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Does al-Qaeda permit Qat?

One really never knows what one will find cruising around the jihadi forums. The other day I came across a pretty interesting thread asking who was the true Amir al-Mu’minin. Earlier today it seemed like most were waiting for some sort of statement of responsibility from al-Qaeda about the latest two suicide attacks.

But, now one poster, is asking for al-Qaeda’s position on qat. Who knows maybe Sada al-Malahim will see fit to answer this in their new fatwa section.

The poster seems concerned that the suicide bomber in Shibam was reportedly chewing qat, which is banned in Saudi Arabia but wide-spread in Yemen. In fact, the only two groups that really oppose it in Yemen are the Islamists (at least a particular brand of Islamists) and the modernists. As an avid and dedicated chewer myself, I’m a bit biased.

But I’ll be interested to see how the thread develops. Outside groups have had little luck attempting to get Yemenis to give up their qat, and I can’t imagine al-Qaeda will be any different. After all: qat qut al-sallahin. We can only hope that al-Qaeda will come down against qat, talking about creating fissures and schisms within the organization.


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