Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Abdul-Majid az-Zindani

عبد المجيد الزنداني

Some background on him:

UN Security Council list of individuals and groups embargoed for their affiliation with al-Qa'ida or the Taliban.

Press release about Zindani's designation under Executive Order 13224 and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Al-Eman "University"
جامعة الإيمان
is his compound in Sana'a where people study Islam and fiqh for ten years. It has served al-Qa'ida to some extent as a front for the entry of recruits into Yemen, there to be supplied with travel documents and a letter of introduction to join al-Qa'ida members elsewhere.

Other websites controlled by his people:
http://www.icsfp.com
http://www.nusrah.com
http://www.nusrah.tv
http://www.whymuhammad.com
http://www.islam-guide.com
http://www.islamreligion.com
http://www.thisistruth.org
http://www.truth.org.ye

Zindani is a cult leader as much as he is a Salafist. He goes to much length to argue that a lot of modern scientific knowledge was anticipated in the the 80,000 or so words of the qur'aan, written in the Sixth Century. Zindani even claims to have found a cure for AIDS in the qur'aan, after fifteen years of such "analysis". Consequently many Sunnis regard Zindani as a major heretic, as they do Haroun Yahya and the late Rashad Khalifa.

Zindani's importance to al-Qa'ida is tied to his money and the power that he wields in largely tribal Yemen. Online, he is rarely mentioned by name by other Sunni terrorists.