Third Point : A Manhaj (Methodology) that runs behind the majority
Adnani claimed that one of the deviations from Al Qaida of Usama by Al Qaida of Ayman is that they run behind the majority! And he said in the statement "This was never our methodology nor will it ever be" while mentioning the matters in which Al Qaida has deviated, "but the matter is that of a twisted religion and a deviated path, a path which runs behind the majority!" (1)
We will review a number of statements of the leaders of Al Qaida during the time of Sheikh Ayman regarding the issue of majority -
Dr, Ayman Al Zawahiri says,
"There are major issues without which I do not consider the Islamic movement to be Islamic. And from amongst these issues are: Eagerness to make the Shareeah the source of judgement and for it to be above the constitution and laws and the whims of the majority. In fact, the military defeat of the Khilafa state which was beginning to get devoured in parts and then eliminated after the first world war, has left in us psychological defeat alongside the military defeat which made us seek the Shareeah through the means of the enemies of the Shareeah, and we would ask for the implementation of the Shareeah through the implementation of what is other than the Shareeah, and we would seek for the Shareeah through the sovereignty of the whims of the majority, just like the one who asks for banning alcohol by embracing Christianity. So is this a logical manner?!" (2)
And he also says,
"This state will never be established until we rule by the Shareeah in our countries, until it becomes the judge and not the one being judged, and until it rises above all legitimacy and transcends all source of references. We must work to establish the state that has the divine system which discards secularism and judging based on the whims of the majority ... . And then is the call to unite the Islamic movements towards one comprehensive common goal: Firstly: Making the Islamic Shareeah to be the source of judgement and refusing to make the principles, beliefs and laws other than it to be the source of judgement, disregarding the rule of the people which grants sovereignty to the people". (3)
He also said:
(1) The term majority can have two meanings. The first is that it becomes the absolute criteria in judging over matters. This is rejected in our Shareeah due to Allah saying "It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger, to have any option about their decision". (33:36) That is, the matters over which Allah issues a clear judgement are not matters for which we can choose and ask whether to accept or not. Instead, we accept them immediately. And the second meaning is majority in matters for which there is no clear text in the Quran and the Sunnah. And this has occurred in the history of the Khulafa ur-Rashideen (the righteous Khalifas). And there is no text specifying the method of appointing the Muslim ruler. The third Khalifa Uthman bin Affan took over the Khilafa when the elders of the people gave preference to him over Ali bin Abi Thaalib. And it is clear here that Al Qaida rejects majority when it is in the first meaning which it was accused of following. It is synonymous in meaning to democracy (the rule of the majority or the rule of the public).
(2) The speech entitled "Liberation from the circle of futility and failure"
(3) Speech entitled "The sun of victory rising over the victorious Ummah and the defeated crusaders".