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Yoram Schweitzer
Al-Qaeda's Contribution to the Globalization of Suicide
Terrorism
The concept of Istishad as a means of warfare is part of an overall worldview that
sees active Jihad against the perceived enemies of Islam as a central pillar and an
organizational ideal. According to Al-Qaeda’s worldview, one’s willingness to
sacrifice his or her life for Allah and “in the path of Allah” (fi sabil allah) is an
expression of the Muslim fighter’s advantage over the opponent. In Al-Qaeda, the
sacrifice of life became a supreme value, the symbolic importance of which was
equal to, if not greater than its practical importance. The organization adopted
suicide as a symbol of global Jihad and raised Islamic martyrdom (al-shehada) to
the status of a principle of faith. Al-Qaeda leaders worked on the spirit of the
organization, constructing its ethos around the readiness to volunteer for selfsacrifice
and the implementation of this idea through suicide attacks. They worked
hard to imbue veteran members and new recruits with this ethos. Readiness for
self-sacrifice was one of the most important characteristics the organization looked
for in its new recruits (National Commission, 2004, p. 234).
Al-Qaeda’s worldview regards the sacrifice of life in the name of Allah as the main
aim of a Jihad warrior. This sacrifice is described in terms of enjoyment: “we are
asking you to undertake the pleasure of looking at your face and we long to meet
you, not in a time of distress…take us to you…” 4 The organization’s idea of
suicide in the name of Allah, which repeats itself regularly in statements of its
leaders, is contained in what has become its motto: “we love death more than you,
our opponents love life.” This motto is meant to express Al-Qaeda fighters’ lack of
fear of losing temporary life in this world, in exchange for an eternal life of purity
in heaven. It is meant to express the depth of pure Muslims in face of the weak
spirit, hedonism, and lack of values of their enemies. Sacrifice in the name of
Allah, according to Al-Qaeda, is what will ensure Islam’s certain victory over the
infidels, the victory of spirit over material, soul over body, the afterlife over the
reality of day to day life, and, most importantly, good over evil.
Suicide expresses the feeling of moral justification and emotional completion in the
eyes of the perpetrators and the organization. An echo of Bin Laden’s call for the
young members of Islam to actualize the path of God through Istishad was echoed
in the will of one of the perpetrators of an attack in Saudi Arabia in May 2003, in
which he repeats the passage promising the pleasantries of the Garden of Eden:
“Young members of Islam hurry and set out on Jihad, hurry to the Garden of Eden
which holds what the eye has never seen, the ear has never heard, and the human
heart has never desired! Do not forget the reward that has been prepared by Allah
for a martyr. The messenger of Allah, may peace and prayer be upon him, said:
‘The martyr is granted seven gifts from Allah: he is forgiven at the first drop of his
blood; he sees his status in Paradise; he is dressed in the clothes of Iman; he is safe
from the punishment of the grave; he will be safe from the great fear of the
judgment; a crown of honor, with a gem that is greater than the entire world and
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