New Fatwa Encourages Wide Dissemination of Instructional Material on How to Build Explosives, Aid Mujahideen Everywhere

On April 21 the Salafi-jihadist website Minbar Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad posted a fatwa encouraging the dissemination of training material on the manufacture of explosives. While such a fatwa issued by jihadists is perhaps not surprising, it is still worth noting in light of the homemade pressure-cooker explosives used in the Boston Marathon attacks.

The fatwa, issued by Sheikh Abu Mundhir Al-Shinqiti, was made after an alleged al-Qaeda member asked if he was allowed to disseminate such training information via online jihadist forums, according to MEMRI.

The concern for the alleged al Qaeda member was that the expertise could fall into the wrong hands. This does not mean to say he was concerned about the carnage that would ensue from training others on a broad-scale about the manufacture of explosives, but rather that "undesirables," -- i.e. Shi'ites -- could benefit from the material.

It should be noted that Sunni Islam and its sects Wahhabism and Salafism (often considered interchangeable by some) looks down on Shi'ia Islam.

Al-Shinqiti did not seem to mind, however, and responded by encouraging his al-Qaeda follower to feel free to share knowledge on how to build explosives across online forums so that the "mujahideen and their supporters everywhere can benefit from it."

More disturbing still, according to to MEMRI, the Minbar Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad website is hosted by a Secaucus, New Jersey-based company called Interserver.net.

Below is a transcription of the jihadist-discussion thread. Translations provided by MEMR:

Al-Dalimi (al Qaeda member): Is It Permissible To Distribute [Computer] Files On The Manufacture Of Explosives "On The Brothers' Forums?"

"Is it permissible to distribute [computer] files on the manufacture of explosives and other [types of] weapons on the brothers' forums [i.e. jihadi forums], since there are brothers who seek them for [the purpose of] jihad, and I have files [that] I don't think other brothers have? However, the problem is that every so often I see the files on manufacturing explosives and other types of weapons that are distributed by [other] brothers [republished] on the rafida [i.e. Shi'ite] forums…"

Al-Shinquiti (cleric): The Benefit Of Such Information Being Public Outweighs The Risk That It Will Be Used By Undesirables – i.e. Shi'ites

In response, Al-Shinqiti states that the benefit of distributing such important information publicly outweighs the risk that it will be accessed and used by undesirable (i.e. Shi'ite) recipients: "As [for the] files [of content on] manufacturing explosives, then trust Allah, and do not hesitate to publish them [directly] over the jihadi forums, so that the mujahideen and their supporters everywhere may benefit from them."

He added, "[Other] brothers should not be asked to not publish those [types of] files [openly on the forums]; instead, they should be urged to do so, and to distribute them among the young men, while [understanding that] publishing them over private [channels] will not [make them accessible to the] public, and [as a result will] not be beneficial [to others]…"

As TheBlaze noted in its extensive profile of the Wahhabist-influence in Chechnya, the dissemination of jihadist training material is a cornerstone of the ultra-conservative sect of Islam.