Ok folks, Abu Walid al Masri has provided his final two articles in response to some questions I asked.
For those of your new to the blog, Abu Walid al Masri is a senior mujahideen figure, currently believed to be detained in Iran. He’s an author for the Taliban, and a self declared “old friend” of al Qaeda. And one of the most interesting figures in the mujahideen milieu– well at least I think he is.
I’m just thrilled by his willingness to have a dialogue with me (thank you very much Abu Walid) and for his commentary and explanations. It’s a pretty monumental thing – a real first actually. And it makes a lot of things clear for me for my study. I have found these letters just as fascinating as his earlier work and I am glad to see that I understood what he said in his books correctly (for the most part, aside from my mistakes about shura etc and now it seems about some of bin Laden’s strategic shortcomings, which I will address in my thesis, sorry no time to do it on blog).
Abu Walid was right this will keep me busy for a while to come (-:
His two new articles can be found on his blog here (the link is to all four of his articles) or on my blog here and here. It’s all in Arabic. I’ll try to post a summary tomorrow but full translations will be a while in coming. I have deadlines coming out of my ears.
Basically though his second article focuses some more on explaining the notion of shura (advice) and also his relationship with Mullah Omar, which I forgot to mention yesterday. The third article is just fantastic. I asked him some questions about Abdullah Azzam and al Qaeda and asked him what he though of my conclusion that al Qaeda had failed to meet its strategic objectives because of bin Laden’s strategies. Its a GREAT post. Apparently I’m a bit off the mark in some of my findings, but not totally. He outlines the phases al Qaeda has gone through. It’s great and really reinforces a lot of my other research so I am very happy.
The fourth article deals with a question I asked Abu Walid al Masri as to whether jihad in KSA was permissible and whether he thought it benefited the jihad or the cause so to speak.
This appears to be it for the dialogue, sadly. It’s been a remarkable experience that has left me buzzing. Although of course I’d love to keep asking questions because as you have all probably gathered I am fascinated by his history of the Afghan Arabs and by him more generally. He has led an extraordinary life . But I suspect I have worn out my welcome so to speak.
To be honest, it leaves me at a bit of a loss actually. Talking to him in some fashion or another has been my dream for years because he just has the most remarkable history. It was something I was hoping I could work towards after my thesis was published and that maybe he would want to comment on it. I never dreamt it would come so soon and always just hoped it would happen later. It hasn’t unfolded that way and it leaves me thinking what now? Anyway, that’s just me being whimsical.. And now I can correct some mistakes I have made, like misunderstanding shura to make sure the thesis is as accurate as possible. Ok, enough sulking, back to Abu Walid’s new posts…
I’ll try to post a summary tomorrow but full translations will be a while in coming. I have deadlines coming out of my ears. I still have to get to doing my post on his most recent articles in the Taliban magazine, which I summarised briefly, and will add his new article which is a message to America into that post. And I’ll get to that when I can.
UPDATE: Folks as much as I would love to prioritise these translations, I have a very overdue chapter which I need to edit and re-write some sections. So next week I will try to get to this.
UPDATE2: 4/11/09 OK I am nearly there people. Sorry it is taking so long. I am pulling together an article on this too, which will add my thoughts and comments and hopefully some context to our dialogue. I will let you know when that is published and post immediately here also. This will hopefully be early next week at the latest. Just have to tie up a few loose ends.
In the meantime I ask that you respect the good faith in which I have posted this raw data before I am able to release a translation and an article following that. And if you don’t well I have will something to say about it in my usual loud and unrestrained and very public way. In other words don’t mess with the al Masri and Leah goings on. You have been warned (-:
October 29, 2009, 12:51 am at 12:51 am |
Congrats and thanks for sharing the scoop!
October 29, 2009, 12:56 am at 12:56 am |
Thank you. I just wish I could get some more translations done. My poor friends are helping and I will owe them into the next world already for their help so it’s not right to take advantage of their charity. So sadly the rest will have to wait a bit.
October 29, 2009, 6:50 am at 6:50 am |
Fantastic that you have had a chance to write with him. Must be a thrill to communicate with the man you are studying. Good luck with your thesis!
October 29, 2009, 4:42 pm at 4:42 pm |
Leah, this stuff is just fascinating, I can’t wait to read the full translations!
October 29, 2009, 5:25 pm at 5:25 pm |
Thanks Sally. I’m working on them – hopefully next week.
October 29, 2009, 11:41 pm at 11:41 pm |
Way to make it into the Telegraph (UK) w/al Masri exchange!
http://is.gd/4H71a
October 31, 2009, 3:28 pm at 3:28 pm |
Looking forward to your next translation.
“I asked him some questions about Abdullah Azzam and al Qaeda and asked him what he though of my conclusion that al Qaeda had failed to meet its strategic objectives because of bin Laden’s strategies”
Good. Did al Masri at any point draw a parallel between himself and Abdullah Azzam?
October 31, 2009, 7:59 pm at 7:59 pm |
Hi I will get to this as soon as I can. Currently swamped. Short answer, not directly, no.
November 2, 2009, 8:40 am at 8:40 am |
That’s very interesting, but can you be certain it is not a hoax?
November 2, 2009, 6:18 pm at 6:18 pm |
Yes.