number, and some of them never joined al-Jihad Group for even one day, and some of them long ago split with it, and most of them believe that they are deceiving the government by demonstrating agreement. The group of thirty are those whom the government considers to be the most critical of the personalities in influencing the captive brothers, and thus it isolated them in an attempt to pass the abortive “document of guidance.” Among the most famous of the brothers in the group of thirty are Muhammad al-Zawahiri, Ahmad Salaamah, Majdi Kamaal and Ahmad ‘Ashuush. We ask Allah to make them steadfast and hasten their release from prison victorious and honorable – soon, with Allah’s permission.
In regard to Egypt, our independent judgement to which we invite the Ummah in Egypt and elsewhere is: the striking of the Jewish Crusader interests wherever they are found to force the invaders to depart the lands of the Muslims and stop backing the corrupt regimes in their countries, and to mobilize the Ummah to confront them, and to lay bare the treasonous governments which defend them, in addition to exhorting the Muslims to diligently strive to rid themselves of the corrupt, corruptive governments which are sitting on their chests. Egypt and the rest of the lands of the Muslims are not out of our sight, but victory comes through patience.
3/3: Ibn Seereen asks:
“What is demanded of the Mujahideen sitting in the land of the Quiver [Egypt] in the coming stage? And how can we carry it out in the absence of capabilities and the absence of centers for training and preparation and the absence of sources of funding for Jihadi work?”
We ask the Muslims in Egypt and elsewhere to follow in their countries the methods which we mentioned in the previous answer. And whoever isn’t able to do that must go forth to the open arenas of Jihad like Somalia, Iraq, Algeria and Afghanistan. And whoever isn’t able to do that must back the Mujahideen with financing, opinion, information and invitation in schools, universities, unions and mosques, and by taking care of the families of the Mujahideen’s captives and martyrs and specializing in the beneficial legal and practical sciences which are of use to the Jihad and Mujahideen, like the jurisprudence of Jihad, legal policy, communications, electronics, chemistry, topography and otherwise, and by mastering the techniques of Jihadi information media.

4/3: Abu Talhah al-Ghareeb [Abu Talhah the Stranger] asks,
“The first question: is there any possibility of departing Egypt for Iraq and Afghanistan?
“The second question: what is the ruling regarding going out for Jihad in the following situations? Is it an individual obligation? Or a collective one? Or impermissible?
a) The one who wants to go out but is certain that his relatives and Shaykhs will be arrested because of his going out.
b) The one who wants to go out but doesn’t find the necessary funds to leave for his wife and children.
“The third question: we want to know your stance towards what is called the Salafist call in Egypt and the Shaykhs Yaasir Brahaami, Muhammad Ismaa’eel and Sa’eed ‘Abd al-‘Adheem. Is the difference with them an acceptable difference?
“The fourth question: we want Your Eminence to comment on the statements which we are hearing after the Algeria bombings, like ‘They say that Muhammad kills his companions’ and ‘expanding al-Tatarrus.’
“The fifth question: is the entry visa to the countries of the unbelievers a security covenant?
“The sixth question: do you deem the Arab armies unbelievers in general or in their entirety, or does this matter have its particulars?
“The seventh question: if the youth in Egypt are incapable of rebelling against the ruler and unable to go out, what should they do?”
My response is:
First: yes, there is the possibility of going out to Iraq and Afghanistan if a trustworthy guide is found.
Second: regarding paragraph “a” of the second question, I cannot give a general ruling in this regard, because interests and detriments intertwine: so for example, is the imprisonment they face brief imprisonment for a day or a few days or for long years? And is the harm they face minor, or is it great like torture which might lead to loss of life or limb or violation of honor? And are those who will be arrested capable of going forth but refrain, or are they eager to go but are unable? So my advice in these sorts of interwoven situations is that the questioner resort to one in whose knowledge, religion and vision of conditions and facts he has confidence in, and is known to support the Jihad and Mujahideen and is not accused of hostility towards them, to present to him the issue in detail.
As for the answer to paragraph “b,” it is that the one without sufficient funds is excepted from Jihad, in contrast to the one with difficulty in procuring funds if the enemy invades the Muslims’ lands. I mentioned Ibn Taymiyyah’s statement in that regard in the fourth chapter of the second part of The Exoneration.
Third: our stance towards the Salafist call and its truthful notables is love, appreciation and respect, and we miss them, and the arenas of Jihad miss them, for them to teach their brothers, lead their squadrons and crush the fortresses of their enemies, and raise the standard of the Jihad which has become an individual obligation inside and outside their countries. As for the question about the difference with them, I don’t know which difference you mean, and had you specified the difference, I might have been able to answer.
Fourth: I replied about the Algerian bombings previously.
Fifth: I don’t believe that the entry visa of the infidels is a security contract, and I explained this opinion in detail in the seventh chapter of the second part of The Exoneration. At the end of that chapter, I said that this is what my brothers and I have chosen, so whoever is at ease with it, let him apply it, and whoever is not at ease with it, let him look for other means with which to fight the Crusaders and Jews. But beware, beware of the third way, which is to refrain from the obligatory Jihad against them.
Sixth: declaring the armies and security organs to be infidels has its particulars. What I believe is that the officers of the State Security Investigations – Anti-Religious Activities Branch and those like them who interrogate the Muslims and torture them are infidels, each and every one of them. The effects of the difference in this issue are very few and are confined to personal rules like marriage and inheritance. But in practical terms, there isn’t any difference between the two positions in regards to fighting them, and there is room for difference in this issue, but beware, beware of the methodology of the writer of the “document of guidance,” who declared them infidels one and all, and moreover, declared infidel the one who doesn’t declare them infidel, then ended up becoming – willingly or otherwise – a tool in the hands of the investigators. And I recommend in this regard referring to the book Nadharaat fee al-Ijmaa’ al-Qati’ [Examining the Definite Consensus] by Shaykh Abu Yahya al-Libi (may Allah preserve him).
Seventh: I responded to the seventh question previously.

5/3: Kateebat al-Ahwaal [Brigade of Horrors] asks:
“1 – What is your opinion, our Shaykh, about the recent retractions of al-Jihad Organization?
“2 – Is there a word you would like to direct, our Shaykh, to the apostates of the Awakening Councils?”
My response is:
First: al-Jihad Organization is a generic name. If, however, you mean the al-Jihad Group which I was honored to belong to, then it has not recanted – by the grace of Allah – for two reasons: the first is that it united with al-Qaida Group in the group Qaida al-Jihad, and the second is that those who have compromised are a man who left the group, and not just that, but left the path of Jihad entirely approximately 15 years ago, along with a group of prisoners, some of whom used to be members in the group, others of whom split with it, and still others who never joined it in the first place. As for the Group, it hasn’t recanted: on the contrary, its leadership and the vast majority of its captives continue – by the grace of Allah – to be resolute on the truth. And the government media uses description without any truth to it, like “al-Qaida’s mufti,” “Amir of Egyptian Islamic Jihad,” and “Taliban’s military advisor.”
Second: As for the apostates of the Awakening Councils, I tell them: the Mujahideen will – with Allah’s help and will – deal with you according to the tradition of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (with whom Allah was pleased): a war which ousts or a peace which humiliates.

6/3: As’al Allah (I Ask Allah) asks:
“After the experiment of the 90’s in Egypt and the attempt to effect change through force, what is your evaluation of the future of any Jihadi work in Egypt, in light of the results we saw, and taking into account the police-state nature of the state as well as the severity of the repression and the limited room for movement in Egypt?
“I also wanted to ask about another important point, which is in regard to the HAMAS movement. Many of the brothers rely on your critiques of the HAMAS movement as a basis for their considering it a mere movement which is no different then the Fatah movement and has no connection to Islam, and some have even gone to the extent of declaring its leaders to be unbelievers. So our noble Shaykh, I would like you to clarify your stance towards the HAMAS movement in light of these actions of the brothers and explain the facts to us all. May Allah bless you.”
My answer is:
First: it is possible for change in Egypt to succeed if those working for it observe the ways of history and the nature of the peoples and make sure to provide the necessary requirements for it and exploit its opportunities. Among the most important of its requirements is the presence of a secure base and mobilization of popular support. And the most important cause around which the Arabs and Muslims gather is the fighting of the Jews and Crusaders invading the homelands of the Muslims. I discussed this matter in detail in my book Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the first printing as well as the second, which I ask Allah to help me to release soon, and in the foreword of The Exoneration as well as the 18th chapter of its second part, and there I explained that the Egyptian Jihad movement has not been defeated by the Egyptian regime, but rather, has been harmed by the global American pursuit, hence the present decision to direct the strikes at the head of unbelief, America, and her allies.
As for the police-state nature of the state and the severity of the repression, it might delay change, but it can’t prevent it. Change is coming – with Allah’s permission – without a doubt, for this corrupt, rotten regime cannot possibly continue, and the Communist empire in Russia and its colonies and allies collapsed despite its police-state nature and repression the like of which history has never seen, because the ways of history sentenced it to death. The important thing is getting ready for change and being patient in that and preparing to accept sacrifices, then making use of the opportunities.
Second: I don’t agree with those who make HAMAS and Fatah equals. HAMAS is a movement which stresses its affiliation with Islam, whereas Fatah is a secular movement. And I don’t agree with declaring HAMAS’s leaders to be unbelievers. Declaring individuals to be unbelievers is a serious matter in which there must be the presence of prerequisites and the absence of impediments. So I advise my brothers to abandon this issue and focus on supporting HAMAS if it is correct and criticizing it if it errors in a fair, scientific, invitational way.

7/3: Khalid Mahmood, an Egyptian journalist, asks:
“You have been a fugitive for a long time and everyone is after you, and some see you as being al-Qaida’s theoretician, philosopher and mastermind. Permit me to ask: haven’t you considered reviewing what has happened in the light of these reviews which you have criticized? And what is the alternative to them?
“Do you continue to hold to your critical position towards the Muslim Brothers? And who in Egypt in your view is the strongest opposition to the regime?
“How do you see the issue of bequeathal [of power from Hosni to Jamal]? And is it possible for you to propose an alternative or stop the scenario of succession?
“What has happened in Egypt after 26 years of Mubarak’s rule?
“Do you communicate with your family in Egypt? How do you reassure yourself about them?”
My answer is:
First: yes, I undertook reviews which I mentioned in the first printing of Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as well as in the second printing, which I ask Allah to help me to release soon, but my reviews were not in the context of the investigation department’s reviews, but were in the context of developing and activating the Jihadi work in Egypt and all over the Muslim Ummah.
Second: yes, I continue to hold to my stance towards the Brothers, although I went back on some of the terms I used about them in the second printing of The Bitter Harvest. And the strongest force opposing the regime in Egypt is the Islamic movement in general and the Jihad movement in particular upon which the regime imposes the severest types of constriction and repression, while it allows others expansive freedoms because they don’t represent the biggest threat to it, and moreover, it uses them to give vent to popular Islamic pressure.
Third: the issue of bequeathal in Egypt is under way by American decree, and the alternative is the setting up of the Islamic state. What is important isn’t to ask about stopping the bequeathal or not stopping it, but rather, is to liberate the countries from the America