What was the mission of al-Qaeda?

Question

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Answer 1

Three important movements are important to understanding Al-Qaeda: Salafism, Qutbism, and Conspiracy Theories in the Arab World. Al-Qaeda is a radical offshoot of the Salafist movement. Salafism could best be described as a form of Sunni Islamic Puritanism, as in the goal of Salafists are to return Islam and its practices to they were in the time of Muhhammed. Salafists are really quite a minor sect outside of the gulf. Salafists are not all what we term Jihadists however, most Salafists are what are called quietist, while they believe in a puritanical version of Islam, they do not believe it should be achieved through political actions. This is what Wahhabi Islam in Saudi Arabia is. Then you have political Salafism such as was present in pre-coup Egypt which believes in achieving their goals through the political process if not through violence. Then you have Jihadist Sailfish which is focused on achieving the creation of a pure Islamic state through violence. Jihadist Salafism is also significant for its belief in Takfir, or proclaiming certain Muslims not-true-Muslims and therefore ok to murder which every other Islamic Sect would declare a perversion of Islam which tends to outlaw any killing of fellow Muslims. Qutbism is descended from the writing of Qutb a member of the early Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. While Qutb was not a Salafist, in the fifties he composed the first major anti-Western and anti-American Islamic works and is considered the intellectual godfather of anti-American Islam. Al-Qaeda adopts this in their virulent anti-Americanism. Lastly conspiracy theories play a large role in Al-Qaeda's mission. Al-Qaeda does not believe that the United States is simply a country whose policies they disagree with, Al-Qaeda believes the US is an evil force secretly at war with Islam. Motivators for this are the US support for Israel, another entity at war with Islam in Arab conspiracy theories. Thus, AL-Qaeda sees themselves in a holy conflict against the united states, not simply a political conflict.