Hamid bin Abdallah al-Ali

Hamid bin Abdallah al-Ali (born 1960) has been described as "an influential Salafi cleric" based in Kuwait, whom the U.S. Treasury department has described as "an Al Qaeda facilitator and fundraiser."

However, following the release of Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif's anti-terrorist manifesto Rationalizing Jihad in Egypt and the World, he is reported to have "declared on a Web site that he welcomed the rejection of violence as a means of fostering change in the Arab world".

Background

Born in 1960, al-Ali is married with five children. He was a primary education teacher in Kuwait, where he taught Islamic studies. He studied Sharia at the Islamic University of Madinah from 1979 until 1988, receiving a Masters degree in Tafsir and Quranic studies.

After returning to Kuwait, al-Ali served as a professor of Islamic studies at Kuwait University for several years. He rose to the position of general secretary of al-Harakat al-Salafiyya fil-Kuwait (The Salafi Movement of Kuwait) by 1991, a position he maintained until 1999.

He was arrested and received a suspended sentence after published fatwas declaring Kuwait and other governments kuffar (unbelievers) and thus lawful targets for the mujahideen — for supporting non-Islamic countries' aggression against the Muslim world.

Months before the 9/11 attack, al-Ali issued a fatwa authorizing the flying of aircraft into targets during suicide operations, leading some to characterize his fatwas as linked to Al Qaeda actions.

On Iraq, al-Ali drew a distinction between all Iraqi Shia and those who actively support and assist Iran, with dialogue between Salafis and the former being acceptable, but not with the latter.

See also

• Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif