Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) published a joint obituary for the ‘Blind Sheikh’ ‘Omar ‘Abd Al Rahman, who died February 18, 2017 in a North Carolina prison at age 78, calling for jihad against the US in response to his death on infidel soil.
“The two groups extended condolences to allMuslims for his death, extolling him as an eminent scholar and leader of jihad and an example for all Muslims to follow. Presenting his death as another in the ongoing series of crimes committed by the US against Muslims, they urged Muslims to fulfill the wish he expressed in his last testament by taking harsh revenge on the US,” said the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a group that monitors jihadi social media.
Adbel Rahman was the former leader of the Egyptian terrorist organization, Gama’a Al Islamiyya. He and nine followers were found guilty in October 1995 on 48 of 50 charges for plotting assassinations and coordinated bombings of the New York FBI headquarters, the United Nations building, the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, the George Washington Bridge, military installations and a Jewish New York state legislator and a Jewish New York State Supreme Court justice.
They were also convicted with seditious conspiracy, solicitation and conspiracy to murder Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a visit to the United States and conspiracy in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Adbel Rahman was also convicted of conspiracy in planning a broader "war of urban terrorism against the United States" as part of jihad.
Prior to the 9/11 attacks, Usama Bin Laden pledged a jihad to free Abdel-Rahman.
AQAP and AQIM said in their joint statement that, "The crimes of the Crusader America against Islam and its people are ongoing. The ummah’s preachers continue to display the most powerful examples of sacrifice in protecting their ummah and of willingness to sacrifice their souls for the sake of Allah. Our Islamic ummah was shocked to hear of the news of the death of a luminary of Islam, a heroic commander of the mujahideen and a lion of religious knowledge and jihad, a man of determination and guidance, a symbol of perseverance and resistance and a paragon of sacrifice and giving. We speak of the scholar, the mujahid, the steadfast speaker of truth Sheikh ‘Omar ‘Abd Al Rahman, may Allah the Almighty accept him. He passed away in his American prison cell after suffering oppression and various types of physical and mental torture for a quarter of a century … Therefore, we convey condolences to ourselves, to our entire Muslim ummah, and especially to the sheikh’s family for this terrible tragedy. The heart grieves and the eye weeps …”
"Our Muslim ummah … This exemplary scholar who led the ranks of the ummah, filled the vacuum and plugged the breach has passed away … The commander, the mujahid, is gone,” the two groups said. “When the paths seemed murky, he took the path of Allah … This self-denying worshipper passed away after exposing, with his steadfastness, the falseness of America’s slogans of ‘freedom’ and after demolishing, with his perseverance, America’s pretexts of [defending] ‘civil rights’ … Because the tyrannical America stole his freedom and upset the lives of his loved ones as they tasted the bitterness of his absence, Allah will, thanks to him, strengthen the hearts of the entire ummah after [his death] …"
AQAP and AQIM said, "We call upon the sons of Islam and its honorable knights, although they did not succeed in releasing the sheikh from his prison, to strive to carry out his will and build from his blood a lighthouse that will show the generations [to come] how to exact the harshest and most violent vengeance upon the sheikh’s oppressors and jailors. This is the least you can do for the sake of Islamic brotherhood and glory [and] for the Muslim’s honor. [It is your duty to show] courage for the sake of our scholars and leaders who were true to what they promised Allah and did not make any alteration to the terms of their commitment."
