Saad Ali Al-Shehri was only 17 when he went to Afghanistan in 1989. His aim was to support the Afghani people in their fight against the Soviets. He was driven by his enthusiasm and his desire to support his Islamic brothers, Al-Yaum newspaper reported. âI left in 1989 and stayed (in Afghanistan) for eight months. At that time the whole Muslim world was standing behind Afghanistan and we were given all facilities to go there,â said Shehri. âWe arrived in Pakistan where we trained for a period of time. After that, we began to learn how to use weapons. In training camp, we used to wake up at dawn and read and recite the Qurâan. I noticed that there was a particular hate group in the camp that was preaching violence. They were driven by ignorance and hate and whoever opposed their ideas was considered an enemy.âShehri decided to speak about this experience, saying that the media is partly to blame for presenting a bad image of jihad, saying that the jihad in Afghanistan against Soviet invasion was a noble one. Today, on the other hand, jihad has been co-opted by terrorist groups. Shehri warns parents to closely monitor their children lest they fall into the trap of mistaking terrorism for jihad.
He said that in the 1980s, jihad in Afghanistan was clearly a fight to liberate Afghanistan from Soviet occupation. (The Soviets were defeated in Afghanistan due to the tactical knowledge of the Mujahedeen along with the support of the CIA, which shared an interest with the jihadists in checking Soviet expansion.) Many of the Mujahedeen fighters returned from Afghanistan and became productive members of their societies. Shehri blames the shift in the perception of jihad on deviant groups from outside the country that exploit the idealism of youth, using propaganda to convince them to oppose and subvert their own states.
| I thought he was just swell until he said it's outside groups. Salafism is a home-grown Soddy phenomenon. The Takfir variant has its roots there, as well. It's not Zionists, and it's not Moroccans. |
He said that while he was fighting the jihad against the Soviets, there was a group of Saudis at the camp urging the Mujahedeen fighters to shift their focus. He recalled that many of his compatriots noticed that Saudi Arabia was under attack by certain members who were criticizing the country and calling the Kingdom un-Islamic. Shehri never saw any of the notorious figures to come out of Afghanistan since the end of the jihad against the Soviet Union. âWe did not see Osama bin Laden or Ayman Al-Zawahri. Their main role was financial support,â said Shehri.
His relationship with Afghanistan and the Mujahedeen ended with the Soviet retreat from the country. He decided to leave after observing a lot of infighting among Afghans. In this hostile, shattered environment, Shehri said, it was easy for terrorist groups to set up camps. âIn these groups, none of them were using their real names. These men did not have confidence in themselves,â he said. âThere is no Muslim who points his weapon at his brother Muslim. It is so sad to see terrorists calling for jihad in the Arabian Peninsula. How could they start jihad in the land of Islam? All that I can say is that these young men have been mentally assassinated. In the past, the cause was clear: We were fighting an enemy that took the land of our brothers. The enemy was stunned when it saw males as young as 11 and 12 fighting them. Terrorist groups these days are brainwashing young minds and sending them to countries in order to commit terrorist activities.â
Shehri added that the Internet has made it easier to target susceptible youth, but also expressed optimism in the current backlash against the so-called global jihad. âI am very optimistic that many men who went astray are coming back. Even some sheikhs are regretting their issuing violent fatwaâs and have since corrected their position,â said Shehri. âMany of them came to the right path after the royal pardon was issued.â
The Mujahedeen veteran ended his interview by re-emphasizing the need for parents to play an increasingly active role in controlling their childrenâs exposure to deviant propaganda. âI say once again that it is very important that a family play a role in monitoring their children in the streets because in the streets, they will be exposed to bad and good,â said Shehri. âParents need to educate children and protect them from going astray.â