DAR AL ISLAM: AYMAN AL-ZAWIHIRI BLOVIATES

“Tremendous Lessons and Events in the Year 1427 AH” – An Audio Speech by Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri
By SITE Institute

The voice of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s number two, is featured in a 40:42 minute video produced by the multimedia arm of al-Qaeda, as-Sahab. Titled: “Tremendous Lessons and Events in the Year 1427 AH”, the video contains English subtitles to Zawahiri’s speech, a static image on him shown in the top left corner of the screen. Primary among the events of the past year in the Islamic calendar, according to Zawahiri, is U.S. President George W. Bush allegedly admitting to failure in Iraq and an escalating threat from the Taliban in Afghanistan. As the Democrats failed to reverse U.S. foreign policy, and the American and British citizens reelected their heads of state, Bush and Tony Blair, to lead them into the “abyss”, Zawahiri observes that Western aggression will continue upon Islam until the Mujahideen are victorious. This circumstance is the focal point of the speech, Zawahiri seeking a solution in a profound call to all Muslims for unity, “even if be they Afghans, Persians, Turks or Kurds”, to heed Islamic doctrine and fight together to make “Allah’s word” supreme.

On the subject of America, Zawahiri claims Bush to be an “alcoholic”, addicted to drinking, lying, and gambling, using these terms as metaphors for his pursuits in the Middle East. He finds no difference between Democrat and Republican, and to their combined actions against Muslims, he announces that their era and that of their allies is over and the “era of Jihad and the Mujahideen has dawned. Counties that have helped in the “Crusade” and Islam in the Iraq and Afghanistan, specifically Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt, are threatened by Zawahiri to prepare for the reaping of their “bitter harvest”. Also denying encroachment upon Muslim lands, Zawahiri urges Muslims to deny UN Resolution 1701 and refuse an “international Crusader presence” in southern Lebanon.

Returning to the ideal of Muslim unity, Zawahiri affirms that he and al-Qaeda have pledged loyalty to the Emir of the Believers, Mullah Muhammad Omar, and encourages all Mujahideen to align themselves beneath one banner. He adds: “I ask my Muslim brothers in general and the callers and Mujahideen and their media organizations in particular to highlight the concept of Islamic brotherhood and disown all partisanship, loyalties and animosities based on nationalism, and I ask them not to allow the wrongdoing of a faction or entity motivate them to speak evil of that party's entire people or race.” Within this call, Zawahiri charges that the leaders of Fatah are apostates, and encourages its members to “return to Islam” and fight, but not necessarily join Hamas, Palestine Islamic Jihad, or al-Qaeda.

Concluding the speech, Zawahiri instructs Muslims to serve in jihad in Mauritania, as well as Afghanistan, Iraq, Algeria, and Somalia, either by bearing arms, monies, or words. He sends greetings to the “fledging” Islamic State of Iraq and members of its leadership, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, and the Mujahideen in both Algeria and Somalia.



Pertinent Links:

1) “Tremendous Lessons and Events in the Year 1427 AH” – An Audio Speech by Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri