In the name of Allah the merciful the forgiver,

[This is the] Will of a poor man to his god in the highest, Osama bin Mohammad bin Ladin,

Thanks be to Allah, and peace and prayers over the messenger of Allah, his family and all his companions. We implore his justice and guidance and call on him for assistance from our evil and ill deeds. He whom Allah guides, none can lead astray and he whom Allah leads astray, has no guide. And I testify that there is no god be he alone, ascribe no partners to him and I testify that Mohammad is his slave and messenger. We beg him in the highest to accept us in martyrdom along with the righteous of his worshipers and to perish us as Muslims.

Allah had commanded us that in case death approached to leave a will for both parents, relatives and all Muslims […] and whatever saddens them, saddens me and Allah attests to what I am saying.

Allah attests that the love for Jihad and death in the cause of Allah has taken over my life and the Sword Verses have penetrated every cell of my heart, “and kill all the polytheists [infidels] as they fight all of you”. And how many times I wake from my sleep and find myself reciting this holy verse. If every Muslim would ask himself why did our Ummah reach to where she is [in a state of] humiliation and defeat, his instinctual response would be, because she has clung to the pleasures of life and tossed the book of Allah [Koran] behind its back and it is the only source that has the cure and success in the here and now and the hereafter. The Jews and Christians have tempted us with the pleasures of life and its cheap delights and they invaded us with their monitory values before invading us with their armies. And we were, like women, did not react, because the love for death in the cause of Allah has departed the hearts.

My spirit and the spirits of my Jihadi brothers have been pained when we saw that our Ummah, from East to West, was watching America parcel out the worst of pain over the weak ones, from men, women and children, and the Ummah watches the bloody sight as one who watches a movie for entertainment. The worst of afflictions that besiege our Ummah is the fear of death in the cause of Allah. The [Koranic] verse has been reversed and we saw the cowardly Crusaders [Christians] and the lowly Jews become steadfast in their fighting with us and the soldiers of our Ummah raise the white flag and surrender to their enemies. Even the students of the religion [i.e Taliban = students of Islam] but a small minority stayed in the fight, while the rest surrendered or escaped before confronting the enemy. Today, the Ummah sat on our victory and the victory of the students of religion [Taliban] who established the first Islamic sharia’h compliant nation in Afghanistan. And it is sufficient to show America’s hatred for the Taliban and their fundamental laws. It is through allying with its agents in the Northern Alliance and other nations, who have enlisted their soldiers and intelligence agencies in the service of America, Brittan and the infidel West. The fundamental laws that were established by the Taliban [Students of Islam] were abolished, so she [America] abolished the veil [Hijab], beard growing and she returned the habits of emulating the blasphemers [infidels]. The Muslim scholars that guide the Ummah upon the evil path and our affliction today are those the scholars of the Ummah that have disavowed their message of guiding the Ummah, their misguidance has reached a degree that a Muslim would not believe. They [infidels] came to Afghanistan to prevent its [Muslim] scholars from destroying the pagan Buddhist [statues], however the venerated Taliban scholars repelled them and disparaged them. And the excuse of a Sheik and his companions was necessary to appease the Jews and Christians and their general opinion and they forgot Allah’s verse, “The Jews and the Christians will not be pleased with you until you follow their faith”.

These Muslim scholars betrayed their message in the service of the Ummah and its causes and allied themselves with its enemies and rejected its Jihadist path that dealt America its first historic defeat, it shall with Allah’s permission, be like the Mota raid that the messenger of Allah led and resulted in the extermination of their nation.

The third [in a series] of escalating attacks that America received, stopped New York and Washington, the first of which was the exploding of the Marines [barracks] in Lebanon and the second was exploding America’s embassy in Nairobi, from which the invasion of Somalia was launched; where 32 thousand of our brothers were killed under the banner of the UN. Despite the disaster that Allah afflicted us with, this region will lead to the extermination of America and the infidel West even after tens of years.

So, youths of the Ummah: guard death, and life shall be granted to you and listen to the few Muslim scholars who cling to jurisprudence/good judgment, segregate themselves away from the unbelievers and are faithful, animus towards those who are allied with the enemies of the Ummah who took humanity’s basal mindset, habits and perversions of the Jahiliah [time of ignorance aka pre-Islamic era] such as borrowing from banks that charge interest and disciplinary [secular] laws, relations and secular insurance and the permission of establishing political parties, and women organizations and humanitarian committees all of which are rejected “innovations” by [several] groups of Salafi scholars.

Oh Muslim scholars: today, you are a small minority. I know you by name and I read your articles and Fatwas [religious edicts]; however, I do not want to mention you by name so that I would not provide the enemies of Allah a list which they will search for and harm you during these stressful days upon us.

Oh women: beware becoming arrogant and emulating the debauchery of the West and its masculine women. Be schools for graduating men and Jihadists in the cause of Allah and guard your honor and there will be for you good recompense in the mothers of the believers.

Oh wives: may Allah grant you good tidings on my behalf. You were to me after Allah righteous backers and a specific blessing from day one. You knew that the road was planted with thorns and landmines. You left the blessings of your parents and chose to be by my side in modest living. You were ascetic with me, so, become more ascetic after me. And do not think of marrying in order to better care after our children and sacrifice and pray for them.
As for you may children: forgive me for not giving you but little of my time since I answered the call of Jihad. I carried the burden of the Muslims and the burden of their causes. I chose a path that is rife with dangers and I took unto myself the burden of toil, difficulties, treachery, betrayal and if it were not for betrayal, our condition today would have the best and likewise for wealth. I will you to obey Allah. That is the most precious commodity in life. I will you not to work in Al Qaida or the [Jihadist] front, just as our master Omar Bin Al Khatab [second Caliph] willed his son Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with them both. [Omar] forbade his son from succeeding him as caliph, “be it a good omen or not, Omar shall not benefit from it”.

My final advice is to all the Mujahideen where ever they maybe: reconstitute yourselves and do not forget until fight the Jews and the Christians and attend to purifying your ranks of the agents, lazy and scholars of evil who collaborate against the Jihad and hold the Ummah back.

Your brother, Abu Adbullah Osama bin Mohammad bin Ladin

Friday, 12/14/2001