The Al Qaeda Manual (continued)

UK/BM-15 TRANSLATION

SECOND LESSON

NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS
FOR THE ORGANIZATION ’S MEMBER

Necessary Qualifications fro the Organization ’s members

1- Islam:

The member of the Organization must be Moslem. How can an unbeliever, someone from a revealed religion [Christian, Jew ],a secular person, a communist, etc. protect Islam and Moslems and defend their goals and secrets when he does not believe in that religion [Islam ]?The Israeli Army requires that a fighter be of the Jewish religion. Likewise, the command leadership in the Afghan and Russian armies requires any one with an officer ’s position to be a member of the communist party.

2- Commitment to the Organization ’s Ideology:

This commitment frees the Organization ’s members from conceptional problems.

3- Maturity:

The requirements of military work are numerous, and a minor cannot perform them. The nature of hard and continuous work in dangerous conditions requires a great deal of psychological, mental, and intellectual fitness, which are not usually found in a minor. It is reported that Ibn Omar -may Allah be pleased with him -said, "During Ahad [battle] when I was fourteen years of age, I was submitted [as a volunteer ]to the prophet -God bless and keep him. He refused me and did not throw me in the battle. During Khandak [trench] Day [battle] when I was fifteen years of age, I was also submitted to him, and he permitted me [to fight].

4- Sacrifice:

He [the member] has to be willing to do the work and undergo martyrdom for the purpose of achieving the goal and establishing the religion of majestic Allah on earth.

5- Listening and Obedience:

In the military, this is known today as discipline. It is expressed by how the member obeys the orders given to him. That is what our religion urges. The Glorious says, "O, ye who believe! Obey Allah and obey the messenger and those charged with authority among you. "In the story of Hazifa Ben Al-Yaman -may Allah have mercy on him -who was exemplary in his obedience to Allah ’s messenger -Allah bless and keep him. When he [Mohammed ]-Allah bless and keep him -sent him to spy on the Kureish and their allies during their siege of Madina, Hazifa said, "As he [Mohammed] called me by name to stand, he said, ‘Go get me information about those people and do not alarm them about me.’

As I departed, I saw Abou Soufian and I placed an arrow in the bow. I [then] remembered the words of the messenger - Allah bless and keep him -'do not alarm them about me.' If I had shot I would have hit him."

6- Keeping Secrets and Concealing Information

[This secrecy should be used ]even with the closest people, for deceiving the enemies is not easy. Allah says, “Even though their plots were such that as to shake the hills! [Koranic verse ]."Allah's messenger -God bless and keep him -says, “Seek Allah's help in doing your affairs in secrecy.” It was said in the proverbs, “The hearts of freemen are the tombs of secrets “and "Moslems’ secrecy is faithfulness, and talking about it is faithlessness."[Mohammed] -God bless and keep him -used to keep work secrets from the closest people, even from his wife A'isha-may Allah's grace be on her.

7. Free of Illness

The Military Organization's member must fulfill this important requirement. Allah says, “There is no blame for those who are infirm, or ill, or who have no resources to spend.”

8 .Patience

[The member] should have plenty of patience for [enduring] afflictions if he is overcome by the enemies. Be should not abandon this great path and sell himself and his religion to the enemies for his freedom. He should be patient in performing the work, even if it lasts a long time.

9. Tranquillity and "Unflappability"

[The member ]should have a calm personality that allows him to endure psychological traumas such as those involving bloodshed, murder, arrest, imprisonment, and reverse psychological traumas such as killing one or a l l of his Organization's comrades.[He should be able] to carry out the work.

10. Intelligence and Insight

When the prophet - Allah bless and keep him -sent Hazifa Ben Al-Yaman to spy on the polytheist and [Hafiza] sat among them, Abou Soufian said, “Let each one of you look at his companion. “Hazifa said to his companion, ‘Who are you?” The companion replied, “So-and-so son of so-and-so.”

In World War I, the German spy, Julius Seelber [PH] managed to enter Britain and work as a mail examiner due to the many languages he had mastered. From the letters, he succeeded in obtaining important information and sent it to the Germans. One of the letters that he checked was from a lady who had written to her brother's friend in the fleet. She mentioned that her brother used to live with her until he was transferred to a secret project that involved commercial ships. When Seelber read that letter, he went to meet that young woman and blamed her for her loose tongue in talking about military secrets. He, skillfully, managed to draw out of her that her brother worked in a secret project for arming old commercial ships. These ships were to be used as decoys in the submarine war in such a way that they could come close to the submarines, as they appeared innocent. Suddenly, cannonballs would be fired from the ship’s hidden cannons on top of the ships, which would destroy the submarines. 48 hours later that secret was handed to the Germans.

11. Caution and Prudence

In his battle against the king of Tomedia [PHI, the Roman general Speer [PH] sent an emissary to discuss with that king the matter of truce between the two armies. In reality, he had sent him to learn about the Tomedians' ability to fight. The general picked, Lilius [PH], one of his top commanders, for that task and sent with him some of his officers, disguised as slaves. During that mission, one of the king's officers, Sifax [PH] pointed to one of the [disguised] slaves and yelled, “That slave is a Roman officer I had met in a neighboring city. He was wearing a Roman uniform. “At that point, Lilius used a clever trick and managed to divert the attention of the Tomedians from that by turning to the disguised officer and quickly slapping him on the face a number of times. He reprimanded him for wearing a Roman officer’s uniform when he was a slave and for claiming a status that he did not deserve.

The officer accepted the slaps quietly. He bowed his head in humility and shame, as slaves do. Thus, Sifax men thought that officer was really a slave because they could not imagine that a Roman officer would accept these hits without defending himself. King Sifax prepared a big feast for Lilius and his entourage and placed them in a house far away from his camp so they could not learn about his fortifications. They [the Romans] made another clever trick on top of the first one. They freed one of their horses and started chasing him in and around the camp. After they learned about the extent of the fortifications they caught the horse and, as planned, managed to abort their mission about the truce agreement. Shortly after their return, the Roman general attacked King Sifax’ camp and burned the fortifications. Sifax was forced to seek reconciliation.

B. There was a secret agent who disguised himself as an American fur merchant. As the agent was playing cards aboard a boat with some passengers, one of the players asked him about his profession. He replied that he was a "fur merchant. “The women showed interest [in him] and began asking the agent -the disguised fur merchant -many questions about the types and prices of fur. He mentioned fur price figures that amazed the women. They started avoiding and regarding him with suspicion, as though he were a thief, or crazy.

12. Truthfulness and Counsel

The Commander of the faithful, Omar Ibn Al-Khattab -may Allah be pleased with him -asserted that this characteristic was vital in those who gather information and work as spies against the Moslems’ enemies. He [Omar] sent a letter to Saad Ibn Abou Wakkas -may Allah be pleased with him -saying, “If you step foot on your enemies’ land, get spies on them. Choose those whom you count on for their truthfulness and advice, whether Arabs or inhabitants of that land. Liars’ accounts would not benefit you, even if some of them were true; he deceiver is a spy against you and not for you.

13. Ability to Observe and Analyze

The Israeli Mossad received news that some Palestinians were going to attack an Israeli El Al airplane. That plane was going to Rome with Golda Meir -Allah's curse upon her -the Prime Minister at the time, on board. The Palestinians had managed to use a clever trick that allowed them to wait for the arrival of the plane without being questioned by anyone. They had beaten a man who sold potatoes, kidnapped him, and hidden him. They made two holes in the top of that peddler's cart and placed two tubes next to the chimney through which two Russian-made "Strella"[PH] missiles could be launched. The Mossad officers traveled the airport back and forth looking for that lead them to the Palestinians. One officer passed the potato cart twice without noticing anything. On his third time, he noticed three chimneys, but only one of them was working with spoke coming out of it. He quickly steered toward the cart and hit it hard. The cart overturned, and the Palestinians were captured.'

14. Ability to Act, Change Positions and Conceal Oneself

a. An example] is what Noaim Ibn Masoud had done in his mission to cause agitation among the tribes of Koraish, those of Ghatfan, and the Jews of Koreitha. He would control his reactions and managed to skillfully play his role. Without showing signs of inconsistency, he would show his interest and zeal towards the Jews one time and show his concern about the Koraish at another.

b. In 1960,a car driven by an American colonel collided with a truck. The colonel lost consciousness, and while unconscious at the hospital, he started speaking Russian fluently. It was later discovered that the colonel was a Soviet spy who was planted in the United States. He had fought in Korea in order to conceal his true identity and to gather information and critical secrets. If not for the collision, no one would have suspected or confronted him.


1.This story is found in the book A'n Tarik Al-Khida '"By Way of Deception Methods, "by Victor Ostrovsky [PH ].The author claims that the Mossad wants to kill him for writing that book. However, I believe that the book was authorized by the Israeli Mossad.