Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani
Encyclopedia
Abdul Majeed al-Zindani has been described by Daniel Golden
of the Wall Street Journal
as "a charismatic Yemeni academic and politician." and by CNN as "a provocative cleric with a flaming red beard". A leading militant Islamist, he is the founder and head of the Iman University
in Yemen
, head of the Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood political movement and founder of the Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah
, based in Saudi Arabia
.
Al-Zindani is one of the most politically powerful religious and political leaders in Yemen. He is revered by many one of the most prominent educators is the Islamic world. In the struggle against the Western powers, he has called for armed jihad agaisnt Israel, and to oppose any US troops who may be sent to Yemen to fight al-Qaeda. In 2004, he has been identified by the US Treasury Department as "Specially Designated Global Terrorist". He has close ties not only to Osama bin Laden
as one of his spiritual leaders, but also with Anwar al-Awlaki
who was vice president of Zindani's Charitable Society for Social Welfare (CSSW). Awlaki later was found to have unexplained associations with the 9/11 attackers and the Fort Hood shootings, eventually being targeted and killed because of his threats and connections to attacks against the US. Zindani's name is also on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. His Al Iman University reportedly cultivates militant Islamists.
Nevertheless, he continues to receive support and protection from the government of Yemen. Sultan al-Barakani stated in 2007 "we don't have any evidence that Sheikh al-Zindani was involved with al-Qaeda" as the US government did not yet provide the Yemeni government with solid information proving any association with terrorism. In 2011, Zindani's became the first major radical Islamist voice to be added to the many in Yemen calling for democracy and the resignation of the president Saleh whose cooperation with the US in opposing al-Qaeda has made him unpopular with Islamist elements.
, studied at Ain Shams University
(first studying biology and chemistry, but then switching to Islamic studies) where he failed to get a degree, returned to Aden in 1966, went to Saudi Arabia in 1967 where he was a senior official in the Islamic Call Organization, and returned home in 1970 where he formed the Yemini Muslim Brotherhood
and devoted his life to politics.
in Sanaa
, Yemen. The institution was founded in 1995 with Yemeni government support. It also received foreign donations from the conservative Wahhabist heritage nations of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, receiving about 400 students annually.
The US Treasury statement that Zindani is loyal to bin Laden states that some students at Iman University have been arrested for political and religious murders. Some believe that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and that it is an incubator of radicalism. Students are suspected of having assassinated three American missionaries
, and "the number two leader for the Yemeni Socialist Party
", Jarallah Omar
. John Walker Lindh
, now serving a 20-year prison sentence in connection with his participation in Afghanistan's Taliban army, is a former student of the university.
Imam Anwar al-Awlaki
, who has taken classes and lectured at Iman University, has also been linked to al-Qaeda.
The Sunday Times
has established that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
, the Northwest Airlines Flight 253
suspected bomber who was arrested on Christmas Day 2009, attended lectures by al-Awlaki at the university in 2005.
, who was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, is also a member.
, in 1984 to establish a Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah
, based in Saudi Arabia. He headed the Commission as secretary general until stepping down in 1995. Although he no longer has any official role with the Muslim World League, he is still invited to its events.
A criticism made of the commission is that in its enthusiasm to prove that evidence in favor of Qur'anic scientific miracles “is clear and obvious" and that "a group of eminent non-Muslim scholars in several fields” has testified to this, the commission has spread misleading, out-of-context statements by several of these non-Muslim scholars.
In 1984, a member of the commission, Mustafa Abdul Basit Ahmed, moved to the United States to recruit non-Muslim Western scientists to verify the miraculous signs of the Quran. However, in a 2002 story in the American newspaper Wall Street Journal, several non-Muslim scientists spoke of questionable practices used by the commission to coax statements from them, such as hard-sell interviews by Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani,
and false promises to be “completely neutral.”
Marine scientist William Hay complained of having fallen into a "trap" in interviews, while embryologist Gerald Goeringer claimed "mutual manipulation" between the scientists and conference organizers. Retired Geologist Professor Alfred Kröner of the Universität Mainz has a standard e-mail reply clarifying his "out of context" remarks during one of the conferences and has described the proceedings which resulted in his remarks being used by Muslim apologists. In a video-taped interview he clarified his situation and that he did not feel he was represented realistically and was quote-mined in the religion based video made by Muslim apologists.
A further interview has been obtained with William W. Hay where he describes the events and explains how he was asked to answer purely hypothetical questions and it was from these answers that he was subsequently quote-mined and misrepresented.
. In 20 cases, al-Zandani said that the virus had vanished completely without any side effect
s, and he called on the UN, which "spends enormous amounts of money to fight the disease," to send "its senior scientists to review [the university's] findings.”
Dr. Jamil al-Mughales, the head of the Clinical Immunology Services of King Abdulaziz University
, has disputed al-Zindani's results, saying he personally inspected blood tests, and contradicting al-Zindani's claims. Al-Mughales said that if he were the Minister of Health, he would put al-Zindani in jail. “I hope that the mass media does not give him more press, because I think he has some hidden motives, because he is on the list of the terrorist lists,” he said.
. The declaration followed reports of vigilante activity by self-appointed 'morality guardians' in Hodeidah, Aden, and Sana'a.
in 2005. On November 25, 2006, al-Zidani won the first case—against the newspaper Al-Rai Al-A'm--and the newspaper was ordered to cease printing for six months, and its editor was sentenced to one year of prison.
identified Zindani as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist
". The Department said it had credible evidence al-Zindani had a "long history of working with bin Laden, notably serving as one of his spiritual leaders", that he "served as a contact for Ansar al-Islam
(Al), a Kurd
ish-based terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda". Students of his Al Iman University were suspected of assassinating three American missionaries, and "the number two leader for the Yemeni Socialist Party
, Jarallah Omar".
Zindani founded the Charitable Society for Social Welfare
(CSSW). Anwar al-Awlaki
, who was at one time contacted by Fort Hood shooting
suspect Nidal Malik Hasan
, served as Vice President. During a 2004 terrorism trial in New York, FBI agent Brian Murphy testified that CSSW was a “front organization to funnel money to terrorists.” Al Awlaki also took classes and lectured at Iman University, headed by Zindani. US intelligence agencies intercepted innocuous emails between Awlaki and the Fort Hood shootings suspect in 2008 and 2009, and Awlaki is currently sought by Yemen authorities for possible involvement in al-Quaida. John Walker Lindh
is also a former student of Iman University linked to terrorist groups.
Zindani's name subsequently appeared on the UN 1267 Committee
's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Among the factors offered to Guantanamo detainee Abdul Rahman Mohamed Saleh Naser
's Administrative Review Board
, justifying his continued extrajudicial detention, were:
In mid-January 2010, Zindani said he would call for jihad in the event that US troops were sent to Yemen for the purpose of fighting al-Qaeda
.
Daniel Golden
Daniel Golden is an American journalist, working as an editor at large for Bloomberg News. He was previously senior editor at Conde Nast's now-defunct Portfolio magazine....
of the Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
as "a charismatic Yemeni academic and politician." and by CNN as "a provocative cleric with a flaming red beard". A leading militant Islamist, he is the founder and head of the Iman University
Iman University
Iman University is a Sunni religious school founded in 1993 in San‘a’, Yemen...
in Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, head of the Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood political movement and founder of the Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah
Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah
The Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah is an organization established by Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani with the backing of the Muslim World League in 1984 in Saudi Arabia...
, based in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
.
Al-Zindani is one of the most politically powerful religious and political leaders in Yemen. He is revered by many one of the most prominent educators is the Islamic world. In the struggle against the Western powers, he has called for armed jihad agaisnt Israel, and to oppose any US troops who may be sent to Yemen to fight al-Qaeda. In 2004, he has been identified by the US Treasury Department as "Specially Designated Global Terrorist". He has close ties not only to Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
as one of his spiritual leaders, but also with Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki was an American and Yemeni imam who was an engineer and educator by training. According to U.S. government officials, he was a senior talent recruiter and motivator who was involved with planning operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda...
who was vice president of Zindani's Charitable Society for Social Welfare (CSSW). Awlaki later was found to have unexplained associations with the 9/11 attackers and the Fort Hood shootings, eventually being targeted and killed because of his threats and connections to attacks against the US. Zindani's name is also on the UN 1267 Committee's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. His Al Iman University reportedly cultivates militant Islamists.
Nevertheless, he continues to receive support and protection from the government of Yemen. Sultan al-Barakani stated in 2007 "we don't have any evidence that Sheikh al-Zindani was involved with al-Qaeda" as the US government did not yet provide the Yemeni government with solid information proving any association with terrorism. In 2011, Zindani's became the first major radical Islamist voice to be added to the many in Yemen calling for democracy and the resignation of the president Saleh whose cooperation with the US in opposing al-Qaeda has made him unpopular with Islamist elements.
Career
Al-Zindani spent his early college years in EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, studied at Ain Shams University
Ain Shams University
Ain Shams University is an institute of higher education located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels.-History:...
(first studying biology and chemistry, but then switching to Islamic studies) where he failed to get a degree, returned to Aden in 1966, went to Saudi Arabia in 1967 where he was a senior official in the Islamic Call Organization, and returned home in 1970 where he formed the Yemini Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
and devoted his life to politics.
Iman University
Al-Zindani is the founder and president of the Iman UniversityIman University
Iman University is a Sunni religious school founded in 1993 in San‘a’, Yemen...
in Sanaa
Sana'a
-Districts:*Al Wahdah District*As Sabain District*Assafi'yah District*At Tahrir District*Ath'thaorah District*Az'zal District*Bani Al Harith District*Ma'ain District*Old City District*Shu'aub District-Old City:...
, Yemen. The institution was founded in 1995 with Yemeni government support. It also received foreign donations from the conservative Wahhabist heritage nations of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, receiving about 400 students annually.
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
, and "the number two leader for the Yemeni Socialist Party
Yemeni Socialist Party
The Yemeni Socialist Party is a political party in Yemen.It was the ruling party in South Yemen, the only Marxist Arab state, before unification in 1990...
", Jarallah Omar
Jarallah Omar
Jarallah Omar al-Kuhali was a Yemeni politician, intellectual, and guerrilla fighter. He was trained in Islamic law, but in the 1960s he turned towards Marxism...
. John Walker Lindh
John Walker Lindh
John Phillip Walker Lindh is a United States citizen who was captured as an enemy combatant during the United States' 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. He is now serving a 20-year prison sentence in connection with his participation in Afghanistan's Taliban army...
, now serving a 20-year prison sentence in connection with his participation in Afghanistan's Taliban army, is a former student of the university.
Imam Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki was an American and Yemeni imam who was an engineer and educator by training. According to U.S. government officials, he was a senior talent recruiter and motivator who was involved with planning operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda...
, who has taken classes and lectured at Iman University, has also been linked to al-Qaeda.
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
has established that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , popularly referred to as the "Underwear Bomber", is a suspected terrorist who attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on December 25,...
, the Northwest Airlines Flight 253
Northwest Airlines Flight 253
Northwest Airlines Flight 253 was an international passenger flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands, to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan, United States...
suspected bomber who was arrested on Christmas Day 2009, attended lectures by al-Awlaki at the university in 2005.
Political activity
Al-Zindani is "a leading member" of Yemen's al-Islah Party, (the Yemeni Congregation for Reform), of whichTawakel KarmanTawakel Karman
Tawakel Karman became the international public face of the 2011 Yemeni uprising that is part of the Arab Spring uprisings...
, who was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, is also a member.
Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah
He approached the Saudi government's largest charity, the Muslim World LeagueMuslim World League
The Muslim World League is one of the largest Islamic non-governmental organizations. Muslim religious figures from 22 states founded it in Makkah in 1962.-Structure:...
, in 1984 to establish a Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah
Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah
The Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah is an organization established by Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani with the backing of the Muslim World League in 1984 in Saudi Arabia...
, based in Saudi Arabia. He headed the Commission as secretary general until stepping down in 1995. Although he no longer has any official role with the Muslim World League, he is still invited to its events.
A criticism made of the commission is that in its enthusiasm to prove that evidence in favor of Qur'anic scientific miracles “is clear and obvious" and that "a group of eminent non-Muslim scholars in several fields” has testified to this, the commission has spread misleading, out-of-context statements by several of these non-Muslim scholars.
In 1984, a member of the commission, Mustafa Abdul Basit Ahmed, moved to the United States to recruit non-Muslim Western scientists to verify the miraculous signs of the Quran. However, in a 2002 story in the American newspaper Wall Street Journal, several non-Muslim scientists spoke of questionable practices used by the commission to coax statements from them, such as hard-sell interviews by Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani,
and false promises to be “completely neutral.”
The commission drew the scientists to its conferences with first-class plane tickets for them and their wives, rooms at the best hotels, $1,000 honoraria, and banquets with Muslim leaders — such as a palace dinner in Islamabad with Pakistani President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq shortly before he was killed in a plane crash. Ahmed also gave at least one scientist a crystal clock.
Marine scientist William Hay complained of having fallen into a "trap" in interviews, while embryologist Gerald Goeringer claimed "mutual manipulation" between the scientists and conference organizers. Retired Geologist Professor Alfred Kröner of the Universität Mainz has a standard e-mail reply clarifying his "out of context" remarks during one of the conferences and has described the proceedings which resulted in his remarks being used by Muslim apologists. In a video-taped interview he clarified his situation and that he did not feel he was represented realistically and was quote-mined in the religion based video made by Muslim apologists.
A further interview has been obtained with William W. Hay where he describes the events and explains how he was asked to answer purely hypothetical questions and it was from these answers that he was subsequently quote-mined and misrepresented.
AIDS research
Al-Zindani gave a speech praising the quality of scientific and medical research carried out at the Iman University, claiming that they had successfully treated many cases of AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. In 20 cases, al-Zandani said that the virus had vanished completely without any side effect
Side effect
In medicine, a side effect is an effect, whether therapeutic or adverse, that is secondary to the one intended; although the term is predominantly employed to describe adverse effects, it can also apply to beneficial, but unintended, consequences of the use of a drug.Occasionally, drugs are...
s, and he called on the UN, which "spends enormous amounts of money to fight the disease," to send "its senior scientists to review [the university's] findings.”
Dr. Jamil al-Mughales, the head of the Clinical Immunology Services of King Abdulaziz University
King Abdulaziz University
King Abdulaziz University was founded in 1967 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Designed by English architect John Elliott, it had 2,000 teachers and more than 37,000 students in 2000/2001....
, has disputed al-Zindani's results, saying he personally inspected blood tests, and contradicting al-Zindani's claims. Al-Mughales said that if he were the Minister of Health, he would put al-Zindani in jail. “I hope that the mass media does not give him more press, because I think he has some hidden motives, because he is on the list of the terrorist lists,” he said.
Vice and virtue movement
In July 2008, al-Zindani joined a panel of Islamic clerics and prominent tribal chiefs to announce the creation of a new morality authority. The Meeting for Protecting Virtue and Fighting Vice declared its intention to alert Yemen's police force to infringements of Islamic lawSharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
. The declaration followed reports of vigilante activity by self-appointed 'morality guardians' in Hodeidah, Aden, and Sana'a.
Jyllands-posten cartoon controversy
In 2006, Zindani pressed charges against 21 newspapers and their editors in Yemen for reprinting the controversial Muhammad cartoons, originally printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-PostenJyllands-Posten
Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten , commonly shortened to Jyllands-Posten or JP, is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Viby, a suburb of Århus, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies, it is among the largest-selling newspaper in Denmark...
in 2005. On November 25, 2006, al-Zidani won the first case—against the newspaper Al-Rai Al-A'm--and the newspaper was ordered to cease printing for six months, and its editor was sentenced to one year of prison.
Banned by US
On February 24, 2004, the US Treasury DepartmentUnited States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
identified Zindani as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist
Specially Designated Global Terrorist
Specially Designated Global Terrorist is a designation authorized under U.S. Executive Order 13224 , among other executive orders, and Title 31, Parts 595, 596, and 597 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, among other U.S. laws and regulations. SDGT designations are administered and enforced...
". The Department said it had credible evidence al-Zindani had a "long history of working with bin Laden, notably serving as one of his spiritual leaders", that he "served as a contact for Ansar al-Islam
Ansar al-Islam
Ansar al-Islam is a Sunni Islamist group of Iraqis, promoting a radical interpretation of Islam, close to the official Saudi ideology of Wahhabism with strict application of Sharia. The group was formed in the northern provinces of Iraq near the Iranian border, and previously had established...
(Al), a Kurd
Kürd
Kürd or Kyurd or Kyurt may refer to:*Kürd Eldarbəyli, Azerbaijan*Kürd Mahrızlı, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Goychay, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Jalilabad, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Qabala, Azerbaijan*Qurdbayram, Azerbaijan...
ish-based terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda". Students of his Al Iman University were suspected of assassinating three American missionaries, and "the number two leader for the Yemeni Socialist Party
Yemeni Socialist Party
The Yemeni Socialist Party is a political party in Yemen.It was the ruling party in South Yemen, the only Marxist Arab state, before unification in 1990...
, Jarallah Omar".
Zindani founded the Charitable Society for Social Welfare
Charitable Society for Social Welfare
The Charitable Society for Social Welfare was founded by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, whom the US Treasury Department identified as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist", citing his "long history of working with bin Laden" .During a terrorism trial, Federal Bureau...
(CSSW). Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki was an American and Yemeni imam who was an engineer and educator by training. According to U.S. government officials, he was a senior talent recruiter and motivator who was involved with planning operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda...
, who was at one time contacted by Fort Hood shooting
Fort Hood shooting
The Fort Hood shooting was a mass shooting that took place on November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood, the most populous U.S. military installation in the world, located just outside Killeen, Texas. In the course of the shooting, a single gunman killed 13 people and wounded 29 others...
suspect Nidal Malik Hasan
Nidal Malik Hasan
Nidal Malik Hasan, USA is a United States Army officer and sole suspect in the November 5, 2009, Fort Hood shooting, which occurred less than a month before he would have deployed to Afghanistan....
, served as Vice President. During a 2004 terrorism trial in New York, FBI agent Brian Murphy testified that CSSW was a “front organization to funnel money to terrorists.” Al Awlaki also took classes and lectured at Iman University, headed by Zindani. US intelligence agencies intercepted innocuous emails between Awlaki and the Fort Hood shootings suspect in 2008 and 2009, and Awlaki is currently sought by Yemen authorities for possible involvement in al-Quaida. John Walker Lindh
John Walker Lindh
John Phillip Walker Lindh is a United States citizen who was captured as an enemy combatant during the United States' 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. He is now serving a 20-year prison sentence in connection with his participation in Afghanistan's Taliban army...
is also a former student of Iman University linked to terrorist groups.
Zindani's name subsequently appeared on the UN 1267 Committee
United Nations Security Council Committee 1267
The 1267 Committee , was established on 15 October 1999, pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1267 concerning Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and/or the Taliban and associated individuals and entities. The 1267 Committee is one of three Security Council committees dealing with counter-terrorism...
's list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda. Among the factors offered to Guantanamo detainee Abdul Rahman Mohamed Saleh Naser
Abdul Rahman Mohamed Saleh Naser
Abdul Rahman Mohamed Saleh Naser is a citizen of Yemen currently held in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 115.American intelligence analysts estimates that he was born in 1980, in Ma'rib, Yemen....
's Administrative Review Board
Administrative Review Board
The Administrative Review Board is a United States military body that conducts an annual review of the suspects held by the United States in Camp Delta in the United States Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba....
, justifying his continued extrajudicial detention, were:
- "The detainee decided to go to Afghanistan after hearing and speaking with Sheik Al Zindani.
- "Abd Al Majid Zandani was an active supporter of Usama Bin Laden. Zandani was involved in raising funds and recruiting volunteers for the Bin Laden organization. Zandani is also a religious and legal expert for Usama Bin Laden.
- "Executive Order 13224Executive Order 13224Executive Order 13224 is an executive order signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on September 23, 2001 as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks....
designates Shaykh Abd Al Majid Al Zindani as a person who commits, threatens to commit, or supports terrorism."
In mid-January 2010, Zindani said he would call for jihad in the event that US troops were sent to Yemen for the purpose of fighting al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
.