Wathiqat Tarshid Al-‘Aml Al-Jihadi fi Misr w’Al-‘Alam
(Document to Rationalizing Jihadi Action in Egypt and the World)
By Sayyed Imam al-Sharif
Kuwait City: Al-Jarida, Cairo:
Al-Masri Al-Yawm, 2007 (in Arabic)

In 1988, the war being waged by the mujahideen against invading Soviet forces in Afghanistan was at its peak. Looking for inspiration for their struggle, the Muslim fighters needed an intellectual foundation and a practical guide for their endeavor. So 38-year-old Egyptian doctor Sayyed Imam al-Sharif filled the void, publishing his first book, The Faithful Guide for Preparation. As head of Egyptian Jihad, a group that had been distinguished by militant jihadi thought and tactical violence since its inception, al-Sharif was concerned with the proper philosophical and religious underpinnings for conducting holy war. And he was well placed to offer advice: Among the jihadists in Afghanistan and Pakistan at the time, he was the most deeply versed in Islamic law and theology. The book became the first of its kind to lay a systematic foundation, with roots in Islamic law, for the work in which the mujahideen were engaged. Its impact was huge: Even today, it remains a seminal text for new recruits to various jihadi groups around the world, including al Qaeda. The book cemented al-Sharif’s status as one of the most prominent ideologues of the global jihadi movement.

Five years later, al-Sharif followed it up with The Compendium in Pursuit of Noble Knowledge—a massive, 1,100-page work that reflected the author’s militancy and zealotry. It is no exaggeration to say that it established the theoretical, doctrinal, and legal foundation of the jihadi movement, not...