Page 1 
 
…Except that I would like to point out how important it is for 
us to keep in mind the views of the Muslim Ummah (TN: Muslim 
population) on getting involved in a comprehensive war against 
the enemy. The Ummah is fighting an internal enemy, which are 
the leaders of the Arab World. The Ummah is also fighting an 
external enemy, which is America. Although the former is far 
more blasphemous, the latter is clearly the unbeliever.  
 
At this stage of our war with our enemies, America poses a 
greater threat to the Ummah than any other enemy.  
 
America is the head of the infidels. If God wills it, America’s 
head can be cut off. Once the head has been removed, then it 
would be easier to cut off America’s wings. This is exactly what 
Omar, may God be pleased with him, said about the Persians.  
 
When the Muslims were at war with the Persians, Omar consulted 
with Hurmazan, who was supposedly the expert on Persian affairs. 
Omar asked Hurmazan about the best way to attack Persia. 
Hurmazan replied, “Persia’s power today can be described as a 
power with a body, head, and wings.” Omar asked, “Where was the 
head?” Hurmazan replied, “Nahavund.” Hurmazan also told Omar 
about the two powers which represented the wings. Hurmazan then 
told Omar, “Oh, Emir of all believers, I have the answer to your 
question on how to defeat Persia: Cut off the wings, then the 
head becomes easier to remove.” Omar immediately replied, “You 
tell a lie! You are the enemy of God. I must cut off the head, 
first, then the wings will be easier to remove.” 
 
I have come up with my own scenario on the situation. I have 
probably mentioned this before. The enemy can also be described 
as a wicked tree. The trunk of that tree is 50cm wide. The tree 
has many branches, which vary in length and size.  
 
The trunk of the tree represents America. The branches of the 
tree represent countries, like NATO members, and countries in 
the Arab World. We, on the other hand, represent a person who 
wants to cut down that tree. Our abilities and resources, 
however, are limited, thus we cannot do the job quickly enough. 
The only option we are left with is to slowly cut that tree down 
by using a saw. Our intention is to saw the trunk of that tree, 
and never to stop until that tree falls down.  
 
Assume that we have cut up 30cm of the trunk of that tree. We, 
then, see an opportunity to use our saw to cut into one of the 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTbranches. Say a branch that represents the United Kingdom. We 
should ignore that opportunity, and to go back to sawing the 
trunk of the tree. 
 
If we are to allow ourselves to be distracted by sawing this or 
that branch, we could never finish the job at hand. We will also 
lose momentum and, most importantly, waste our jihad efforts.  
 
We want to saw the trunk until the wicked tree is down. God 
willing, once the tree is down, its branches will die thereof.  
 
You saw what happened to the Russians in Afghanistan, when the 
Mujahidin focused on sawing the trunk of their wicked tree. 
Their tree fell down, then its branches died out, from South 
Yemen to Eastern Europe. Mind you, the Mujahidin had done very 
little to help kill those branches.   
 
We must then aim every bow and arrow and every landmine at the 
Americans. Only the Americans, but no one else, be it NATO 
members, or other countries.  
   
Assume that we are on an ambush mission between Qandahar and 
Helmand, and we have just spotted enemy forces. The enemy forces 
consisted of three separate convoys. One convoy belonged to the 
Americans. One convoy belonged to the Afghan army. One convoy 
belonged to a NATO-member. Also, assume that the Afghan and the 
NATO-member convoys carried far more troops than the American 
convoy.  
 
What should we do? The rule is that we must only attack the 
American convoy, but no one else.  
 
Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Not to state the 
obvious, if the Mujahidin knows that a non-American force was on 
its way to attack their positions, and that force was not on a 
regular patrol mission, the Mujahidin must intercept it. 
 
Accordingly, the Mujahidin in every country will use force 
against the local authorities only if they come under direct 
attack. The Mujahidin need to preserve their strength, so they 
could use it in their fundamental mission. That is to attack 
Americans and their interests.  
 
One must leave room for the possibility that Americans, or their 
interests, may not be present in some countries or regions. 
Also, when Americans exist in fewer numbers in a given country, 
they tend to be under heavy protection. So each country or 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTregion has its own variables as far as targeting Americans 
and/or their interests. 
 
When Americans or their interests are not found in a given 
country, the Mujahidin group in that country must look for 
American targets in neighboring countries or regions. The 
Mujahidin group in that country should not opt to attack NATO 
members and/or NATO interests, because they happen to be 
vulnerable targets in their country.   
 
Also, to avoid targeting conflicts between the al-Qaida 
branches, each Mujahidin group must be certain that it is the 
only al-Qaida group operating in a country where it intends to 
target Americans.  
 
You may find it suitable to target Americans in South Africa, 
because it is located outside the Islamic Maghreb. Also, South 
Africa is not covered by the brothers who are located outside 
that region. The same can be said about other African countries. 
 
The Muslim land has been spoiled by America’s hegemony, and the 
leaders who rule that land. The leaders of that Muslim land had 
totally given in to America’s hegemony, in exchange for favors 
which only serve their interests. Those are the same leaders who 
also abandoned the Law of Islam.  
 
The road is open for us to resurrect the religion, and to 
restore dignity to the Muslim people. To restore dignity to the 
Muslim people, the Muslim land must break away from that 
American hegemony.  
 
It is that same hegemony which had forbidden any government in 
its sphere to rule with God’s law.  
 
To break away from America’s hegemony, we need to involve 
America in a war of attrition. The war must be enduring, 
however. The goal is to weaken America until it can no longer 
interfere in Muslims affairs.  
 
Once the American enemy has been defeated, our next step would 
be targeting the region’s leaders who had been the pillars of 
support for that American hegemony. These are the same leaders 
who not only abandoned the Islamic Law, but also helped America 
extend its hegemony all over the Muslim land.  
  
Once those leaders have been defeated, God willing our next step 
will be building our Muslim state.  

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HT 
Going back to the earlier question about fighting the apostates. 
I say: You know that throughout history, many resistance 
movements in the Muslim world had fought and won against many 
foreign enemies. The last of those fights was in Afghanistan. 
The reason the resistance movement in Afghanistan had won was 
because it had the support from the Afghan public. The Afghan 
public was highly charged, and it supported the mujahidin with 
every possible means, to expel the Russian infidels who had 
occupied Afghanistan.  
 
The public support to any resistance movement is extremely 
vital. A resistance movement cannot last without the support of 
the public, just like a fish cannot live without water. Also, 
when the movement’s public support is diminished, the standing 
of that movement is diminished, too.     
 
Most people in Gaza rallied behind the Islamic resistance 
banner, because they had a common foreign enemy. Although at the 
time, the Gazans had known little about the shortcomings of 
their leaders. 
 
Page 2 
 
In Iraq, the enemy entered the country and then occupied it. The 
enemy, however, made a very big mistake when it ignored the 
Iraqi tribes. The enemy was also ignorant about the region and 
its people.  
 
The enemy, in one way or another, had stirred up the Iraqi 
tribes, which led them to declare unification. As a result of 
that unification, the Iraqi public became united against a 
common enemy. Then, the Iraqi public became supportive of the 
Mujahidin, who were also fighting that same enemy. The Iraqi 
public had sacrificed tens of thousands of men who fought side 
by side with the Mujahidin. (Translator note: Here, the author 
is making reference to the Sunni tribes and Sunni public.)  
 
The Mujahidin made a few mistakes in Iraq. The mistakes were 
committed because of hasty and poor decisions by some of the 
brothers. Those mistakes involved a number of military 
operations. If the Mujahidin had closely examined those military 
operations beforehand, the situation would have been better. 
Those who were in charge of those military operations had 
totally ignored anticipating the benefits or drawbacks those 
operations might generate.  
 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTThe biggest mistake was made when the Mujahidin targeted and 
then killed members of the Anbar tribes near a police 
recruitment station. The Mujahidin could have easily chosen not 
to carry out that operation. The Mujahidin were not under direct 
attack by those members of the Anbar tribes. Also, the members 
of the Anbar tribes were not on their way to attack the 
Mujahidin in their hideouts. That attack had caused the tribes 
to withdraw their support for the Mujahidin. The attack also 
stirred up very bad feelings.  
 
As you know, a killing of a tribesman is taken very seriously by 
any tribe and it often becomes a leading cause for all sorts of 
vengeful wars.  
 
Imagine the general Iraqi political climate at the time. Also, 
imagine what was the tribes’ reaction when they first heard 
about the Mujahidin killing hundreds of their tribesmen. 
 
It is extremely important to pay close attention to timing. 
Timing is everything. This saying has been proven to be true now 
and then.  
 
We must fully understand that now is the time to begin the work 
toward building our Muslim state. To do that, we first need to 
tackle the guardian of the universal hypocrisy, America. We need 
to deplete America of its power.  
 
The body of the international hypocrisy has always been highly 
unreceptive to the creation of any Muslim state, and no matter 
how small or big that sate was. There are many examples which 
can attest to that.  
 
When Shaykh Khitabi created a Muslim state in Morocco, the 
crusaders quickly reacted, then reorganized their forces and 
besieged that state. The Khitabi state was defeated soon after 
that siege. That took place well before the crusaders had a 
foothold in the Muslim world.  
 
Despite our deep disagreement with the Algerian Salvation Front 
(FIS), to make a point, the Front was also harmed by that body 
of universal hypocrisy. When the Front overwhelmingly won the 
first round of elections in Algeria, which meant that it was 
going to win the general elections, the top French officials 
drafted a plan to move in against the Front, if the Algerian 
government wished it to. The United Kingdom and all of Europe 
were standing by to help the Algerian government defeat the 
Front and, if necessary, by force.  

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HT 
The West greatly worries about a resurfacing of a Muslim state. 
The West understands what sorts of potential the Muslims have; 
potential that has been implanted by Islam in its followers. 
Such potential is not present among followers of other faiths. 
 
Because of this Islamic potential, the Muslims were able, in a 
very short period of time, to spread Islam throughout the world. 
That short period of time was between the time of the Prophet, 
Mohamed, may peace be upon him, and the time of the first four 
Wise Caliphates.  
 
The maps which had been drawn by the Sykes-Picot Agreement and 
other more recent maps have been acknowledged by all world 
leaders. However, if a new Islamic state is to emerge, these 
maps will become something of the past. The Islamic state will 
be seen as a threat, and the West will deal with that state as 
if it had taken over some of its own territories. So, the West 
and other continental and regional countries will likely band 
together to defeat any new Islamic state.  
 
Today, America, the guardian of the West, is by far the most 
influential country in the region. America is the lifeblood of 
that region. America is also the biggest supporter of that 
region’s status quo. America is strong enough to have toppled 
the Iraqi regime, and the Islamic government in Afghanistan. 
Since then, America may have been weakened, perhaps, 
tremendously, but it is still powerful enough to topple any 
state and anywhere, particularly any newly founded Muslim state. 
Our work, hence, must go on until we exhaust and weaken America 
to the point where it could not threaten or defeat any state 
which we create. 
 
So, it is rather urgent to work hard at organizing the Muslim 
people, to unify their efforts and resources. Some of the Muslim 
people may have not experienced a call to Jihad because of one 
excuse or another. Nonetheless, the Muslim people must be united 
first before the preparation for building a Muslim state begins, 
God willing; even if we have to put off the creation of that 
state for a few years. 
 
There is another important issue which must be fully understood. 
That is the intent for applying Islamic Law is to create an 
environment in which God’s codes are supreme to any other codes 
in a given land. Our duty is to ensure that such a condition 
exists. We also have to evaluate, and very carefully, our 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTdecisions, which had taken into consideration the common good 
perspective within the domain of the Islamic Law.  
 
It is common among ordinary people to enlist in the armed forces 
for monetary incentives. Once enlisted, if these people are 
ordered to step forward to a battlefield and fight, they would 
likely do so. These people, however, would not fight on behalf 
of America, even if they had been ordered to do so. These people 
would not have the motivation to kill their own cousins whom 
America wishes to destroy!  
 
Assume that some of those enlisted people, who often would 
belong to this or that tribe, would be willing to fight us. 
Also, assume that during one of their offensives, we kill one of 
them. The reaction of the tribe, to which the deceased belonged 
to, would likely be insignificant in this case, because the 
incident only involved one person and, after all, it happened 
during an offensive operation. Imagine, however, that same 
tribe’s reaction if we were to initiate an attack against a 
group of tribesmen, then kill many of them as they were trying 
to enlist with some unit of the armed forces. That tribe’s 
reaction would be undoubtedly severe. That tribe would press 
hard against us.  
 
The killing of a greater number of tribesmen often boosts 
tribes’ vengeful attitudes. The Mujahidin, hence, must be 
extremely careful about initiating operations to which they know 
little about the consequences. The Mujahidin should also study 
past mistakes so they may learn from them.  
 
Tribal wars have often undermined the stability of many 
communities. Tribal vengeful attitudes at times could be intense 
and uncontrollable. Many tribal wars throughout history can 
attest to that. Even some of our Mujahidin brothers had been 
sucked into tribal wars. When some of the Mujahidin left us to 
go back to their homeland, they found their tribes at war, and 
so, they joined in. They put their faith to the side, then 
joined an ignorant bunch. Those Mujahidin had always been true 
to their faith, to say the least, but they could not abandon the 
tribesmen’s ignorant and vengeful attitudes.  
 
Many governments in the region also made big mistakes when they 
ignored tribal attitudes. Those governments, and because of 
outside demands, would often kill their own countrymen without 
given enough thought to the consequences of their actions. As 
outside pressure increased on those governments, those 
governments, in return, intensified their actions against their 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTown tribes. That led many tribes in those countries to turn 
against the governments. 
 
If the Mujahidin treat the tribes well, the tribes will likely 
be on the Mujahidin’s side. The tribal communities take the 
spilling of blood within its community very seriously. You know 
the story about Abu Huthaifa, may God have mercy on his soul. 
Remember what Abu Huthaifa said during the Badir battle. When 
Abu Huthaifa learned the Prophet’s instructions about not to 
kill al-Abbas Bin Abid al-Mutalib, Abu Huthaifa said, “We are to 
kill our fathers, our sons, our brothers, and members of our 
tribes, but ignore Abbas! By God, if I am to face Abbas, I would 
kill him!” Abu Huthaifa then regretted having said that.  
 
You also know the story about Abidallah Ibn Abidallah Ibn Abi 
Salul. Abi Salul, who was a companion, may God have mercy on his 
soul, had this dialogue with the Prophet, peace be upon him. Abi 
Salul: “I heard that you were planning to kill my father, 
Abidallah Ibn Abi Salul. If you are still determined to do it, 
then let me do it. I would bring his head to you. Oh, by God! 
The Khazraj had never known a man to be more loving to his 
father than me. I am afraid that if you let another Muslim kill 
him, I would avenge my father’s killing, because I would not be 
able to stand seeing a killer of my father walking freely among 
the people. So, if I decide to kill the killer of my father, 
that puts me in line with the sinners, because I killed a Muslim 
man, because he had killed an infidel.”  
 
The Prophet said to Abi Salul, “Instead of all of that, we need 
to treat your father well and we can also have a good 
relationship with him, but as long as he stays with us.”    
 
The Prophet then instructed the tribe of Ibn Abi, the tribe of 
Abi Salul, to be in charge of Abi Salul senior, and to punish 
him if he did wrong. The Prophet, peace be upon him, then turned 
to Omar, may God be pleased with him, and asked, “what do you 
think, Omar? If I had killed Abi Salul senior, as you had 
suggested, I would have started a vengeful tribal war. Look at 
the situation now! If I ask the Abi Salul’s own tribe to kill 
him, they would do it.”  
 
Page 3 
 
You know that any Muslim who fights against other Muslims on 
behalf of America, NATO counties, or the apostate states, must 
be fought back. This, however, should be done at the right time.  
  

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTThe timing issue can be understood if we look at an incident 
during the battle of the Trenches. That incident involved 
Huthaifa Bin al-Yaman, may God be please with him, and Abu 
Sufian. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to Huthaifa, “Go to 
those people, then live amongst them. Learn as much as you can 
about those people, and what they are doing. Do not talk to 
anyone about this, however, until you come back to us.” Huthaifa 
said, “May God be pleased with him.” While there, Abu Sufian 
said, “Oh, Qurish people! Your prestige is at stake, and you are 
living in a land where your livestock has disappeared. Banu 
Quridhah tribe has held back, and today we have just learned 
about their unpleasant stance. We are confronted with a storm 
(the Muslim people forces), as you see, which appears unwilling 
to die down. We cannot start our fires or protect our homes from 
the strong wind. So, get ready to move, because I am.” Abu 
Sufian then jumped on his camel while it was still at rest. He 
struck the camel hard, then the camel stressfully stood up. 
Whenever Abu Sufian’s camel stopped, Abu Sufian would not wait 
for his camel to sit, instead, he would jump off, and quickly. 
Abu Sufian was always in a rattled mood. If it was not for the 
Prophet’s instructions `not to talk to anyone about this until 
you come back to us.’ I could have easily killed Abu Sufian with 
an arrow.”  
 
Abu Sufian was the head of the infidels. Also, it appears that 
there is no doubt that killing the head of the infidels at the 
time would be in the interest of Islam. However, killing Abu 
Sufian had proven to be not in the interest of Islam, especially 
during that period of history. There were so many reasons not to 
kill Abu Sufian. One of reasons was that killing Abu Sufian 
would have given his tribe, Qurish, an incentive to avenge him, 
then launch a war on the Prophet, and his followers. That was 
mainly why the Prophet instructed his followers not to target 
Abu Sufian, to spare the Muslims any additional burdens.  
 
The same can be said about fighting the infidels, or holding 
peace agreements with them. When the Muslims are strong, they 
fight the infidels until they either become Muslims or pay a 
penalty (the jizyah). When the Muslims are weak, our Prophet, 
peace be upon him, taught us to do what is in the best interest 
of the Muslim people.  
 
The Prophet, who never uttered nonsense, taught us the 
following. During the battle of the Clans (Ahzab), the Prophet, 
peace be up on him, offered the Ghatfan clan one third of the 
city of Medina’s harvest, in exchange for the clan not to fight 
the Muslims, and to go back to their territories.  

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HT 
Instead of the Muslims taking the wealth of the Ghatfanis, the 
Muslims gave them one third of their economy’s output! The city 
of Medina where the Muslims were living at the time enjoyed a 
strong economy, and its harvest was counted among the best. So, 
a Muslim leader must do what the Prophet did, to compromise in 
difficult time. The duty of the Muslim leader is to ensure 
implementation of God’s commands, and to defend God’s religion.  
 
Also, we need to learn about what the Prophet, may peace and 
blessings be upon him, did during the Hudaybyah peace agreement 
with Qurish. Qurish at the time was the head of the infidels in 
the Arabian Peninsula. The Hudaybyah peace agreement produced 
great and positive results for the Muslims. 
 
As we are on the Jihad path, we need to do what the Prophet had 
done and to put God’s religion above everything else. Our desire 
is to do just that -- to create a Muslim state, which would rule 
by the Almighty God’s commands. This is feasible, God’s willing.  
 
Creating a Muslim state, however, cannot happen overnight. We 
need to be realistic about so many factors. Some of the factors 
include having to build the proper foundations for the state.  
 
God did not send the entire holy Quran to the Prophet at once, 
although the Quran had been complete in Heaven. The Sword verse, 
for example, had existed in Heaven, as the Muslims were 
instructed by another verse “to hold back their hands (from 
fighting).” There is no doubt that God indented that “hold back” 
verse to serve certain goals which were to be for the benefits 
of the Muslim people.  
 
I believe that another of God’s goals was that the Muslims at 
the time did not possess the proper resources to create and be 
able to defend a Muslim state in Medina. Then, when God willed 
it, the Muslim state was created in Medina with the help of the 
Ansar supporters. Despite the fact that the state was considered 
too vulnerable and perhaps subject to what could be devastating 
wars. It was the Ansar supporters, may God be pleased with them 
all, who stood firm with the Prophet, and his state in Medina. 
This shows how important it is to ensure having the necessary 
support and loyalty of the people before building a state, be it 
ordinary, or influential tribesmen.  
 
Note that when the Ansar, may God be pleased with them, decided 
to support the Call to Islam (Da’wa), they were told that all 
other non-Muslim Arabs would unify against them. Note that the 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTAnsar had not been told that “the whole world would unify 
against them!” 
 
We must gain the support of the tribes who enjoy strength and 
influence before building our Muslim state. When God sent his 
prophets, may peace and blessings be upon them all, it was their 
tribes who were the first to reject them. Those were the 
prophets who enjoyed the support of God and His miracles!  
 
This is part of God’s worldly reality in which His own prophets 
had to experience. If God wishes to change that reality, He 
would have done it for His prophets! We, on the other hand, must 
understand this reality and plan our work accordingly.   
 
If it is unfeasible to gain the trust of an influential tribe in 
a certain area, we should create a new Mujahidin group within 
that tribe. The basis for the tribal Mujahidin group is faith 
and not financial compensation. The tribal group must be based 
on similar foundations which had been used to create the 
Mujahidin groups. We think it is the best option. God knows 
best!  
 
The group should consist of as many members as possible. We must 
urge members of this group to unify, and to trust one another. 
Members of the tribal group should agree to pledge allegiance to 
jihad, to assist in the creation of a Caliphate-based Muslim 
state. If some members of the group do not wish to pledge, 
however, this should not be an issue.  
 
You must have an open mind with members of the tribes. You must 
also accept the members as part of your work. With time, and as 
long as the members find you inspirational and forgiving, they 
will come to your side.  
 
You must give special consideration to members who have special 
status among their tribesmen. Also, you should make use of the 
members’ skills and qualifications.  
 
Creating a new tribal group, based on faith and brotherhood, God 
willing, will help us establish better relationships with the 
tribes. This will eventually help us build strong ties with the 
tribes, similar to what tribesmen have which are, for the most 
part, based on natural instinct.  
 
It is important to study every issue that is involved in our 
work. Also, every aspect of a foundation which we want to use to 
build our state must be thoroughly examined. The work we want to 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTundertake is a just cause, but we must be realistic every step 
of the way.  
 
God has ordered us to be clever about planning for our future, 
as we depend on Him for assistance. I would like to support this 
point with an example.  
 
Assume that the Mujahidin are on a Da’wa mission to spread the 
word of God but they had to stop because of a river in their 
path. The Mujahidin must build a bridge if they are to cross the 
river. The engineers decided that, to build the bridge, they 
needed the following material and labor: Two tons of iron ore, 
one thousand ton of cement, one thousand square meters of wood, 
two thousand tons of crude iron, two thousand tons of sand, and 
two hundred workers. 
 
Page 4 
 
The Mujahidin, however, did not have all the materials ready, 
but they decided to build the bridge anyway. The bridge then 
collapsed as they were building it, due to the insufficient and 
missing building materials. 
    
What the Mujahidin has done was a double failure, because they 
wasted material, as little as they were, and time. If the 
Mujahidin, however, waited until they had all of the material 
ready, then built their bridge, they would have succeeded.  
 
Also, having a great number of Mujahidin laborers who are very 
eager to build the bridge is not enough to do the job. Having a 
good cause and the willingness to endure hardship for the sake 
of God’s religion is not enough to do the job either. God is the 
Almighty, most powerful! 
 
I have to point out that one of the things the local and foreign 
enemies are good at is the ability to destroy Muslim movements. 
They are experts in this area. The enemies know how to weaken a 
Muslim movement by provoking it to step into a fight which is 
beyond its strength. The enemies understand when to lure a 
Muslim movement into a fight, especially during the time when a 
movement is in the process of building itself up.  
 
When a movement gives in to enemies’ provocation, while knowing 
it does not have the resources to fight, the enemies will 
quickly have the upper hand in deciding the time and place for 
that movement’s destruction.  
 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTHaving a highly motivated force is an important factor in wars, 
but it is not the only factor. The leadership should not, thus, 
be driven by its force’s high motivation while ignoring other 
equally important factors.  
 
(Translator note: a poem)  
 
“Making a decision must be made before heroes’ enthusiasm,  
 
Making a decision is a priority, and it is  
 
Second!”  
 
(Translator note: The word “second” in the poem was possibly in 
reference to the decision being second to God’s, and to the 
Prophet’s guidance.) 
 
We must find Islamic alternatives that will help us avoid 
falling into enemies’ provocations, and so not to waste our 
efforts and resources. The alternatives should include plans to 
help us build the future Muslim state. Also, the alternatives 
should include plans to help us topple the apostate leaders and 
stop them from returning to power.  
 
That was one issue. The other issue, far more important, is to 
accumulate enough resources to help defend the future Muslim 
state.  
 
A future Muslim state can defend itself only if it has the 
public support and has been meeting the demands and needs of its 
people. That is an important factor in sustaining and defending 
any future Islamic state.  
 
The enemies will fight any future Muslim state that we create. 
In addition, the enemies, to say the least, will impose all 
sorts of sanctions against our state.  
 
You know that most Arab populations have been living under so-
called modern states. Such states have long abandoned the Muslim 
traditions of early history. Some of the Muslim state’s 
functions in early history included applying the Islamic Law as 
the law of the land, providing internal security, and defending 
the state from foreign powers. The society, on the other hand, 
provided for itself.  
 
In a modern state, the public expects the state to provide it 
with jobs and financial assistance. Indeed, this has become a 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTtradition in many modern state societies. Modern states 
intentionally make their populations dependent on them, so as to 
control them. But when the state is unable, or refuses, to 
provide what is expected of it, the people in that society 
revolt, and the sate becomes unstable. Also, note that many of 
the things that were considered complimentary in the early days 
are now part of the essentials.  
 
A revolutionary movement today needs more than just the military 
might to topple a government or control a country.  
 
While putting aside the external enemy, a movement needs to have 
the resources in place to meet the needs and demands of the 
society, as it makes its way to controlling a city or a country.   
 
A movement cannot expect, however, a society to live without for 
a long time. Even if that society happens to be a great 
supporter of that movement. People often change when they see 
persistence in a shortage of food and medicine, and the last 
thing they want to see is having their children die for lack of 
food or medicine.  
 
Also, a Mujahidin movement must remember that it needs to 
provide the basics for its mujahidin fighters or so-called 
logistics support.  
 
Economic factors are very important. The Mujahidin may win a war 
against the enemies, but they may lose what they gained in that 
war due to economic sanctions. Imposing economic sanctions are 
one of the enemy’s favorite nonconventional weapons. 
 
As for Afghanistan and Somalia, they are the exception to the 
rule. Somalis, for two decades, have been providing for 
themselves. Somalis have not asked any government to step in to 
provide basic necessities. Somalis live their daily lives the 
same way their ancestors did, and before the creation of the 
modern state. They farm, raise livestock, and trade. In 
Afghanistan, 20% of its population raises livestock, which is 
among the highest percentages in the world. The total 
expenditure for the Muslim Emirate in Afghanistan was little 
compared to what other modern and poor countries had. 
 
The Afghan population is considered to be outside the modern-
state system, and unlike Arab populations.  
 
When the Islamic group in Egypt (the Muslim Brotherhood) killed 
Sadat, they had a plan to topple the government and then 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTestablish a Muslim state. Their plan was to have their members 
throughout the country, control government buildings, the mass 
media, and so on and so forth.  
 
If God had willed for the Islamic state to be born in Egypt, it 
would have not probably lasted more than a few weeks. The 
Egyptians, who were about sixty million at the time, needed 
about 150 million loaves of bread, per day. That was just bread 
alone! Assume that the Muslim state in Egypt had come under 
international sanctions. So, what would happen when Egypt could 
no longer import wheat from its major supplier, the United 
States? Egypt has been dependent on American wheat for many 
decades, especially after it had abandoned helping the Egyptian 
farmers plant more wheat, or coming up with alternatives. Egypt 
has made its citizens so vulnerable to world’s wheat producers, 
mainly the United States. Egypt’s wheat reserve was good for two 
weeks during that time. So, how could a newly Muslim state meet 
the wheat demands of the Egyptian population while it was under 
international sanctions? How long would the public tolerate 
having to go without? That has nothing to do with whether the 
Egyptian public liked or disliked the Islamic state. A dangerous 
shortage of food causes death and people do not want to see 
their children die of hunger. 
 
Page 5 
 
Before building a Muslim state, the Brotherhood could have 
thought about food security for the Egyptian people. Sudan, for 
example, would have been an ideal supplier of wheat, considering 
that Sudan was controlled by a Muslim government. The 
Brotherhood could have worked with the Sudanese to help it grow 
more wheat well before it thought about toppling the government. 
The Brotherhood could have also maintained a two-week reserve 
system for wheat. 
 
The same can be said about the rest of the Arab countries. Most 
Arab countries are totally dependent on world’s wheat suppliers.      
 
I would like to point out that it is rather important not to 
expect people, and tribes in particular, to endure more what 
they can handle. For example, we cannot expect the public to 
endure constant enemy’s air bombardments. We are not talking 
about a war in which men can show off their prowess, but a war 
in which air bombardments do not differentiate between a man, a 
woman, or a child.  
 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTOur Waziristani brothers, for example, said that they were 
frankly exhausted from the enemy’s air bombardments. The enemy 
has been given almost a worldwide approval to violate the air 
space of other countries and to attack anyone whom it views as 
its enemy. The enemy does all of that under the pretense of 
chasing al-Qa’ida. The time will come, and soon, when the enemy 
will not be allowed to violate other countries’ airspace.  
 
It is known that they teach in military and war science that if 
a war breaks out between two countries, the two countries do not 
send all of their forces to the front line. Instead, they hold 
back some forces, especially forces with special training.  
 
Today, the Muslim Ummah as a whole can be viewed as an army with 
several regiments. The Ummah uses these regiments in a wise 
manner. So, if an opponent attacks the Ummah with tanks, the 
Ummah then advances its artillery regiment, to counter the 
opponent’s tanks. If an opponent begins an air strike campaign, 
the Ummah then advances its anti-aircraft regiment. The anti-
aircraft regiment must also deceive the enemy about the location 
of the other regiments since they would be most vulnerable to 
the air strikes.  
 
Praise be to God, the jihad war is ongoing, and on several 
fronts. The Mujahidin work, and may God give them the strength 
to endure on the jihad path, will continue to target the 
guardian of universal apostates, America, until it becomes weak. 
Once America is weak, we can build our Muslim state.  
 
The more operations are carried out against America, God 
willing, the closer the time will be to organize the resources, 
and unify the efforts to establish the state of Islam. Only 
then, the Ummah will be able to change its status quo of 
weakness, degradation, and disgrace.  
 
The Ummah should put forward some, but enough, forces to fight 
America. The Ummah must keep some of its forces on reserve. This 
will be in the Ummah’s best interests. The Ummah will use the 
reserve in the future, but during the appropriate time.  
 
In the meanwhile, we do not want to send the reserves to the 
front line, especially in areas where the enemy only uses air 
strikes to attack our forces. So, the reserves will not, for the 
most part, be effective in such conflicts. Basically, we could 
lose the reserves to enemy’s air strikes. We cannot fight air 
strikes with explosives!  

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTWe have plenty of time to view and examine the appropriate time 
to begin our jihad work against the apostate regimes in the 
region. God says, “Against them make ready your strength to the 
utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror 
into the hearts of the enemies, of God and your enemies, and 
others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom God doth know. 
Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of God, shall be repaid 
unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly.” (60).  
 
We still have a powerful force which we can organize and prepare 
for deployment. The organization process and the preparation for 
deployment will need time.  
 
Let us assume that the ideal time to build a Muslim state in the 
region will be three years from now. So, it would unwise to 
begin fighting the apostate regimes in the region now when the 
pre-requisites and conditions for the Muslim state have not been 
met. 
 
Our main goal, and yours, is to resurrect the religion of Islam, 
and to build a Caliphate-based state in every Muslim country. 
So, for now, we do not need to be diverted from our goal by 
going to war with the apostate regimes in the region. This is 
not the time for it. 
 
Our goal is to build our state, then spread God’s Call to the 
rest of the world. We can, God willing, accomplish this goal, as 
long as we stay put on the path of jihad.  
 
We need to concentrate our jihad efforts in areas where the 
conditions are ideal for us to fight. Iraq and Afghanistan are 
two good examples. We do not have to rush to other areas of 
conflict, especially in areas which appear to have unfavorable 
jihad conditions.  
 
We just do not want to see our jihad become fruitless. We need 
to fight in areas where we can gain points toward the creation 
of the Caliphate-based state. A state which has the essential 
foundations to function and defend itself. If our state is not 
supported by the proper foundations, the enemy will easily 
destroy it.  
 
Building a state without proper foundations is like building a 
house in the middle of a torrential stream. Every time the water 
destroys the house, we rebuild, then we rebuild until those who 
help us with the rebuilding give up on us. So, our state must be 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTbuilt on strong and proper foundations. Otherwise, the trust the 
mujahidin put in us to build a state will disappear.  
 
The impact of losing a state can be devastating, especially if 
that state is at its infancy. The devastation would be even 
harder on those who had been directly involved in the building 
of that state.  
 
The public often has all sorts of interpretations for the word 
failure. Nonetheless, the public does not like losers. The 
public is only interested in the results and it often ignores 
the details and conditions which led to one’s success or 
failure. If the public stigmatizes a group, the group will 
likely fail to rally that public for support, be it to build or 
defend a state.   
 
In Yemen, they often read a poem which says: 
 
“If Ali Bin Salim wins, they say: He is a marvel! 
And if Ali Bin Salim loses, they say: He is ignorant!” 
 
The point is that people tend to be in favor of a winner rather 
than a loser. Accordingly, in the poem, people described Salim 
as a “marvel” because he had won and as “ignorant” because he 
had lost. Salim’s characteristics in both situations, however, 
were the same. Salim cannot be both marvel and ignorant at the 
same time.  
 
One must look closely at all requirements and suitable 
conditions. This is a very important and necessary step.  
 
Accordingly, it appears to me that the requirements and suitable 
conditions for building a strong Muslim state have not been met 
in many of the Muslim countries.  
 
Those requirements and suitable conditions will fall into place, 
however, only if America becomes weak. In other words, a weaker 
America means a weaker apostate regime in every Muslim country. 
The Mujahidin, then and only then, will be able to build a 
Muslim state and defend it. A state in which Muslims can live 
under the umbrella of a Caliphate-based authority. 
 
Keep in mind that what the enemy fears the most is to see the 
Mujahidin succeed in creating a strong Caliphate-based state, in 
which God’s code is being enforced.  
 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTThe Muslim populations throughout the Muslim world will likely 
support the Mujahidin when they declare their intent about 
creating a new Caliphate-based state. The Muslim populations 
will see the Mujahidin as part of them. Some of the Muslim 
populations, however, may become subject to hostilities, due to 
their support for the Mujahidin. The worst part of those 
hostilities may include indiscriminate and persistent air 
strikes against their communities.  
 
Again, the Mujahidin must have all the requirements and suitable 
conditions in place before attempting to declare their intent 
about building a new Muslim state anywhere. The Mujahidin cannot 
begin a new war in a country just because they hope that the 
population in that country will support them. If the Mujahidin 
only rely on that hope, they will likely fail in that country. 
This happened, for example, in Syria, Egypt, and Yemen.  
 
In Yemen, the communist group failed there, because when they 
declared their new state in South Yemen they had not sought the 
support or approval of the local Yemeni tribes and communities. 
The communists had all the necessary institutions to run a 
government. The communists had the military, security forces, 
and major financial institutions on their side. The communists 
even had the political as well as the economic support from the  
 
Page 6 
 
West (headed by America), and from the Arab world (headed by 
Riyadh). One of the reasons the communists rushed into declaring 
a new state was because their leaders were being assassinated, 
and fast. Some of those assassinations were carried out by the 
Mujahidin. Another reason was that the communists were paying 
too much money to the President, to buy his support. 
 
We must not get involved in conflicts, especially conflicts 
which may drag us in deeper. If a few of our brothers happen to 
get killed in a given place by a given opponent (may God have 
mercy on the souls of all of our brothers), we are not to rush 
in and declare an all-out war in that area. 
 
Again, the requirements and suitable conditions must be met 
before we get involved in any conflict and in any country.  
 
Remember what Khalid had done during the Mu’ta battle, may God 
be pleased with him. Khalid withdrew his troops during the Mu’ta 
battle when the Muslims needed him most. Khalid even took with 
him a few of the Prophet’s companions, may God be pleased with 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTthem all. Also, Khalid left behind Zaid (the Prophet’s 
favorite), Jaafir (the Prophet’s cousin), and among others, may 
God be pleased with them all.  
 
The reason Khalid withdrew his troops from Mu’ta was to assist 
another Muslim army, the Companions Army, which was fighting the 
Romans. When Khalid got to the Companions Army, he helped them 
safely withdraw from the battle with the Romans. 
 
Khalid’s decision to withdraw from Mu’ta led to the rescue of 
the Companions Army. The Companions Army was too small compared 
to the army which the Romans had put forward on that 
battlefield. Indeed, without the help of Khalid, the Romans 
could have crushed the Companions Army.  
 
The Prophet, peace be upon him, had instructed Khalid to go to 
Mu’ta. The Prophet never instructed Khalid to withdraw from 
Mu’ta or to help the Companions Army. The Companions Army, on 
the other hand, was unaware that Khalid was on his way to help 
them.  
 
Based on the above, it appears that Khalid had defied the 
Prophet’s instructions, but this was not the case. Khalid had 
made the right decision. This was what the Prophet, peace be 
upon him, said after everything was over and done with.   
 
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said this about Khalid: “He won 
when he withdrew his army.” Khalid had made the right decision, 
despite the possibility that the Muslims could have lost Mu’ta, 
and conditions worsened thereof.  
 
Khalid saw a priority in rescuing the Companions Army, and that 
Mu’ta was important; but it was not a battle, if lost, which 
could bring devastating results upon the Muslims. Also, when he 
helped the Companions Army withdraw from that battlefield, he 
knew that the Romans were not dangerously close to vital Muslim 
positions. In the end, the Prophet praised Khalid and his troops 
for what they did. The Prophet said, “They withdrew, but they 
did not run away.” 
 
Khalid then participated in many battles which led to the defeat 
of the Romans in the Fertile Crescent region.  
 
On the Day of Hudaybyah, when the Prophet heard that Othman, may 
God be pleased with him, had been killed, he said, “We will not 
rest until we punish the killers.” The Prophet decided to go to 
war right there and then. When the Prophet came to Hudaybyah, he 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HThad no intention in going to war. On that day, the Muslims only 
had their swords, but no other fighting gear.  
 
I say that this incident resembles an analogy with difference 
(TN: An “analogy with difference” is a jurist’s term which means 
deduction by analogy based on two similar but different events. 
The second event being the incident with Khalid). The minimum 
requirement for the battle existed, which was the availability 
of fighters. On the day of Hudaybyah, the Prophet had a total of 
one-thousand four-hundred people. The unbelievers’ army (who had 
been accused of killing Othman) had twice as many men as that of 
the Prophet’s army. The Muslims were allowed to fight the 
unbelievers, and whoever agreed to fight the unbelievers had to 
take on ten men. Also, the Muslims had their swords, which were 
considered the fighter’s main weapon.     
 
I would like to say that the time to resurrect the Muslim state 
is getting closer. Also, the spread of our Jihad thought, 
especially among the younger generation, in comparison to other 
Islamic groups and movements, has been to our advantage. Other 
Muslim groups and movements have been unable to satisfy the 
demands of many of the Ummah’s youth. Our Salafi jihad thought, 
on the other hand, has been appealing to the youth, simply 
because it tackles the Ummah’s causes. 
 
Many American reports, aside from stating the obvious, are 
talking about a decline in America’s economic, military, and 
political powers. The decline of the United States, and the 
advance of the Mujahidin, God willing, will lead us to reach an 
equilibrium point with the enemy, during which time we could 
build and defend our state.        
 
Based on the above, it is clear that the time to build the 
Muslim state is not here yet, because we still have other 
greater duties to complete, which include making suitable 
preparations for that future state. God willing, the state will 
be the nucleus for the Caliphate ruler-ship model.  
 
It is also clear that the goal of the Islamic Maghreb’s freedom-
fighter Mujahidin, who are spread throughout the Islamic 
Maghreb, is to build the foundations for the Islamic state. The 
Maghreb Mujahidin should not, however, jump any of the stages. 
Also, the Maghreb Mujahidin should not get distracted by 
indulging in any conflict with the apostate governments. 
 
The most important objective at this stage is: 
 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTTo spread our ideas, especially important ideas on teaching 
fellow Muslims about Islam. People should understand what their 
religion says about the meaning of, for example, “there is no 
God, but one God.” This should be the backbone to all of our 
appeals to the public. People should learn about how to avoid 
falling victim in the hands of the unbelievers. People should 
learn about what other Muslim groups think, and how they had 
given in to apostate leaders. People should learn about some of 
other Muslims groups’ perspective on authority, which is in 
contradiction to the Islamic codes, as well as to the scholars’ 
views on judgeship-and-jurisdiction (Hakimaya).  
 
You should exercise caution, and calmly approach the public. You 
do not want to turn people off, especially people who may 
already think highly of other Muslim groups. We need to build 
wide public support, and as much as possible.  
 
What we want is to resurrect a state which rules with the 
Almighty God’s codes. You know how important it is to have 
public support if we are to accomplish this goal.  
 
There has to be a wider and greater call for public support. For 
the most part, the call should be directed at people who appear 
to be far more accepting of our ideas.  
 
We should not just seek the support of people who live in 
difficult terrains, which would be hard on the enemy to 
penetrate, but other areas as well.  
 
You may want to find someone who enjoys doing call-to-Islam work 
(Da’wa). Ask this person to help you reach out to the public. 
You should use books, video, and audio material, and as needed, 
publish them in different languages, so you could reach all the 
populations of the countries in your region. The written 
material must be clear and in concise language, so the public 
can understand it. We must pay close attention to the Da’wa 
work, which is to explain to people the need to understand the 
Unity of God and other Muslim concepts.  
 
This, for now, is our strategy for the area. Our work must focus 
on the long-term objective. A quick work might be fruitful in 
the short run, but it is not what we need to do. The outcome of 
any work must be viewed within the overall long-term plan. That 
plan is to create a Muslim state. So, the Da’wa work is a start 
toward that end, God willing.  
 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTFor every country where the materials are to be disseminated, 
you should pay close attention to the overall public taste and 
opinions. The considerations to public taste and opinion must be 
weighed within the Islamic Law, however.  
 
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had done the same 
thing. The Prophet said, “If it was not for the fact that your 
people have just emerged from the age of ignorance, I would have 
renovated the Ka’aba, and gave it two doors.” (Narrated by al-
Tarmathi).  
 
All public announcements must be carefully evaluated. When 
issuing a public announcement, ask the question of what sort of 
positive or negative impact this announcement will generate for 
us? Being careful and considerate in our public announcements 
will also widen our appeal and boost our image among the Muslim 
populations. We want to ask the Muslim people to stop living in 
the shadow of the oppressive leaders.   
 
Page 7 
 
The brothers must understand that their job is to educate the 
public, but not to incite it to a general call to arms. As you 
know, the situation in the mountains, particularly now, cannot 
take in more people, especially in greater numbers.  
 
Having to bring in more people to the mountains, and now, will 
be a burden, rather than a help to the Mujahidin. So, those who 
sympathize with our views must be told that “we want what is 
best for you. Our most important message to you is to live a 
Muslim life, similar to the life which our most favorite 
generation had lived (the Prophet’s companion generation.) You 
must stay put, and if we need you, we will call on you. For now, 
you should call upon God to help us, God willing.” 
 
View the list of countries which had deployed troops to 
Afghanistan, to help the Americans there. Then, kidnap citizens 
of those countries, especially diplomats. The kidnapping of 
diplomats of a country is far more embarrassing to that country 
than the kidnapping of ordinary citizens. The pressure on that 
country to free its diplomats is far greater than to free 
ordinary citizens.  
 
The negotiation must be based on the demand: Withdraw your 
troops from Afghanistan, then we release the hostages. The 
intent is to leave America with as little support as possible, 
and, God willing, will push it to depart Afghanistan for good.    

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HT 
The announcements containing the terms of negotiations must be 
clear and concise, so that impartial and independent spectators 
judge for themselves. The announcements should also include the 
unjust acts which had been committed by those countries whose 
citizens are being held hostages, and that the hostages are 
servants of those countries. The announcements should also point 
out that a war is a joint responsibility, and that Muslims are 
not interested in harming anyone whose country was never 
involved in hostile activities against the Muslim people.   
 
Other public announcements on operations which involve targeting 
Western interests should point out the unjust acts of Western 
countries in Afghanistan, too.  
 
It is absolutely vital to study and analyze the Arab revolutions 
against the apostate governments in the region. The analysis 
should focus on the reasons behind the successes, as well as the 
failures of Arab revolutions. The majority of the revolutions 
that had succeeded in the area were secular. The secular 
revolutions succeeded because they had, for the most part, the 
support of the military. In any country, the military is 
considered to be a power breaker. The secular revolutions crept 
out of the military, then turned the military power to their 
advantage. The Islamic revolutions, on the other hand, mostly 
failed, because they had far fewer resources than their 
opponents. The Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan, for example, had the 
support of the army, and it was able to topple the government in 
a quo d’état. It soon became apparent, however, that only the 
army personnel had taken charge of the country, but not the 
Muslim Brotherhood.  
 
Other examples of failed Islamic revolutions include the attempt 
made by Shaykh Marwan Hadid, may God have mercy on his soul, to 
topple the Syrian regime.  
 
Hadid began his jihad life when he went to Jordan to train at 
one of the Palestinian Fida’in’s camps. Hadid wanted to use his 
training to fight a jihad war against the Jews in Palestine. 
During his training, the September Event took place and the 
ruler of Jordan attacked the Fida’in camps, then killed a big 
number of them. The majority of the Fida’in left Jordan after 
most of their training camps had been destroyed. Hadid, may God 
have mercy on his soul, decided to go back to Syria.  
 
Whatever military experience Hadid had learned in Jordan made 
him feel confident about himself. Hadid wanted to use his 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTtraining to do something for his religion.  Hadid decided that 
he could no longer live under the Syrian apostate regime. His 
little experience and his age did not help him make the right 
decision, however. Hadid was able to recruit a number of people, 
so he could begin his work against the Syrian regime. Hadid did 
not want to wait for the right time. Also, Hadid did not have 
the essential resources to topple the regime. A few more people 
joined his group, and among them were members from the Muslim 
Brotherhood.  
 
The Hadid group was able to assassinate a number of Syrian 
officials. When the Muslim Brotherhood leadership found out that 
some of its members had been involved with Hadid, they decided 
to terminate their membership.  
 
As Hadid succeeded in launching more operations against the 
regime, the fear factor among his followers began to dissipate. 
Even the Muslim Brotherhood started to take Hadid seriously, and 
it thought of ways to turn his work into its advantage. The 
Brotherhood felt that it, too, could help topple the Syrian 
regime. The Syrian government, on the other hand, saw this as an 
opportunity to demolish the Muslim Brotherhood, and forever. 
That was what one of the Syrian officials said at the time. 
Indeed, the Syrian government began a national campaign to 
demolish the Brotherhood. The Syrian regime treated the 
Brotherhood as if it was the one who assassinated its officials. 
The regime knew though that it was not the case. The regime also 
knew that the Brotherhood members who had joined Hadid had been 
terminated by the Brotherhood’s leadership.  
 
The conflict then entered a new phase. The Brotherhood became 
serious, and it called for the removal of the regime, and to 
create an Islamic government. The Brotherhood never bothered to 
calculate, however, what it needed to accomplish all of that. 
The Brotherhood had not been realistic about its own resources, 
and capabilities, in comparison to what the opponent Syrian 
regime had. Even by looking at the number of people the 
Brotherhood had compared to what the Syrian regime had, there 
was a huge difference between the two.  
  
The Almighty God says, “O Apostle! Rouse the Believers to the 
fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, 
they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish 
a thousand of the Unbelievers: for these are a people without 
understanding. For the present, God hath lightened your (task), 
for He knoweth that there is a weak spot in you: But (even so), 
if there are a hundred of you, patient and persevering, they 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTwill vanquish two hundred, and if a thousand, they will vanquish 
two thousand, with the leave of God. for God is with those who 
patiently persevere.” (65-66, al-Infal.) 
 
The Brotherhood’s calculations were unrealistic. The Brotherhood 
even thought that after it was able to topple the regime, it 
would take on Israel. Also, the Brotherhood did not have enough 
personnel who had the expertise or prudence to lead their 
military operations.  
 
The Brotherhood went to war and it lost big. The Syrian regime 
used missile launchers to destroy the Brotherhood’s threshold in 
Hama. The regime killed about twenty thousand people in Hama 
alone. Many people were arrested, including women and children. 
The regime had also used all sorts of torture methods against 
the Brotherhood. There is no might, nor power, except with God. 
 
After that awful experience, many members of the Brotherhood 
went into shock, and jihad became their last resort. Many 
thought that they had to make the best of it while living under 
the regime.  
 
The Brotherhood in Syria had lost an entire generation, which it 
could have wisely deployed for jihad work under better 
conditions and times. After the Hama experience, the Jihad work 
had totally stopped, and for twenty years. With the birth of a 
new generation, which had not lived that awful experience of 
Hama, a new light of hope emerged. We saw that most of the 
Syrians who joined the Mujahidin in Afghanistan and Iraq were 
young. Most of them had not experienced the Hama shock. Other 
older Syrians, who probably wanted to join the Mujahidin, could 
not do it because the Hama experience was still on their minds, 
even thirty years later.  
 
One cannot ask people to bear more than what they can handle. 
Otherwise, the results might be devastating, and more people 
would fear going to jihad.   
 
A Muslim movement, in particular, should not ask people to bear 
more than what they can handle, especially in areas where the 
movement is anticipated to be met with unrestrained violence 
from its opponents, just like what happened in Hama. Any 
movement must keep this in mind, either during the process of 
building a new Islamic state or afterwards.        
 
The failure of the Brotherhood in Syria was not surprising, and 
that was the view of many experts. For example, experts like 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HTShaykh Abid al-Aziz Ali Abi Usama. Usama thought that the 
Brotherhood would fail to topple the regime. The Brotherhood, on 
the other hand, was in a dream world. The Brotherhood thought it 
could build a Muslim state which would become a model in the 
Fertile Crescent region.             
 
Page 8 
 
There was also the Libyan experience. The brothers in Libya 
failed because, firstly, they did not listen to any of the 
advice they were offered. The al-Qa’ida advised them to wait, so 
did the Jihad Group and the Islamic Group. All the brothers 
advised the Libyan Mujahidin that they did not have the basic 
resources to topple the Libyan regime. Not to mention, the 
timing did not add up.  
 
As you know, jihad is a duty, but it does not require Muslims to 
launch jihad battles everywhere and anytime. Also, jihad does 
not require Muslims to fight in areas where the conditions are 
obviously not in their favor.  
 
Jihad is a means by which the sustainability of the religion is 
ensured. Jihad can be put aside as an option, due to lack of 
resources. Muslims, however, must continue to accumulate 
necessary resources until the conditions for jihad are improved.  
 
The Shaykh of Islam -- Ibn Taymayah -- may God have mercy on his 
soul, agreed with the above view on jihad. Ibn Taymayah wrote, 
“… that is so, if the jihad experts agree that the conditions 
for jihad had not been met. Experts often analyze the jihad 
variables against these conditions, then draw conclusion to 
whether the outcome is positive or negative.”  
 
The excessive enthusiasm among the Libyan brothers about 
creating a Muslim state in Libya made them lose focus. Then, the 
Libyan brothers suffered tremendously as they entered into a 
conflict with the Libyan regime. Thousands of our Libyan 
brothers went to jail. Many of them were tortured and 
persecuted. May God grant our Libyan brothers a speedy release 
from prison.  
 
(TN: End full translation) 

SOCOM-2012-0000017-HT