Specializing in monitoring al-Qaeda's digital activity and analyzing its literature and ideology. | Al-Qaeda Files substack.com/@aqf87
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I’ve launched a weekly magazine on Substack called"Al-Qaeda Files covering its latest output,summaries of new books and materials, discussions within closed groups,exclusive insights into its current direction,with a focus on treats to the West.Coming soon
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Two Articles in Al-Bayan, the Pro-Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Newsletter, on the Strike That Targeted an Individual Linked to the Organization in Mukalla Several Days Ago.
Full Text :
qaeda00.substack.com/p/two-a…
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In a debate between members of al-Qaeda and ISIS, held inside a closed group,over which of the two organizations had achieved more victories than the other, al-Qaeda members claimed that elements of the organization took part alongside the Qassam Brigades in the October 7 attack
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"'Muslims are a nation apart from other peoples,but al-Qaeda is not a nation apart from Muslims"
this is how AQ defines itself
,relying solely on a security approach to confront the organization is like treating the symptoms while ignoring the roots that give it its staying power
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Violent Extremism Lens retweeted
With the renewed focus on Ahmad al-Sharaa I am re-upping my article with @lawfare titled, “Ahmad al-Sharaa is Building the State Abu Mohammad Al-Golani Promised.”
Ahmad Al-Sharaa may have traded the battlefield for the presidential palace. But the governing system emerging in #Syria looks less like a break from Abu Mohammed al-Jolani’s vision & more like its realization. My latest with @lawfare lawfaremedia.org/article/ahm…
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Violent Extremism Lens retweeted
How does al-Qaeda expand without losing ideological control? Its answer: keep the threshold for membership low—Islam alone—while demanding greater doctrinal & methodological conformity from its leadership. Interesting article by @AntiExtremism87
Membership Requirements in al-Qaeda
Between Islam and Doctrinal and Methodological Soundness
Full Text :
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Membership Requirements in al-Qaeda
Between Islam and Doctrinal and Methodological Soundness
Full Text :
substack.com/@aqf87
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Iran-aligned extremist groups, like the Houthis, have bombed the U.S. embassy in Aukar and Beirut and the Marine barracks, kidnapped American nationals, and killed Americans in the 1996 Khobar Towers attack. Their track record plotting against the U.S. rivals al-Qaeda's own
The Shia Houthis don’t have to be our enemies, they do not & have not aspired to attack the homeland. We can cut a deal w/them to open the BAM.
Al-Qaeda, however will always be our enemy & Al-Qaeda in Yemen exists primarily to plot & attack us here in the homeland.
Once again our foolish interventions end up supporting our enemies. We need to break this cycle.
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In this week’s issue, an Istanbul-based publishing house that supports al-Qaeda is printing a book by Saif al-Adl, who appeared in the group’s latest video, in preparation for its display at major book fairs across Muslim-majority countries.
Full Text
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A documentation piece examining the 43 clips of 29 American experts featured in al-Qaeda's latest video on the September 11 attacks, and the ideas the group sought to substantiate by citing their remarks.
Full Text
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Al-Bayan quoted Ibrahim al-Qousi saying that if the U.S. wages war on al-Qaeda through proxies, he will attack it through lone-actor attacks.If it kills AQ members,he will kill Americans in return, saying al-Qaeda’s dead go to heaven while U.S. dead go to hell,The war is not over
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Violent Extremism Lens retweeted
Differing Views on Whether Hamza bin Laden Is Alive or Dead
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Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent has condemned the mosque attack in Kohat,carried out by the Ittihad al-Mujahideen coalition. Worth noting:Harakat Inqilab-e-Islami,one of the factions within that coalition,is itself al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent operating under that name
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Al-Bayan, the Publication Aligned With AQAP, Runs Two Articles — One on the War in Yemen, Another Making the Religious Case for Prioritizing Jihad Over Formal Religious Study
Full Text
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Even Darul Uloom Deoband's own fatwa council says as much.
Iftikhar Sahab, the other guy is correct, you seem to be confusing Ash'arism with Salafism.
Ash'aris and Maturidis are closely linked sister Kalam schools and the Deobandi tradition follows a mixed version of Ash'ari-Maturidi Kalam, except that it tends to prefer Maturidis on Masa'il of Khilaf.
The OBL or AQ advise pertains to the Salafis that those Salafis shouldn't raise Salafi vs Ash'ari/Maturidi polemics in these places.
Against Salafi Aqidah, Maturidis and Ash'aris are interchangeable. The situation in Syria is that the revolution was carried out by a mix, the lay people and many scholars like Sabuni, were Ash'ari-Maturidi, but the major groups like Ahrar Al Sham and HTS (former Nusrah) were Salafi-ish.
However, these Salafis of Syria moderated in theology to the point of accommodating Ash'aris and Maturidis within the fold of Sunnism. This development lead to the appointment of Sh Usama al-Rifai (Hanafi but Ash'ari/Maturidi in creed) to give this statement that Jolani isn't with the Salafiyya (regardless of how authentic that is).
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In my assessment, al-Sharaa and al-Qaeda are two faces of extremism, though each is currently on a separate path from the other. Here's what al-Qaeda's leadership has said about him in its releases and statements.
Full Text :
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Maturidis and Ash'aris are in complete agreement on the fundamentals of belief.Their disagreements are confined to secondary matters such as the rational basis of good and evil,unexamined faith,and the divine attributes of action and cannot be considered substantive differences
That’s incorrect, the Taliban are grounded in the Aqeeda [theology] of Imam Abu Mansur Maturidi and in the of [jurispudence] Sharia of Imam Abu Hanifa in the the tradition of Deoband.
The polemics between the Ashari and Maturidi discourse has been the subject of discord between AQ and Taliban, to an extent that Osama bin Laden had to advise AQ to not debate with the Taliban on subjects related to hermeneutics.
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Excellent analysis of al-Qaeda's latest video, in my assessment.
@Dr_SaraHarmouch is one of the best accounts I've come across for genuine insight into al-Qaeda's activity and ideology — well worth following for whatever she puts out.
Al-Qaeda has no publicly declared emir. Its de facto leader stays out of sight & now a man the US claimed was killed 7 years ago is back at center stage. Why? @hoffman_bruce & I examine what Hamza bin Laden can give al-Qaeda that Saif al-Adel cannot @smallwars shorturl.at/WI2Ek
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The Taliban are Ash'ari.Most factions within JNIM
have moved toward Ash'ari theology as well.Saif al-Adel himself is now just a step or two away from the Ash'ari school.Historically, most Muslim leaders who harbored ambitions of conquest against the West were themselves Ash'ari
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