Al Qaeda’s media wing as-Sahab released an Internet statement from the wife of Ayman al-Zawahri, the group’s deputy commander, the first known recruitment appeal by a prominent female on behalf of the terrorist group.
The statement from Umaima Hassan Ahmad Muhammad Hassan was titled: “A Letter to the Muslim Sisters.” In it, Mrs. Zawahri appealed to Muslim women around the world to support the Mujahideen, calling it “an obligation on all Muslims, men and women.”
This is the first time the wife of a jihadi as prominent as Zawahri, Osama bin Laden’s deputy, has been seen getting directly involved in recruitment efforts or the public call for holy war. Hassan was clearly targeting women, urging them to take part in Jihad, and suggesting to them various ways that they could do so.
“The role of Muslim women is very important for Islamic work; Women complement men they must work alongside men to defend their religion, their land, and themselves,” she said. “If you cannot do it physically, do it with your money. If you cannot do it with your money, do it by preaching to Muslim sisters in mosques and schools and institutes and homes. If you cannot, then do it through the Internet. Just never give up the support to our faith in whichever way you can.”
Zawahiri’s wife advised women, especially those who are not physically fighting alongside their men on the battlefront, that if they can’t join the jihad for want of the requisite male guardian to escort them in their travels, there are other ways to serve the cause, by providing support to the Mujahideen.
“Fighting may not be easy for women, because they need a male guardian at their side,” she said, “but you can do that in many other ways; we should put ourselves at the service of the Mujahideen, and do whatever they may require from us. We ought to support them with money, information, opinion, taking part in the fight, or even carrying out martyrdom operations,” Umaima said, referring to suicide attacks.
Female bombers have carried out suicide attacks in Israel, Iraq and Chechnya.
Umaima Hassan is about as prominent a figure as possible for a female in the male-dominated jihadi culture. She is the widow of Tariq Anwar, a former al Qaeda operations chief who was killed in a November 2001 U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan.
She married Zawahri after his wife Azza Nweir was killed in another U.S. airstrike. She is also the sister of Sherif Hassan, a leading figure in the Egyptian group Jamaa Islamiya, who was executed by the Egyptian authorities in the 1990s.
Zawahri himself clearly stated that al Qaeda did not have any women members in an audio recording released in April 2002: “The role of the Mujahideen’s wives should be to look after their homes, children and anticipate the strikes of the crusaders,” Zawahiri said in the tape.
Hassan’s seven-page statement, of course, must have received her husband’s seal of approval prior to its publication if it wasn’t initiated by the al Qaeda deputy himself.
The aim is clearly to boost al Qaeda’s recruitment and perhaps add a whole new category of useful recruits to the group, but it is also further evidence that al Qaeda may be suffering from a shortage of men and funding.
Al Qaeda has been extremely active in its fundraising efforts in recent months. A statement released by the U.S. Treasury in October suggested the organization was facing one of its most dire financial spells in years. Assistant secretary for terrorist financing, David Cohen, said the group was in its weakest financial condition every due to the shortage of funds.
-Agencies