Abdul Rahman Al-Shamrani

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — Sheikh Siraj Al-Zahrani was one of the Saudi youths influenced by calls for ‘jihad’ in Afghanistan. He was exploited by some groups and asked to go to Afghanistan for what they called ‘jihad’ and die like a ‘martyr’. He was taught Muslim Brotherhood’s ideologies, especially those of Sayed Qutub, before he was sent to Afghanistan.



When asked about whether Syria could be the new Afghanistan, Sheikh Al-Zahrani said Saudi youth should not pay heed to ‘jihad’ calls in Syria.

 

The situation in Syria is different from that of Afghanistan. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) does not have any affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood, he said, adding that FSA appears to be completely independent. If suicide operations occur in Syria, then it will be apparent that the Muslim Brotherhood modus operandi and ideologies have influenced the Free Syrian Army.



“So far FSA has not given the Brotherhood any chance to cash in on the situation. Besides, the Brotherhood has not shown any inclination to help the Syrian people. This is because the Kingdom has stood by the Syrian people and supported them. This was obvious from the positions taken by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs.”



Sheikh Al-Zahrani went to Afghanistan when he was only 17 years old. He did not have any affiliation or ideological inclination toward any religious party or group. He just wanted to engage in ‘jihad’ and follow in the footsteps of Prophet’s companions. Some people provided him and others with cassettes and films about jihad in Afghanistan.



In the beginning, he was psychologically motivated to fight and no one talked to him about any ideological beliefs because he was not supposed to learn anything about ideologies at this stage.



He and other youths were asked to keep watching films about jihad in Afghanistan until they believed that the Afghans appearing in these films were real heroes.



After three years of watching such films and reading about jihad in Afghanistan, Sheikh Al-Zahrani was ready to go to Afghanistan.

He traveled secretly. When he and his friend arrived in Peshawar, Pakistan, they were surprised and shocked to see some Afghan fighters putting on amulets and doing things that were clearly against Islam.



The leaders there succeeded in convincing Sheikh Al-Zahrani and his friend that they should not go back. He and his friend decided to turn a blind eye to the things they saw there. They only focused on jihad because this was what they had come all the way for.



So they met senior leaders in Peshawar and listened to their ideas about jihad. Sheikh Al-Zahrani did not believe the leaders, who were talking irrationally about certain issues like takfir. He realized then that those leaders were playing with young minds.



Nevertheless, the love for jihad overwhelmed him. So he proceeded to Afghanistan where another surprise awaited him. He discovered that Arab fighters were divided. Some of them were loyal to Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf while others to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Besides, a month would pass without engaging in any fight.



Clearly, it was not like what he had seen in the films about jihad.

The other thing which was a real eye-opener was that Saudi youths were being targeted by some Afghans. In some battles, Afghan fighters opened fire on Saudis who were fighting on their side.



Sheikh Al-Zahrani believes that Saudi youths were targeted by some groups in Afghanistan which recruited them and trained them to use the most lethal weapons. “The Saudis were targeted because they had true intentions to engage in jihad and die as martyrs,” he said.