The Al Qaeda Reader
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Book Summary Information
Editor: Raymond IbrahimEdition: Paperback
Published: 2007-08-07
ISBN: 076792262X
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Broadway
Book Reviews of The Al Qaeda Reader
Book Review: Modern Mein Kampf
Summary: 5 Stars
A collection of dozens of theological essays and press releases, The Al Qaeda Reader offers a terrifying look at the men who masterminded September 11th.
The book is divided into two broad sections: Theology and Propaganda. In the first, Ibrahim has gathered four essays written to fellow Muslims. The message sent to a more sympathetic audience of coreligionists is strikingly different that than proclaimed to the United States and the rest of the world. Rather than criticizing the Jews and an oil-hungry America, here Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri call upon the Koran, the ahadith (the sayings of Muhammad), the sunna (the example of Muhammad's life), and the writings of Muslim authorities to justify their jihad against the West and call fellow Muslims to join them.
The calls for repentence, for Israeli withdrawal, and other political grievances come in the Propaganda section. Here Al Qaeda disguises its theological agenda and speaks to the Western world in its own terms, calling on Europeans to abandon relations with the United States, on the United States of abandon its godless lifestyle and attacks on Islam, and on Iraqis to take up arms against the weak and almost-defeated invaders.
What makes this book extremely helpful--especially considering the theologically dense content of some of Al Qaeda's essays--is the introductory material and notes by translator and editor Raymond Ibrahim. Here he briefly outlines key Islamic terms, such as umma, fatwa, hadith, jizya, and many others. Another summarizes the most highly-regarded figures of Islamic history and theology. As these terms and figures crop up repeatedly within the material collected here, these sections proved immensely helpful.
But, to be honest, the book is still hard to read. Not only do terrorists seem to be bad writers--Zawahiri in particular crafts ponderous, soporific essays--but the subject matter at times becomes so sad and apalling that I had to put the book down. The terrible minds that conceived the words here almost threaten to warp the reader's own. But finishing the book is worth it, if not for the enlightenment then certainly for the greater appreciation of freedom that it brings.
In his introduction, Ibrahim recalls Adolf Hitler's political testament Mein Kampf: "though the world was well aware of his book, it was not taken seriously." In Mein Kampf, Hitler outlined his past and present hatreds and the terrible ideas he had for the future. The essays and proclamations collected in here do the same for Al Qaeda, Ibrahim says, and "the same mistake," ignoring the words of seeming madmen, "should not be made twice."
Highly recommended.
Summary of The Al Qaeda Reader
What do our enemies believe?? What motivates their war against the West?? What is their vision of the ideal Islamic society?? Surprisingly, more than five years after 9/11, there is very little understanding of these questions.?Despite our tendency to dismiss Islamic extremism as profoundly irrational, al-Qaeda is not without a coherent body of beliefs.? Like other totalitarian movements, the movement’s leaders have rationalized their brutality in a number of published treatises.? Now, for the first time, The Al Qaeda Reader gathers together the essential texts and documents that trace the origin, history, and evolution of the ideas of al-Qaeda founders Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden.?
This extraordinary collection of the key texts of the al-Qaeda movement—including incendiary materials never before translated into English—lays bare the minds, motives, messages, and ultimate goals of an enemy bent on total victory. Al-Qaeda’s chilling ideology calls for a relentless jihad against non-Muslim “infidels,” repudiates democracy in favor of Islamic law, stresses the importance of martyrdom, and mocks the notion of “moderate” Islam.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of these works is how grounded they are in the traditional sources of Islamic theology: the Koran and the teachings of the Prophet. The founders of al-Qaeda use these sources as powerful weapons of persuasion, reminding followers (and would-be recruits) that Muhammad and his warriors spread Islam through the power of the sword and that the Koran is not merely allegory or history but literal truth that commands all Muslims to action.
In addition to laying bare al-Qaeda’s ultimate motives, The Al Qaeda Reader includes the organization’s propagandist speeches, which are directed primarily at Americans, Europeans, and Iraqis. Here, al-Qaeda’s many "official" accusations against the West are meticulously delineated, from standard complaints such as the Palestinian issue and Iraq to wholly unexpected ones concerning the U.S.’s exploitation of women and the environment.
Taken together, the Theology and Propaganda sections of this volume reveal the most comprehensive picture of al-Qaeda to date. They also highlight the double-speak of bin Laden and Zawahiri, who often say one thing to Muslims in their religious treatises ("We must hate and fight the West because Islam commands it") and another in their propaganda directed at the West ("The West is the aggressor and we are fighting back merely in self-defense").
Westerners from across the political spectrum will be fascinated and enlightened by The Al Qaeda Reader’s insights into the nature of Islamic texts and the ways in which al-Qaeda has used these texts to manufacture hatred against our civilization and our way of life.
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