Osama bin Laden

There are numerous fataawa (fatwas) that Islamic Extremist groups like bin Laden used to base their attack on 9-11.

There are three major fataawa that went into the "Islamic concept" of the validity of suicide bombings against civilians. This idea paved the way for the attacks of 9-11, but did not necessarily cause them. (This required actual planning and actual grievances.)

1. Accepted in Traditional Islam and by most Imams: There is a ruling that martyrdom for Islam is permitted through a suicide attacks in certain conditions. This martyrdom is considered a consecration by the faithful person of his life to defend Islamic virtue which is usually construed as Muslim lives or Islamic core values (such as the ability to practice the religion). Most Muslims hold that this form of martyrdom can only be used against an enemy combatant as opposed to civilians since killing a civilian without cause is a violation of the Qur'an's valuation of human life.
2. Accepted since it comes directly from the Qur'an: Any Muslim can rise up against oppression in his midst, especially if that oppression comes from a non-Muslim army. (Q: 2:191-193)
3. Controversial and Accepted by few Imams: The citizens of democracy are combatants because they choose the government that sends a military and may be conscripted to join that military.

Bin Laden asserted that American troops in the Middle East, the US Support of the State of Israel, the US Support of the Independence of East Timor, the US failure to force all of its citizens to convert to Islam, and several other actions were sufficient to prove United States oppression by military means. (Whether this is sufficient evidence or not is controversial, but Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda seem to hold that it is.) Therefore, any Muslim had the right to fight the United States military or occupying force (Ruling 2). Once this is clear, the Muslim can select any method that he wishes to use to attack the United States military and Bin Laden decided to use the suicide bomber (Ruling 1).

The controversial next step of these rulings is when instead of attacking the United States military, Bin Laden chooses to attack the United States civilians since the United States is a democracy that "willingly chooses to oppress the Muslims" (Ruling 3). Most Muslims argue that attacking civilians violates the Qur'anic valuation of human life and respect for the non-combatant.

The reason for discussing this at length is to note that the grounds for the belief of the applicability of the legal doctrine may go back much further than the Islamic legal doctrines themselves. (Sometimes Bin Laden would stretch his claim back to the time of the Crusades, long before suicide bombing or planes were conceived.) Therefore, these events are not necessarily time-connected with the actual fataawa that "legitimate" 9-11. Additionally, the Qur'anic verse that serves as the basis for Ruling 2 was not conceived during a time when there was any semblance of an America or "Western oppression". Therefore, the fataawa as well are not time-connected with the events in which they applied. It is only an individual who takes these pre-existing fataawa and pre-existing conditions and says that the conditions fall under the purview of these fataawa.

The Obama administration is demanding an explanation from Pakistan on how Osama bin Laden was able to hide in the country for so long before he was killed by US special forces.

Bin Laden was staying in a prominent million-dollar, high-security residence in an area full of soldiers and close to the country's premier military academy.

John Brennan, a counter-terrorism adviser to Barack Obama, told journalists at the White House: "People have been referring to this as hiding in plain sight. We are looking at how he was able to hide out there for so long."

He added it was "inconceivable" that Bin Laden did not enjoy a "support system" in Pakistan.

The al-Qaida leader was killed by US special forces who attacked the compound in Abbottabad, about 30 miles from Islamabad, on Sunday, according to US officials. His body was taken by helicopter to a US aircraft carrier in the Arabian Gulf and buried at sea.

One of his adult sons was also killed, as was a woman, who the White House claimed had been used by Bin Laden as a shield in the attack.

Obama said: "The world is safer. It is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden."

Although Obama, Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, and Brennan expressed the importance of Pakistan in helping to fight al-Qaida, the presence of Bin Laden so close to the capital and just streets away from the principal training ground for the country's officer corps threatened to create a fresh rift in US-Pakistan relations.

Such was the American distrust of the notoriously leaky Pakistan government that it did not even inform it of the raid in its own territory until after US helicopters had cleared Pakistani airspace.

Members of Congress threatened to withhold economic aid to Pakistan over the affair. Carl Levin, a Democrat who heads the powerful Senate armed services committee, reflected scepticism in the US about Bin Laden's ability to remain hidden in Pakistan. "I think the Pakistani army and intelligence have a lot of questions to answer given the location, the length of time and the apparent fact that this facility was actually built for Bin Laden and its closeness to the central location of the Pakistani army," he told a press conference. The US will step up pressure on Pakistan to hand over the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar and Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, if they are in Pakistan. The death of Bin Laden could also lead to a rethink of the scale of the US involvement in Afghanistan.

Embassies, airports and defence bases were placed on high alert for possible retaliation by al-Qaida sympathisers. David Cameron warned of a continuing threat from "extremist terrorism" but hailed a "massive step forward".

The mood in the US was one of celebration as Americans gathered at Ground Zero in New York, pleased finally to have retribution. Obama called it "a good day for America" that had made the world a safer place. Obama will visit Ground Zero on Thursday to meet the families of those killed in the September 11 attacks.

The White House and Pentagon provided fresh details of the mission by Navy Seals. Bin Laden was killed with a shot to the head, according to US officials, and was also shot once in the chest. CNN last night reported "administration officials" as saying Bin Laden did not take up or fire a weapon when the US special forces landed. One of the troops shouted soon afterwards "Geronimo EKIA" - geronimo enemy killed in action - the station reported.

Brennan denied that the special forces had been told not to capture him, only kill him. "If we had the opportunity to take him alive, we would have done," he said.

Clinton, anxious not to alienate a partner that may yet be needed for actions against al-Qaida and the Taliban, emphasised America's "close co-operation" with Pakistan. She said: "In fact, co-operation with Pakistan helped lead us to Bin Laden and the compound in which he was hiding."

The Pakistan government welcomed the killing as "a major setback to terrorist organisations around the world".

But the former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf reflected his country's unease over a breach of sovereignty. "America coming to our territory and taking action is a violation of our sovereignty," Musharraf told CNN.

"Handling and execution of the operation [by US forces] is not correct. The Pakistani government should have been kept in the loop."

Clinton suggested that US policy on Afghanistan would not shift, but other officials hinted the dynamics may have changed. The Pentagon only wants to see a token force of a few thousand withdrawn beginning in the summer, but Obama may want a more significant reduction.

An Afghan government official said he feared the death would give "justification for US premature disengagement from the region". It was a view echoed by Ahmed Wali Massoud, an Afghan politician and brother of Ahmed Shah Massoud, the legendary resistance fighter who was assassinated just two days before the September 11 attacks on the orders of Bin Laden.

"Obviously this is a huge relief for our family that justice has been done, but it also raises other concerns," Massoud said. "Already the US has been thinking about shifting its policy on the war on terror and there is a risk that the American public will continue to question why their troops are still fighting there," he said.

One of the most senior American officers serving in Afghanistan, General William Caldwell, told the Guardian the death might encourage moderate elements within the Taliban to give up.

John Taylor whose daughter Carrie, 24, was killed in the 7/7 bombings, said he would be celebrating. He said: "This is poetic justice for my daughter. This is a little piece of justice for Carrie and the thousands around the world who have been killed as a result of his actions."

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• Osama bin Laden ·
• al-Qaida ·
• Global terrorism ·
• Pakistan ·
• United States ·
• South and Central Asia

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