August 23, 1996 Hindukush Mountains, Khurasan, Afghanistan
By Usama Bin Laden

raise be to Allah, we seek His help and ask for his pardon. We take refuge in Allah from our wrongs and bad deeds. Who ever is guided by Allah will not be misled, and who ever has been misled, he will never be guided. I bear witness that there is no God except Allah, no associates with Him and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger.

"O, you who believe! Be careful of your duty to Allah with the proper care which is due to Him, and do not die unless you are Muslim." (Imraan; 3:102) "O people be careful of your duty to your Lord, who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same kind and spread from these two, many men and women; and be careful of your duty to Allah, by whom you demand one of another your rights, and (be careful) of the ties of kinship; surely Allah ever watches over you." (AnNisa; 4:1) "O you who believe! Be careful of your duty to Allah and speak the right word; He will put your deeds into a right state for you, and forgive you your faults; and who ever obeys Allah and his Apostle, he indeed achieves a mighty success." (AlAhzab; 33:7071)

Praise be to Allah, reporting the saying of the prophet Shu'aib "I desire nothing but reform so far as I am able, and with none but Allah is the direction of my affair to the right and successful path; on Him do I rely and to Him do I turn." (Hud; 11:88) Praise be to Allah, saying, "You are the best of the nations raised up for the benefit of men; you enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong and believe in Allah." (AalImraan; 3:110)

Allah's blessing and salutations on His slave and messenger who said "The people are close to an all encompassing punishment from Allah if they see the oppressor and fail to restrain him."

It should not be hidden from you that the people of Islam had suffered from aggression, iniquity and injustice imposed on them by the Zionist Crusaders alliance and their collaborators, to the extent that the Muslim's blood became the cheapest and their wealth as loot in the hands of the enemies. Their blood was spilled in Palestine and Iraq. The horrifying pictures of the massacre of Qana, in Lebanon are still fresh in our memory. Massacres in Tajikistan, Burma, Kashmir, Assam, the Philippines, Fatani, Ogadin, Somalia, Erithria, Chechnya and Bosnia Herzegovina took place - massacres that send shivers in the body and shake the conscience.

All of this and the world watched and heard, and not only didn't respond to these atrocities, but a clear conspiracy developed between the USA and its' allies under the cover of the iniquitous United Nations and the dispossessed people were even prevented from obtaining arms to defend themselves.

The people of Islam awakened and realized that they are the main targets for the aggression of the Zionist Crusaders alliance. All false claims and propaganda about "Human Rights" were hammered down and exposed by the massacres that took place against the Muslims in every part of the world. The latest and the greatest of these aggressions, incurred by the Muslims since the death of the Prophet (Allah's Blessing And Salutations On Him) is the occupation of the land of the two Holy Places - the foundation of the house of Islam, the place of the Revelation, the source of the message and the place of the noble Ka'ba, the Qiblah of all Muslims is by the armies of the American Crusaders and their allies. We bemoan this and can only say "No power and power acquiring except through Allah".

Under the present circumstances, and under the banner of the blessed awakening which is sweeping the world in general and the Islamic world in particular, I meet with you today. And after a long absence, imposed on the scholars (Ulama) and callers (Da'ees) of Islam by the iniquitous Crusaders movement under the leadership of the USA; who fears that they, the scholars and callers of Islam, will instigate the Ummah of Islam against its' enemies as their ancestor scholars (May Allah be pleased with them like Ibn Taymiyyah and Al'iz Ibn Abdes Salaam) did. Therefore the Zionist Crusader alliance resorted to killing and arresting the truthful Ulama and the working Da'ees. We are not praising or sanctifying them; Allah sanctifies whom He pleases.

They killed the Mujahid Sheikh Abdullah Azzaam, they arrested the Mujahid Sheikh Ahmad Yaseen and the Mujahid Sheikh Omar Abdur Rahman (in America).

By orders from the USA they also arrested a large number of scholars, Da'ees and young people in the land of the two Holy Places, among them the prominent Sheikh Salman AlOud'a and Sheikh Safar AlHawali and their brothers. We bemoan this and can only say: "No power and power acquiring except through Allah".

We (my group, and myself) have suffered some of this injustice ourselves; we have been prevented from addressing the Muslims. We have been pursued in Pakistan, Sudan and Afghanistan, hence this long absence on my part. But by the Grace of Allah, a safe base is now available in the high Hindukush mountains in Khurasan; where by the Grace of Allah the largest infidel military force of the world was destroyed. And the myth of the super power was withered in front of the Mujahideen cries of Allahu Akbar (God Is Greater).

Today we work from the same mountains to lift the iniquity that had been imposed on the Ummah by the Zionist Crusader alliance, particularly after they have occupied the blessed land around Jerusalem, route of the journey of the Prophet (Allah's Blessing And Salutations On Him) and the land of the two Holy Places. We ask Allah to bestow us with victory, He is our Patron and He is the Most Capable. From here, today we begin the work, talking and discussing the ways of correcting what had happened to the Islamic world in general, and the Land of the two Holy Places in particular. We wish to study the means that we could follow to return the situation to its' normal path and return to the people their own rights, particularly after the large damages and the great aggression on the life and the religion of the people.