aQ

Economist, The growing, and mysterious, irrelevance of al-Qaeda, 22 Jan 09 opinion piece "Al-Qaeda’s failure to fight for Palestine comes up repeatedly in jihadist internet forums. It also forms part of the latest ideological counter-attack against al-Qaeda by Sayyid Imam al-Sharif, one of its founders in 1998 and a leading jihadist ideologue under the pen-name “Dr Fadl”. He has since fallen out with its leaders, particularly Ayman al-Zawahiri, who succeeded him as head of Egypt’s Islamic Jihad group. Al-Qaeda, he now says, “did not offer Palestine anything except words”."

Dr. Fadl

Asharq Al-Awsat, Profile: Controversial Jihad Theoretician Dr. Fadl, 25 Nov 08

"Though many Islamic Group leaders announced their initiative for stopping violence in 1997 during their stay in jails, these reviews were no more than local and partial ones and there were deep doubts about them, unlike Fadl's reviews which were seen as a new jurisprudent vision contrary to the former stand on jihadist operation. The document, which gained much credence among the jihadist circles, stressed in some parts that "all the jihadist movements in the world should rationalize their operations according to the Shariaa rules, especially after the appearance of updated versions of killing in the name of jihad which involved breaches of the Shariaa. For a Muslim to set out for himself a target, though originally a legitimate one, but which is beyond his capability and does not suit his conditions and then use any means to achieve his aim without being restricted by the Shariaa rules has nothing to do with Islam. Do not cancel your intellect and do not follow the internet heroes who are flying the statements inciting the youths.""