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Istishad as an Ideological and Practical tool in the Hands of Al-Qaeda
the contamination in it, will be placed on his head; he will marry 72 dark eyed
maidens; and he will intercede on behalf of 70 members of his family.’” 5
The organization’s success in inculcating the ethos of Istishad among many
members was reflected also in the words of one of Al-Qaeda’s senior commanders,
who was responsible for dispatching a large number of suicide terrorists: “We
never lacked potential suicide operators, he explained, “we have a department
called ‘the suicide operators department.’” When asked if the department was still
active, he answered, “yes, and it will continue to be active as long as we are
fighting a Jihad against the Zionist infidels” (Fouda and Fielding, 2003, p. 114). In
one of his interviews, Bin Laden himself clearly expressed the organizational ethos
he instilled in his followers: “I do not fear death. Sacred death is my desire. My
sacred death will result in the birth of thousands of Osamas.”(Osama, 1998).
Al-Qaeda’s entrance into the arena of suicide terrorism had profound influence on
the manner in which this mode of operation was employed by its affiliates around
the world. Al-Qaeda sees itself as the representative of all the world’s Muslims,
which, in its view, constitute one indivisible entity (Islamic uma).
The group’s operations introduced a new paradigm of a “cross-nation” Muslim
community 6 dispersed all over the globe, employing extreme violence against those
perceived as being opposed to its worldview. The group worked to disseminate an
Islamic fundamentalist ideology that regards the entire world as a legitimate arena
in which to wage jihad by means of terrorism in general, and suicide attacks in
particular. It is interesting to note that despite the great operational reputation that
Al-Qaeda earned for itself over the years, it has only actually independently carried
out seven terrorist attacks, all of which were suicide attacks. All the other many
suicide attacks which were usually attributed to Al-Qaeda were actually carried out
by its affiliates, without its direct involvement.
Al-Qaeda’s continuous links with established Islamic terrorist groups and networks
operating around the world were based on their shared experiences and mutual
identification of the commanders of many of these groups and networks with Al-
Qaeda, from the period during which they fought side by side in Afghanistan or
from the period of training they got in the camps in Afghanistan after the war
already ended in the early 90's. They maintained their connections with Al-Qaeda
commanders and even more so with the doctrine of global jihad and the concept of
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