# The Rationalization & The Exoneration of Jihad (Dr. Fadl & Al-Zawahiri)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationalization-the-exoneration-of-jihad-dr-fadl-al-zawahiri/455498>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [July 6, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationalization-the-exoneration-of-jihad-dr-fadl-al-zawahiri/455498 "2008-07-06T23:07:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rationalization-the-exoneration-of-jihad-dr-fadl-al-zawahiri/455498/1 "2008-07-06T23:07:43Z")

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Lately, I’ve been consciously trying to pay more attention to perspectives on the occupation of Iraq and Al-Qaeda coming from the insides of those organizations. Not because I sympathize, but because I want to at least have a glimmering of understanding of their motives and rationales.

So, recently Dr. Fadl (Sayed Imam Abdulaziz al-Sharif - Jihad theoretician and allegedly the founding father of Al Jihadi, the precursor to Al-Qaeda) released a revision of the rules of Jihad. (_Rationalizations on Jihad in Egypt and the World_[2008]).

Here are the rules he suggested;

> [@Dr.Fadl](#):
>
> 1. The life or property of a muslim can not be harmed or taken from him.
> 
> 2. Jihad against the leaders of muslim countries is not allowed.
> 
> 3. It is forbidden to harm foreigners or tourists in muslim countries.
> 
> 4. It’s an illegal betrayal to kill people in a non-muslim country if you have gotten into the country with permission of the government.
> 
> 5. People shall not attempt to commit Jihad on their own. [Singular, as in one person - OP ED]
> 
> 6. The person committing Jihad must not only be physically capable, but also financially capable in his own right. There is nothing in Islam which condones kidnapping or theft as a way to finance Jihad.
> 
> 7. The Jihadists must be able to take care of their family, also after they have comitted Jihad.
> 
> 8. The parents must approve if their children wish to commit Jihad. God does not accept Jihad without the parents’ permission.

[Note: The above is re-translated from Norwegian, sourcing [this](http://www.dagbladet.no/art/politisk_islam/islamkritikk/2406333/) article in Norwegian Dagbladet. I have ordered the translation of the work into English, but I have not received the copy yet. If any Norwegian-speaking persons would vouch for my translation, I’d be grateful of that. If anyone finds a contradicting translation, please post it here.]

Dr. Fadl is currently in Egyptian prison. He is claimed to have divorced from the practical side of Jihads in 1994 and lived oddly in peace with Yemen security forces until he was arrested after 9/11, because of pressure from the US.  
Recently, Al-Zawahiri released a 188-page rebuttal (“The Exoneration”) of the document, choosing to highlight the fact that Dr. Fadl contradicts his own, earlier work and leaves important questions Dr. Fadl brought to the forefront unanswered. Al-Zawahiri also chooses to warn the author and readers of the work that Dr. Fadl wrote this while under incarceration and the only beneficiary of the document is the United States. He claims that Dr. Fadl has been pressured by “Crusader and Zionistic” forces.

For more on Al-Zawahiri’s rebuttal, I’ll refer to [Jamestown’s article, by Abdul Hameed Bakier](http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2374135).  
So, what does the dope think? Is the Jihad movement collapsing on itself from the inside, has Dr. Fadl been pressurized by the Coalition to write this document, is the document ghost-written? Who benefits from this? Does the fact that the rebuttal even exists mean that Al-Qaeda is taking this as a very serious threat to their Jihadist base? Will this push Al-Qaeda and other Shari’a-sympathetic groups to reforms?