Authors: Jason Burke
Khutba: sermon
Kunya: a respectful form of naming, also
nom de guerre
adopted by militants
Markaz: a centre or base. Often the name of a group or an office used by Islamists which is neither attached to a mosque or a medressa, nor a government or domestic building
Medressa: religious school, college
Mufti: a specialist on Islamic law
Mullah: a local religious leader or functionary, usually in southwest Asia
Munafiq (plural munafiqeen): hypocrites. Those who peform the outward signs of Islam but do not have faith. Originally those in Medina who recognized the Prophet Mohammed’s authority but worked against him. Used by militants to describe Muslim rulers such as Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, the house of al-Saud, etc.
Muhajiroun: literally ‘the migrants’. Those who followed the Prophet on his migration from Mecca to Medina
Mujahideen: those who struggle or fight
Muslim: one who submits to God, from Arabic ‘alama’, ‘to surrender, to seek peace’
Qadi: Islamic judge
Salafi: ‘the righteous ancestors’, the first generations of the Muslim community
Salat: ritual compulsory prayer
Shahadah: the testament of faith. ‘There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is His prophet’
Shahid (plural shahuda): martyr, witness
Shariat: the right path, the behavioural guidelines that all Muslims should live by, the holy law of Islam, as compiled and codified by the great Muslim jurists of the eighth and ninth centuries
Sheikh: head of a tribe or religious order, especially Sufi
Shia: party or faction, those Muslims who believe Mohammed designated his son-in-law Ali and his rightful descendants to be the true leaders of the umma. Between 10 and 15 per cent of world Muslims
Shirk: literally ‘association’, polytheism
Shura: a consultative council
Sufi: a mystic tradition within Islam. Name thought to derive from rough wool clothing (
suf
) worn by early ascetics. Individuals commit to their own path to enlightenment under the tutelage of a master but have historically been grouped into ‘associations’. Sufism is often described as an ‘inward’ journey complementing the shariat or ‘outward’ law
Sunni: majority of Muslims, often called ‘orthodox’
Tafseer: commentary on the Qur’an
Takfir: excommunication, a practice in Shia Islam but until recently almost unknown among Sunnis
Talib (plural taliban): student, literally ‘seeker (of knowledge)’
Tauhid: the doctrine of the one-ness of God
Ulema: the body of Islamic scholars, effectively a transnational clergy
Umma: the Islamic nation or community of believers
Wahhabism: rigorous and conservative doctrine of the followers of ibn Abdul al-Wahhab, a puritanical eighteenth-century Arabian preacher
Zakat: gift of a percentage of all wealth donated by Muslims for distribution to the poor. One of the five ‘pillars of Islam’
Militants and Radical Ideologues
ABU GAITH, SULEIMAN
Kuwaiti-born militant, aide to bin Laden, an al-Qaeda spokesman.
ABU HAJER, ABU RAHMAN
Egyptian, a trainer in Afghanistan 1989–93. Key figure in 1998 east Africa bombings.
ABU HOSHAR, KHADAR BORN
1963, Palestinian veteran of Afghanistan in eighties, led Jordanian component of Millennium plot.
ABU QUTADA, OMAR ABU OMAR
Jordanian Palestinian Salafi scholar, based in London since 1993 and detained in 2002. Implicated in a variety of plots. Key clerical authority for Jihadi activists including the Algerian GIA, bin Laden and many others. Detained in Belmarsh High Security Prison, London.
ABU ZUBAYDAH OR HASSAN ZEIN AL-ABIDEEN MOHAMMED
Palestinian-born activist. Senior aide of bin Laden responsible for flow of volunteers through camps in Afghanistan. Captured in Faisalabad, Pakistan, in March 2002.
AL-ADEL, SAIF
Former Egyptian special forces colonel, senior trainer in Pakistan in late eighties and early nineties, and again in Afghanistan 1996– 2001, still active in early 2004, possibly from base in Iran.
AHMED, NAJMUDDIN FERAJ KNOWN AS MULLAH KREKAR
Kurdish cleric who ran guesthouse in Peshawar in 1980s while teaching in Pakistan, founded Ansar ul Islam group, currently in prison in Norway.
AJAJ, AHMED
Militant arrested at JFK airport when tried to enter US in company of Ramzi Yousef in 1992.
ATEF, MOHAMMED
Former Egyptian policeman, fighter against the Soviets, and bin Laden’s military chief in late 1990s. Killed in Kabul in November 2001 by missile strike.
ATTA, MOHAMMED
Leader of 11 September hijackers. Born 1968 in Kafr el-Sheikh, Egypt. Grew up in Cairo. 1992 arrived in Germany after taking
bachelor’s degree in Cairo to attend Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg to study urban planning. Had part-time job at an urban-planning consultancy in Hamburg. In 1994 went on student trip to Istanbul and later to Aleppo to research thesis on conflict of Islam and modernity as reflected in planning of cities. Went on pilgrimage to Mecca. From 1996 started to attend al-Quds mosque, where met other members of the ‘Hamburg cell’. Died on Flight AA11 when it hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
AL-AUDA, SALMAN
Well-known and influential dissident Saudi cleric. Born 1955 in the central Qaseem province.
AZIZ, MULLAH UTHMAN ALI
Senior Kurdish cleric from northeastern Iraq, founder of Islamic Movement of Kurdistan in late 1980s.
AZZAM, ABDALLAH
Palestinian-born ideologue and member of the Muslim Brotherhood who set up logistic networks to funnel cash and volunteers to war against Soviets in Afghanistan. Radical, internationalized vision of Jihad was major influence on many later militants. Killed in 1989 by a car bomb in Pakistan, aged 48.
BA’ASIR, ABU BAKR
Indonesian cleric and leader of Jemaa Islamiyya, imprisoned in 2003 on terrorism-related charges.
AL-BANNA, HASSAN
Egyptian school teacher who founded the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 with the slogan ‘Islam is the solution’.
AL-BANSHIRI, ABU UBAIDAH
Egyptian former policeman, fought with Massoud against Soviets, became bin Laden’s military commander, died in accident in Africa in 1996.
BAROT, DHIREN
Indian-born British citizen, Hindu convert to Islam, arrested in 2004, convicted of terrorist offences in 2006. Accused of plans to blow up tube trains under the Thames. Alleged to be a veteran of militant activity in Kashmir and training camps in the Phillipines.
BEGHAL, DJAMAL
Algerian-born activist based in France and the UK, lived in Afghanistan 2000–2001, arrested in Dubai in 2001 on way to Europe.
BIN AL-SHIBH, RAMZI
Key coordinator of the ‘Hamburg cell’. Born 1972 in Hadramawt, Yemen. A computer graduate. Arrived in Germany about 1995 and moved to Hamburg. Moved into apartment at 54 Marienstrasse on 31 October 1998 with Atta and another man. Attempted and failed to enter USA. Arrested in Karachi, September 2002.
BIN JAFFAR, MOHAMMED KHALIM
Singaporean activist sent to Afghanistan in 1999 with request for assistance from radicals there.
BIN LADEN, MOHAMMED BIN AWAD
Osama bin Laden’s father, born in the Yemen. Set up the huge bin Laden construction conglomerate. Died 1966 or 1967.
BIN LADEN, OSAMA BORN
1957 in Saudi Arabia. Active in war against Soviets in Afghanistan, first as logistician and propagandist, later as fighter too. Began organizing own group of militants in around 1988 in Pakistan. Spent from 1989 to 1991 in Saudi Arabia. In Sudan until 1996 when expelled and returned to Afghanistan. Over next five years commissioned, assisted and instigated a series of terrorist attacks and issued a series of influential propaganda statements. Fugitive, with a $25 million price on his head, since American-led assault on Afghanistan in autumn 2001.
BOUYERI, MOHAMMED
26-year-old Dutchman who shot and stabbed controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh to death in November 2004.
AL-FADHLI, TARIQ
Yemeni tribal leader, leader of Yemeni groups against the Soviets in Afghanistan, suspected of organizing 1992 bombs in Aden.
AL-FADL, JAMAL AHMED
Sudanese militant who was close to bin Laden during the early nineties and was a key prosecution witness at the trials in New York in 2001 of four men alleged to be the bombers of US embassies in east Africa three years before.
TURKI AL-FAISAL, PRINCE
who headed Saudi intelligence services through 1980s and 1990s. Subsequently held a series of high-level Saudi diplomatic positions.
ABDELMAJID FAKHET, SERHANE BIN
35-year-old university-educated economist with Spanish citizenship who led Madrid cell, Tunisian-born.
FARAJ, ABDESSALAM
Leader of Egyptian group who assassinated President Sadat in 1981.
AL-FARUQ, OMAR
Kuwaiti-born Islamic activist arrested in Java in June 2002.
GHANOUM, HAMIDA ALIA Syrian tenth or eleventh wife of Mohammed bin Laden and mother of Osama.
HAJER, ABU RAHMAN ABU
Egyptian, a trainer in Afghanistan 1989–93.
HANJOUR, HANI
Saudi, son of wealthy businessman. Had been training to be a pilot in California since April 1996. In April 1999 qualified and returned to Saudi Arabia but failed to get a job. Spent all time online at internet café listening to tapes of militant Islamic preachers. Returned to US 8 December 2000 from SA. Died flying Flight AA77 into the Pentagon.
HANNACHI, ABDERRAOUF
Algerian veteran of war against Soviets, activist in Canada and close to senior GIA figures, instrumental in radicalizing Ressam.
HAQQANI, JALALUDDIN
Afghan alim, Deobandi, veteran of war against Soviets who fought with Taliban in 2001. Strong contacts in the Gulf, particularly in Kuwait, and with Pakistani intelligence services. Currently fugitive. Senior insurgent commander 2006–2007.
AL-HARETHI, QAED SALIM SINAN
Yemeni linked to strike on USS
Cole
, killed by missile in 2002.
HATTAB, HASSAN
’Emir’ of Algerian GSPC from 1998 to 2003, when killed by security forces.
AL-HAWALI, DR SAFAR
Prominent radical Saudi cleric. Born in 1950 in al-Baha region.
AL-HAZMI, NAWAF
Experienced Saudi militant, believed to have fought in Bosnia and Afghanistan. Arrived in America in 1999. Known to the CIA. Died on AA77.
HEKMATYAR, GULBUDDIN
Pashtun from the north of Afghanistan. As an engineering student at Kabul University was a key figure among the early Afghan Islamists in the 1970s. Went on to lead the Hizb-e-Islami faction against the Soviets. Despite his extremism, was a favourite of Pakistani secret service and thus received bulk of American aid. Known as ‘the butcher’ for willingness to kill civilians. Though opposed the Taliban until 2001, is currently a
de facto
ally against US-led forces in Afghanistan. Operating from power base in Kunar province.
HIJAZI, RAEED
Palestinian, born 1970, lived in USA, recruited by Abu Hoshar, arrested and convicted for his part in Millennium plot in Jordan.
AL-IRAQI, ABU AYOUB
One of original members of bin Laden’s group in 1988–9, active in Sudan 1991–6.
ISAMUDDIN, RIDUAN, a.k.a. HAMBALI
Born in Java in 1966, in Afghanistan 1988–90, then active in Malaysia and elsewhere, implicated in string of bombings in late 1990s–2002 including the attack on a nightclub in Bali. Arrested in Thailand, August 2003.
JARRAH, ZIAD
Pilot of hijacked plane in 11 September attack. Born 1976 in Lebanon, arrived in Greifswald, Germany in 1996. Inmid 1997 moved to Hamburg and started attending al-Quds mosque. Died on Flight UA93 when it crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
KAMEL, FATEH
Algerian veteran of war against Soviets and in Bosnia, activist in Canada, instrumental in radicalizing Ressam.
KHALIS, MAULVI YOUNIS
Afghan, senior cleric and tribal leader, born 1919. Led Hizb-e-Islami (K) faction, friend of bin Laden. Died 2006.
KHAN, MOHAMMED SIDIQUE
Leader of London bombers. Born in 1974 in northern British town of Beeston. University-educated father of one. Worked as special needs ‘mentor’ for children of recent immigrants.
KHERTCHOU, L’HOSSAINE
Terrorist trainer in Afghanistan in early 1990s, also in Sudan with bin Laden. American government witness at trials for 1998 bombings.
AL-KURDI, SAYYID
Kurdish instructor in Khaldan camp, Afghanistan, 1996–2001.