Ekhlaas member Dir` li-Man Wahada (Armor for One Who Was Alone) has written a brief guide for the Jihadi initiate to consult in preparation for the coming al-Qaeda strikes. His purpose, he says, is to enumerate the general strategic framework of al-Qaeda so the initiate will be able to implement the organization’s vision locally, either by himself or in a small group.
The initiate must prepare himself in three respects: religiously, intellectually, and physically.
For the religious aspect, he must read:
- تنبيه الراحل إلى أهم ما يحتاجه من المسائل (Informing the Traveler of the Most Important Issues He Needs to Know) by `Izz al-Din al-Maqdisi
- حقيقة الحرب الصليبية الجديدة (The Reality of the New Crusader War) by Yusuf `Uyayri (or `Ayiri–have we decided yet?)
- الباحث في حكم قتل أفراد وضباط المباحث (An Inquiry Into the Ruling of Death upon Soldiers and Officers of the Security Forces) by Faris Al al-Shuwayl al-Zahrani
For the intellectual and security aspect, he must read:
- موسوعة أبي زبيدة الأمنية (The Security Encyclopedia of Abu Zubayda)
- دعوة المقاومة الإسلامية العالمية (Call for the Global Islamic Resistance) by Abu Mus`ab al-Suri. (“Reading the book will fill several weeks. Don’t fail to complete it and don’t skip sections.”)
For physical preparation, the individual should at least do the following:
- Exercise no less than three times a week for at least half an hour. Beginners should join sports clubs.
- Run outdoors at least once a week.
- For those who can, swim on the days you are not exercising.
- Avoid difficult exercises in the first few weeks to avoid injury.
- Exercise less during Ramadan.
Dir` cautions those who take up this program to keep their Jihadi interests to themselves. Dir` also acknowledges that some of the Jihadis think reading these books takes too much time; he counters that if they don’t know why they are fighting, they will merely be brigands.
This curriculum is similar in some respects to one we looked at in June.
Document (Arabic): 8-17-08-ekhlaas-how-individual-can-prepare-for-coming-jihadi-stages
6 Responses
I was wondering if here are any links as to where an English translation of Abu Musab al-Suri’s Call for GlobaL Islamic Resistance can be found.
There isn’t a publicly available translation of the entire book. Even if there were, you’d still be better off reading Brynjar Lia’s The Architect of Global Jihad, a book-length study of Suri and his works. Brynjar has a full translation of what Suri calls the heart of The Call for the Global Islamic Resistance.
Thanks Will. I have that book and have been reading it quite thoroughly. I get the idea that al-Suri was influenced by his wife to a great degree but have not found much in regards to where she stood exactly in regards to being a leftist ‘progresista’. I suspect a situationist/autonomist/anarchist/anarcho-syndicalist/Marxist-Humanist blend was what she imparted to him and he stripped out any and all morality when he synthesized this into his jihadist writings and lectures.
For the record, I like the Lia book but he (Lia) doesn’t seem to have a deep understanding of the ideologies that shaped al-Suri’s thinking. I’m of the mind that if I got a hold of the entire book I will find a lot of overlooked aspects that can lead to a full taxonomy of his philosophy. A lot of it that I’ve read so far shows a definite influence from Deleuze and Guattari. I’ll be writing about this soon enough on my blog.
Man, who is crazy enough to translate over 1600 pages 🙂
I know I will not do it.