Voices of Jihad - RAND Corporation
Voices of Jihad - RAND Corporation Voices of Jihad - RAND Corporation
8 Voices of Jihad ers” to mean Westerners, and none would forget the sack of Jerusalem in 1099. Is modern-day jihadi terrorism caused by or inherent in Islam? No more so than the Aryan Nations are the inevitable product of Christianity. While it is true that all jihadis consider themselves Muslim fundamentalists, few Muslims, or even fundamentalists, are jihadis. Fanaticism and violence are not unique to Islam, or even to religion. As obvious as this point may be, it is important to stress it. This book focuses on what jihadis say and on their narrow view of Islam. As crucial as it is to understand their beliefs, they in no way represent the whole of Islam. This book provides selected portions of jihadi writings organized to enable the reader to find quotations on particular topics. However, most of the excerpts deal with more than one topic, so the decision of where to place the quotes is inevitably subjective. For example, everything under 9/11 is about that tragic day, but not everything about 9/11 will be found in that section. The purpose of this book is not to disseminate jihadi propaganda, but to follow the admonition to “know thine enemy” through its own words. As the following pages dramatically demonstrate, we do have an enemy, and we need to pay attention to how it thinks and what it plans to do to us. pushes it to you then strike all its males with the edge of your sword. As for the women, children, and beasts and all that is in the city, they are all a booty for you.” In the Gospel of Matthew, in the tenth book, verses 25 and onward: “Think not that I have come to spread peace in the land, but the sword. For, I have come to separate a man from his son, and the son from his father and the daughter-in-law from her mother-in-law. . . . and the animosity of the person with his household, whoever loves a son or a daughter more than I will not deserve me, and whosoever does not take his cross and follow me also does not deserve me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find me.”
CHAPTER TwO Life in Jihad Jihad is a way of life, so any portrait of it must begin with a picture of the lives led by jihadis. Many of them are vagabonds searching for the next conflict, wandering from Afghanistan to Algeria, Bosnia to Baghdad, Chechnya to Cairo. Despite the lyric descriptions in the poems and songs of jihad, it is a life of hardship and personal sacrifice, not romantic adventure. The violence and brutality of this life produce in jihadis a lack of affect, an emotional deadness that does not seem to be relieved by their devotion to religion. The reality and poverty of the lives of jihadis must be kept in mind as one reads this collection of excerpts. The voices of jihad are ultimately not only appalling, but sad. The Story of Isam al-Qamari The events in this story, which are related by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, take place in Cairo in the 1980s. As this account shows, random death is a jihadi’s constant companion. “One of the most important jihad groups uncovered by the security agencies was that of Isam al-Qamari. 1 . . . . “Isam al-Qamari was a serious man who, since early in his youth, had taken the issue of Islam seriously. He decided to join the Military College to change the ruling regime in Egypt. That was his conviction as he finished his secondary school education. He once told me, God have mercy on him, that he asked his father once after joining the 1 “Qamari was more of a charismatic leader than Zawahiri and was often deferred to on major decisions. In February 1981, Qamari’s plots were found out by the government, which caused Sadat to order a major crackdown on diverse underground movements in Egypt. While most of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad leadership was arrested, Zawahiri remained a free man” (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/zawahiri.htm). 9
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CHAPTER TwO<br />
Life in <strong>Jihad</strong><br />
<strong>Jihad</strong> is a way <strong>of</strong> life, so any portrait <strong>of</strong> it must begin with a picture <strong>of</strong> the lives led<br />
by jihadis. Many <strong>of</strong> them are vagabonds searching for the next conflict, wandering<br />
from Afghanistan to Algeria, Bosnia to Baghdad, Chechnya to Cairo. Despite the lyric<br />
descriptions in the poems and songs <strong>of</strong> jihad, it is a life <strong>of</strong> hardship and personal sacrifice,<br />
not romantic adventure. The violence and brutality <strong>of</strong> this life produce in jihadis<br />
a lack <strong>of</strong> affect, an emotional deadness that does not seem to be relieved by their<br />
devotion to religion.<br />
The reality and poverty <strong>of</strong> the lives <strong>of</strong> jihadis must be kept in mind as one reads<br />
this collection <strong>of</strong> excerpts. The voices <strong>of</strong> jihad are ultimately not only appalling, but<br />
sad.<br />
The Story <strong>of</strong> Isam al-Qamari<br />
The events in this story, which are related by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri,<br />
take place in Cairo in the 1980s. As this account shows, random death is a jihadi’s<br />
constant companion.<br />
“One <strong>of</strong> the most important jihad groups uncovered by the security<br />
agencies was that <strong>of</strong> Isam al-Qamari. 1<br />
. . . .<br />
“Isam al-Qamari was a serious man who, since early in his youth,<br />
had taken the issue <strong>of</strong> Islam seriously. He decided to join the Military<br />
College to change the ruling regime in Egypt. That was his conviction<br />
as he finished his secondary school education. He once told me,<br />
God have mercy on him, that he asked his father once after joining the<br />
1 “Qamari was more <strong>of</strong> a charismatic leader than Zawahiri and was <strong>of</strong>ten deferred to on major decisions. In February<br />
1981, Qamari’s plots were found out by the government, which caused Sadat to order a major crackdown<br />
on diverse underground movements in Egypt. While most <strong>of</strong> the Egyptian Islamic <strong>Jihad</strong> leadership was arrested,<br />
Zawahiri remained a free man” (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/zawahiri.htm).<br />
9
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