“When Mr Abdul Manaf Kasmuri, 61, pledged his allegiance to Al-Qaeda, he planned to help fellow Muslims who were being oppressed in conflict zones around the world….’Back then, jihad was very clean and beautiful. Jihad was only about helping fellow Muslims without resorting to violence.'”
When was jihad ever clean and beautiful for its non-Muslim victims? When was al-Qaeda’s jihad ever non-violent? It looks as if Abdul Manaf Kasmuri is doing his best to avoid being prosecuted. As Muhammad said, “War is deceit.”
“Al-Qaeda’s idea of violent jihad twisted, says ex-detainee,” Straits Times, August 28, 2016:
PUTRAJAYA • A man who was once held under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act (ISA) has learnt the hard way that war fought by terror groups is not the jihad he had in mind.
When Mr Abdul Manaf Kasmuri, 61, pledged his allegiance to Al-Qaeda, he planned to help fellow Muslims who were being oppressed in conflict zones around the world.
However, the terror group’s actions – escalating and senseless violence – forced the former army colonel to withdraw his support.
“Back then, jihad was very clean and beautiful. Jihad was only about helping fellow Muslims without resorting to violence,” he said.
Jihad is an Islamic term that means “struggle” but can also be used to refer to a “holy war”.
Mr Abdul Manaf, speaking to the press about the dangers of extremist ideology on Saturday, said: “Initially, they had my support. But their ideology changed and became twisted.”…