Anwar al-Awlaki’s Post-Mortem Presence on Urdu Jihadi Forums

On September 30, 2011 Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born propagandist for al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula, was killed in an airstrike approximately 90 miles outside of Yemen’s capital Sana’a. Awlaki’s death is considered a significant blow to al-Qa`ida because it eliminated a charismatic communicator who used his conversational English and fluent Arabic to preach al-Qa`ida’s violent extremist ideology to English-speaking audiences (Jihadica has a list of sources that provide varying views on the impact of Awlaki’s death here).

However, Awlaki’s influence was not limited to Arabic- and English-speaking audiences. Specifically, several of his statements and written works have been translated into Urdu over the years. Following his death, users on two separate Urdu-language jihadi forums, the Jamia Hafsa Urdu Forum and the Ahl-e-Sunnat Forum, posted a nearly 300-page compilation of Awlaki’s work in Urdu. The posted document contains 14 bookmarks with selected titles below:

• 44 Methods of Jihad
• Call to Jihad
• Allah, Prepare Us (Muslims) for Victory
• Constants on the Path of Jihad
• The Battle of Hearts and Minds
• Ways of Establishing Khilafah
• Suicide or Martyrdom?

Here are some images from the compilation of Awlaki’s work in Urdu:

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