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(1988–2011)\n* Ayman al-Zawahiri{{Assassinated|Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri}}<br />(2011–2022)\n* Saif al-Adel<br />(''de facto''; 2022–present)\n}}"},"founding_leader":{"wt":""},"military_leader":{"wt":""},"political_leader":{"wt":""},"spokesperson":{"wt":""},"founded":{"wt":""},"dates_active":{"wt":"{{nowrap|August 11, 1988 – present}}"},"dissolved":{"wt":""},"merger":{"wt":""},"split_from":{"wt":""},"merged_into":{"wt":""},"split_to":{"wt":""},"country":{"wt":""},"allegiance":{"wt":"{{flagicon|Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan|}} Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58473574%7Ctitle=\nAfghanistan: The pledge binding al-Qaeda to the Taliban|author=Driss El-Bay|website=BBC|date=21 September 2021|access-date=21 September 2021|archive-date=February 5, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205102205/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58473574%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title = al-Qaida in Afghanistan | first= Anne | last = Stenersen | isbn= 978-1-107-07513-9 | year = 2017 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | pages = 93–95}}</ref>"},"clans":{"wt":"{{Collapsible list |title={{Nbsp}} | {{Plainlist|\n'''Groups:'''\n* {{flagicon image|Flag of Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin.svg}} JNIM\n* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} AQAP\n* {{flagicon image|AQMI Flag.svg}} AQIM\n* {{flagicon image|ShabaabFlag.svg}} Al-Shabaab\n* {{flagicon image|Flag of AQIS.svg}} AQIS\n* {{flagicon image|Flag of Ansaru.svg}} Ansaru\n----\n'''Former groups:'''\n* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} AQBH<br />(until 2002)\n* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Jihad.svg}} Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades<br />(until 2005)\n* {{flagicon image|Flag of al-Qaeda in Iraq.svg}} AQI<br />(2004–2006)\n* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} AQY<br />(until 2009)\n* {{Flagicon image|Flag_of_Jihad.svg}} AQBH<br />(until 2009)\n* {{Flagicon image|Flag of al-Qaeda's Kurdish Brigades.jpg}} AQKB<br />(until 2010)\n* {{Flagicon image|Flag_of_Jihad.svg}} Tawhid al-Jihad (Gaza Strip)<br />(until 2012)\n* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} Abdullah Azzam Brigades (until 2015)\n* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} Ansar al-Sharia (Mali) (until 2016)\n* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Ansar al sharia.jpg}} Ansar al-Sharia (Libya) (until 2017)\n* {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Al-Nusra Front.svg}} Al-Nusra Front (2012–2017)\n* {{Flagicon image|Flag_of_Jihad.svg}} Khorasan (until 2017)\n* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Ansar al sharia.jpg}} Ansar al-Sharia (Derna, Libya) (until 2018)\n* {{Flagicon image|Flag_of_Jihad.svg}} AQSP (until 2018)\n* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} Ansar al-Sharia (Egypt) (until 2018)\n* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} Ansar al-Sharia (Mauritania) (until 2019)\n* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} Imam Shamil Battalion<br />(until 2019)\n* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} Ansar al-Sharia (Tunisia)<br />(until 2022)\n* {{Flagicon|Islamic State}} AQMA <br />(until 2024)\n* {{flagicon image|Flag of Tanzim Hurras al-Din.svg}} Hurras al-Din<br />(until 2025)\n}}\n| area = Worldwide<br />{{nowrap|'''Current territorial control:'''}}<br />Mali, Somalia,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.polgeonow.com/2013/05/somalia-war-map-al-shabaab-2013.html%7Ctitle=War in Somalia: Map of Al Shabaab Control (June 2013)|date=May 31, 2013|access-date=August 18, 2014|publisher=Political Geography Now|first1=Evan|last1=Centanni|archive-date=August 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090518/http://www.polgeonow.com/2013/05/somalia-war-map-al-shabaab-2013.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref> Yemen<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/aden-intellgence-service-building-targeted-1.1570990%7Ctitle=Aden intelligence service building targeted|date=August 22, 2015|access-date=August 22, 2015|agency=Agence France-Presse|work=Gulf News|archive-date=August 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822162635/http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/aden-intellgence-service-building-targeted-1.1570990%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>\n}}"},"headquarters":{"wt":""},"newspaper":{"wt":""},"active_regions":{"wt":""},"ideology":{"wt":"{{ubl|class=nowrap|\n| Sunni Islamism{{refn|name=Sunni Islamism|<ref name=gallagher14 /><ref name=\"Bokhari-Senzai 2013\">{{cite book|editor1-last=Bokhari|editor1-first=Kamran|editor2-last=Senzai|editor2-first=Farid|year=2013|chapter=Rejector Islamists: al-Qaeda and Transnational Jihadism|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ThiuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101%7Ctitle=Political Islam in the Age of Democratization|location=New York|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|pages=101–118|doi=10.1057/9781137313492_6|isbn=978-1-137-31349-2}}</ref><ref name=\"Moussalli 2012\">{{cite book|author-last=Moussalli|author-first=Ahmad S.|year=2012|chapter=Sayyid Qutb: Founder of Radical Islamic Political Ideology|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D-LfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA24%7Ceditor-last=Akbarzadeh%7Ceditor-first=Shahram%7Ctitle=Routledge Handbook of Political Islam|location=London and New York|publisher=Routledge|edition=1st|pages=24–26|isbn=978-1-138-57782-4|lccn=2011025970|access-date=October 25, 2021|archive-date=January 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111173503/https://books.google.com/books?id=D-LfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA24%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref name=MESR>{{cite book|last=O'Bagy|first=Elizabeth|title=Middle East Security Report: al-Qaeda Sunni Islamist Rebels – Jihad in Syria|page=27|volume=6|url=http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Jihad-In-Syria-17SEPT.pdf%7Cyear=2012%7Clocation=Washington, D.C.|access-date=September 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327163800/http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Jihad-In-Syria-17SEPT.pdf%7Carchive-date=March 27, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}\n| Pan-Islamism<ref>{{cite book|title=US Counter-Terrorism Strategy and al-Qaeda|first1=Joshua|last1=A. Geltzer|year=2010|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-203-87023-5|chapter=4: The al-Qaeda world-view|pages=83, 84}}</ref><ref name=Atwan />{{sfn|Gunaratna|2002|loc=''Introduction'', pp. 12, 87}}\n| Qutbism{{refn|name=Qutbism|<ref name=\"Moussalli 2012\"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Aydınlı|first=Ersel|year=2018|title=Violent Non-State Actors: From Anarchists to Jihadists|chapter=The Jihadists pre-9/11|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hq1TDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA66%7Clocation=London and New York|publisher=Routledge|edition=1st|series=Routledge Studies on Challenges, Crises, and Dissent in World Politics|page=66|isbn=978-1-315-56139-4|lccn=2015050373}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Wright|2006|p=79}}</ref><ref name=gallagher14>{{harvnb|Gallagher|Willsky-Ciollo|2021|p=14}}</ref>}}\n| Muslim unity<ref>{{cite book|title=US Counter-Terrorism Strategy and al-Qaeda|first1=Joshua|last1=A. Geltzer|year=2010|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-203-87023-5|quote=al-Qaeda's 'pan-Islamic ideology' seeks to unify the umma not only by emphasising Islam over nationalism but also by specifically calling for unity among all Muslims, including the often hostile Sunnis and Shiites... 'For an organization led by a Sunni fundamentalist' to 'make common cause with Shiite terrorists', and then with potential Shiite supporters more broadly, was considered 'extraordinary'—yet doing so was central to al-Qaeda's vision of Islamic unity against America.|chapter=4: The al-Qaeda world view|pages=83, 84}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement|first1=Daniel|last1=Byman|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2015|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-021725-9|page=53|chapter=3: Strategy and Tactics}}</ref>{{sfn|Gunaratna|2002|p=87}}\n| Jihadism<ref>{{cite book|title=Jihadism in Pakistan|publisher=I.B. Tauris|first1=Antonio|last1=Giustozzi|isbn=978-0-7556-4735-4|location=New York|chapter=2: The strategies of global jihadists in Pakistan after 2001|pages=27–52|year=2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=al-Qaeda's Post-9/11 Devolution|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|first1=Anthony|last1=Celso|isbn=978-1-4411-5589-4|location=New York|chapter=1: al-Qaeda's Jihadist Worldview|pages=15–29|year=2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=al-Qaeda 2.0|publisher=Oxford University Press|first1=Donald|last1=Holbrook|isbn=9780190856441|location=New York|pages=viii, 2, 3|year=2017}}</ref>\n| Sunni–Shia alliance<ref name=\"Nabil\">{{Cite web|last=Nabil|first=Rahmatullah|title=Iran, al-Qaeda and the Taliban; Close Relations between Shiite and Sunni Fundamentalists: A Strategic Move or a Matter of Expediency?|url=https://aissonline.org/en/main-features/7%7Carchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619143538/https://aissonline.org/en/main-features/7%7Carchive-date=June 19, 2023|website=Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies|quote=Ayman Al-Zawahiri became the leader of al-Qaeda—a leader who was \"in favour of\" forging an alliance between the Shia and the Sunni against their common enemy al-Qaeda developed deeper relations with the IRGC.}}\n* {{Cite web|last=Aly Sergie|first=Mohammed|date=April 27, 2023|title=The Sunni-Shia Divide|url=https://www.cfr.org/article/sunni-shia-divide%7Carchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610093711/https://www.cfr.org/article/sunni-shia-divide%7Carchive-date=June 10, 2023|website=Council on Foreign Relations|quote=Sunni al-Qaeda and Shia Hezbollah, have not defined their movements in sectarian terms, and have favored using anti-imperialist, anti-Zionist, and anti-American frameworks to define their jihad, or struggle.}}\n* {{Cite web|last=Lupsha|first=Jonny|date=December 8, 2022|title=What Is the Islamic State?|url=https://www.wondriumdaily.com/what-is-the-islamic-state/%7Carchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206201200/https://www.wondriumdaily.com/what-is-the-islamic-state/%7Carchive-date=February 6, 2023|website=Wondrium Daily|quote=Bin Laden, a Sunni Muslim, saw cooperation between Islam's two sects—Sunni and Shia—as essential to al-Qaeda's success.}}</ref><ref name=\"Devji 2005 53\">{{Cite book|last=Devji|first=Faisal|title=Landscapes of the Jihad: Militancy, Morality, Modernity|publisher=Hurst & Co.|year=2005|isbn=1-85065-775-0|location=London|pages=53|quote=al-Qaeda leaders like Osama Bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri have never been known either to preach or practice anti-Shia politics, indeed the opposite, with Bin Laden repeatedly urging Muslims to ignore internal differences and even appearing to uphold the religious credentials of Shiite Iran by comparing the longed-for-ouster of the Saudi monarch to the expulsion of the Shah}}\n* {{Cite news|date=September 20, 2001|title=The spider in the web|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/special-report/2001/09/20/the-spider-in-the-web%7Carchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606223655/https://www.economist.com/special-report/2001/09/20/the-spider-in-the-web%7Carchive-date=June 6, 2023|quote=[Bin Laden] has insisted that differences within the Islamic world should be set aside for the sake of the broader struggle against western and Jewish interests. American officials say there is clear evidence of tactical co-operation between his organisation, al-Qaeda, the government of Iran, and Iran's proxies in Lebanon, the Hizbullah group. From the early 1990s, members of his group and its Egyptian allies were being sent to Lebanon to receive training from Hizbullah: an unusual example of Sunni-Shia co-operation in the broader anti-western struggle.}}\n* {{Cite book|last=al-Aloosy|first=Massaab|title=The changing ideology of Hezbollah|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2020|isbn=978-3-030-34846-5|page=79|quote=according to the 9/11 Commission Report, Hezbollah allowed al-Qaeda activists to train in their camps involved in terrorist attacks against the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in September 1998... Osama Bin Laden mentioned Hezbollah in a 2003 speech—or as he called them the resistance—in a positive light as the group that compelled the US marines to withdraw from Lebanon}}</ref>{{sfn|Gunaratna|2002|p=12}}\n| Islamic fundamentalism<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bergen |first=Peter L. |title=Holy war, Inc: inside the secret world of Osama bin Laden |date=2001 |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0-7432-0502-3 |location=New York |pages=70–71}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://my.telegraph.co.uk/riteman/riteway/16309030/al-qaeda-seeks-global-dominance/%7Ctitle=al-Qaeda seeks global dominance|location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112142751/http://my.telegraph.co.uk/riteman/riteway/16309030/al-qaeda-seeks-global-dominance/%7Carchive-date=January 12, 2012}}</ref>\n| Anti-Americanism<ref name=\"ict.org.il\">{{cite web|url=http://www.ict.org.il/articles/fatwah.htm%7Ctitle=Text of Fatwah Urging Jihad Against Americans|access-date=May 15, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060422210853/http://www.ict.org.il/articles/fatwah.htm%7Carchive-date=April 22, 2006}}</ref>\n| Anti-imperialism<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lawrence|first=Bruce|date=2005|title=Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden|url=https://www.versobooks.com/books/32-messages-to-the-world%7Carchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408194547/https://www.versobooks.com/books/32-messages-to-the-world%7Carchive-date=April 8, 2022|publisher=Verso|isbn=9781844670451}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Borowski|first=Audrey|year=2015|title=Al Qaeda and ISIS: From Revolution to Apocalypse|url=https://philosophynow.org/issues/111/Al_Qaeda_and_ISIS_From_Revolution_to_Apocalypse%7Carchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526012524/https://philosophynow.org/issues/111/Al_Qaeda_and_ISIS_From_Revolution_to_Apocalypse%7Carchive-date=May 26, 2022|website=Philosophy Now}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Geltzer|first1=Joshua A.|title=US Counter-Terrorism Strategy and al-Qaeda: Signalling and the Terrorist World-View|date=2011|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-66452-3|page=84|edition=Reprint}}</ref>\n| Antisemitism{{refn|name=Antisemitism|<ref name=\"Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders\" /><ref name=Time1999 /><ref name=Letter2002>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver%7Carchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826184301/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver%7Curl-status=dead%7Carchive-date=August 26, 2013|title=Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America'|work=The Observer|date=August 26, 2013}}</ref><ref name=May1998>{{cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html%7Carchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990508145341/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html%7Ctitle=frontline: the terrorist and the superpower: who is bin laden?: interview with osama bin laden (in May 1998)|newspaper=Frontline|archive-date=May 8, 1999|publisher=PBS}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adl.org/blog/new-isis-and-al-qaeda-propaganda-prioritize-the-us-and-jews-as-targets%7Ctitle=New ISIS and al-Qaeda propaganda prioritize the US and Jews as targets|website=Anti-Defamation League|access-date=August 28, 2017|archive-date=August 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823160548/https://www.adl.org/blog/new-isis-and-al-qaeda-propaganda-prioritize-the-us-and-jews-as-targets%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref name=\"Voice of America\">{{cite web|title=Al-Qaeda's Urges Muslims to Shun World Cup, Stops Short of Threats|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/al-qaida-urges-muslims-to-shun-world-cup-stops-short-of-threats-/6842183.html%7Cpublisher=Voice of America|date=November 19, 2022|quote=Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the militant group's Yemen-based branch, criticized Qatar for 'bringing immoral people, homosexuals, sowers of corruption and atheism into the Arabian Peninsula' and said the event served to divert attention from the 'occupation of Muslim countries and their oppression.'|access-date=November 20, 2022|archive-date=November 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120190659/https://www.voanews.com/a/al-qaida-urges-muslims-to-shun-world-cup-stops-short-of-threats-/6842183.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>}}\n| Anti-Zionism<ref name=Time1999>{{cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,17676,00.html%7Ctitle=Conversation with Terror|magazine=Time|date=January 1999|access-date=March 22, 2015|archive-date=February 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205200538/http://content.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,17676,00.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Letter2002/><ref name=\"Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders\">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm%7Ctitle=Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders|access-date=June 16, 2010|date=February 23, 1998|archive-date=April 21, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421110549/http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>\n| Anti-Sufism<ref>Sufis, Salafis, and the Religious Pacification of the African Sahel Retrieved July 13, 2026</ref>\n| '''Factions:'''\n| Ahl-i Hadith<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kiyici|first1=Hakan|title= al-Qaedaism in the Context of Civil War|isbn=978-1-66692-402-2|year=2024|publisher=Lexington Books|location=London |pages=147|quote=\"The Ahl-e Hadith (the people of the hadith) is the fourth doctrinal school for al-Qaedism.\"}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Abou Zahab|first=Mariam|title=Pakistan|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2020|isbn=9780197534595|location=New York|pages=113|chapter=6: Salafism in Pakistan: The Ahl-e Hadith Movement}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bennett|first=Clinton|title=Muslims and Modernity|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|year=2005|isbn=0-8264-5482-8|location=New York|pages=181, 182}}</ref>\n| Deobandism{{refn|name=Deobandism|<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kiyici|first1=Hakan|title= al-Qaedaism in the Context of Civil War|isbn=978-1-66692-402-2|year=2024|publisher=Lexington Books|location=London |pages=146, 147|quote=The idea of Deobandism is the third doctrinal school for al-Qaedaism. It became popular within northern India in response to reactions against British colonial and imperial power in the nineteenth century.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Inside al-Qaeda and the Taliban|first1=Syed Saleem|last1=Shahzad|year=2011|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|pages=202–205|chapter=8: The Theater of War}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Columbus|first1=Frank|title=Asian Economic and Political Issues Volume 10|isbn=1-59454-089-6|year=2004|publisher=Nova Science Publishers|location=|pages=159, 160|chapter=9: Kashmiri Separatists|first2=Kaia|last2=Leather}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Fischer|first1=Michael M. J.|title=Iran|isbn=0-299-18474-9|year=2003|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|location=London |page=xxii}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Haqqani|first=Hussain|year=2005|title=The Ideologies of South Asian Jihadi Groups|url=https://carnegie-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/files/Ideologies.pdf%7Cjournal=Current Trends in Islamist Ideology|volume=1|pages=13, 22|publisher=Hudson Institute|archive-date=July 3, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703124805/https://carnegie-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/files/Ideologies.pdf%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>}}\n| Deobandi jihadism<ref>Sources:\n* {{Cite book|last=Fair|first=C. Christine|title=Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army's Way of War|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-989270-9|location=New York|pages=249, 250}}\n* {{Cite book|last=Al Qurtuby|first=Sumanto|title=Terrorism and Counter-terrorism in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia|publisher=Springer Nature Singapore|year=2022|isbn=978-981-19-1336-5|location=Singapore |pages=217, 218}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Pakistan's Enduring Challenges|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-8122-4690-2|editor1-last=Fair|editor1-first=C. Christine|editor2-last=Watson|editor2-first=Sarah J.|location=Philadelphia|pages=4, 30, 33}}</ref><ref>Sources:\n* {{Cite book|last=Brown, Rassler|first=Vahid, Don|title=Fountainhead of Jihad: The Haqqani Nexus, 1973–2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-199-32798-0|location=New York|pages=3–14, 30, 37–39, 59–82|chapter=2: Birth of the Nexus: The Haqqani network, foreign Fighters and the origins of al-Qa'ida}}\n* {{Cite book|last=Moj|first=Muhammad|title=The Deoband Madrassah Movement|publisher=Anthem Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1-78308-388-6|location=New York|pages=198, 199}}\n* {{Cite web|last=Jamal|first=Arif|date=January 14, 2010|title=The Growth of the Deobandi Jihad in Afghanistan|url=https://jamestown.org/program/the-growth-of-the-deobandi-jihad-in-afghanistan/%7Carchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425023726/https://jamestown.org/program/the-growth-of-the-deobandi-jihad-in-afghanistan/%7Carchive-date=April 25, 2024|website=The Jamestown Foundation|access-date=September 6, 2024|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>\n| Salafi jihadism{{refn|name=Salafi jihadism|<ref name=\"Bokhari-Senzai 2013\" /><ref name=\"Moussalli 2012\" /><ref name=\"Moghadam\">{{cite book|last1=Moghadam|first1=Assaf|title=The Globalization of Martyrdom: Al Qaeda, Salafi Jihad, and the Diffusion of Suicide Attacks|year=2008|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-9055-0|page=48}}</ref><ref name=\"SalafistJidadism\">{{cite web|title=Special Reports – The Salafist Movement: Al Qaeda's New Front|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/sala.html%7Clast1=Livesey%7Cfirst1=Bruce%7Cauthor-link=Bruce Livesey (journalist)|work=PBS Frontline|publisher=WGBH|date=January 25, 2005|access-date=October 18, 2011|archive-date=June 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628202818/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/sala.html%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>}}\n| Takfirism<ref>al-Qaeda and Takfirism Retrieved 13/07/2026</ref>\n| Wahhabism<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ghanmi|first1=Elyès|last2=Punzet|first2=Agnieszka|date=June 11, 2013|title=The involvement of Salafism/Wahhabism in the support and supply of arms to rebel groups around the world|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2013/457137/EXPO-AFET_ET(2013)457137_EN.pdf%7Cjournal=European Parliament|access-date=October 8, 2021|archive-date=June 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624184433/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2013/457137/EXPO-AFET_ET(2013)457137_EN.pdf%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref name=\"The Hillary Doctrine\">{{cite book|last1=Hudson|first1=Valerie|title=The Hillary Doctrine|publisher=Columbia University|page=154|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j3apBgAAQBAJ&q=wahhabi+al+nusra&pg=PA154%7Caccess-date=January 15, 2016|isbn=978-0-231-53910-4|year=2015}}</ref>\n| Anti-Shi'ism (alleged)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/al-qaeda-v-isis-ideology-strategy%7Ctitle=Al Qaeda v ISIS: Ideology & Strategy|first=Cameron|last=Glenn|date=September 28, 2015|website=Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars|access-date=September 19, 2020|archive-date=July 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716095127/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/al-qaeda-v-isis-ideology-strategy%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref>Sources:\n* {{cite web|title=Making Sense of Iran and al-Qaeda's Relationship|date=March 21, 2021|url=https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/making-sense-iran-and-al-qaedas-relationship%7Cpublisher=The Lawfare Institute|access-date=May 10, 2021|archive-date=January 13, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113133918/https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/making-sense-iran-and-al-qaedas-relationship%7Curl-status=live}}\n* {{cite book|last1=Geltzer|first1=Joshua A.|title=US Counter-Terrorism Strategy and al-Qaeda: Signalling and the Terrorist World-View|date=2011|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-66452-3|pages=83, 84|edition=Reprint}}</ref><ref name=\"Nabil\"/><ref name=\"Devji 2005 53\"/>\n}}"},"size":{"wt":"{{Plainlist|\n* In Afghanistan: 400 (2023)<ref name=CFR2021/><ref>{{cite web|title=Terrorist Organizations|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/references/terrorist-organizations/%7Cpublisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=March 29, 2024|archive-date=January 27, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127103841/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/references/terrorist-organizations/%7Curl-status=dead}}</ref>\n* In the Maghreb: 1,000–5,000 (2015)<ref>{{cite web|title=Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)|url=http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations-and-networks/al-qaeda-islamic-maghreb-aqim/p12717%7Cwebsite=Council on Foreign Relations|date=March 27, 2015|access-date=July 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511122144/http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations-and-networks/al-qaeda-islamic-maghreb-aqim/p12717%7Carchive-date=May 11, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Profile: Al-Qaeda in North Africa|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17308138%7Cpublisher=BBC%7Cdate=January 17, 2013|access-date=July 2, 2015|archive-date=June 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606034058/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17308138%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>\n* In Yemen: 3,000 (2022)<ref name=Nordic2022>{{cite web|title=UN report indicates al-Qaeda and ISIS enjoy safe haven in Turkish-controlled Idlib|url=https://nordicmonitor.com/2022/02/the-un-report-indicates-al-qaeda-and-isis-enjoys-safe-haven-in-turkish-controlled-idlib/%7Cwebsite=Nordic Monitor|date=February 9, 2022|access-date=February 15, 2022|last=Bozkurt|first=Abdullah|archive-date=February 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215095304/https://nordicmonitor.com/2022/02/the-un-report-indicates-al-qaeda-and-isis-enjoys-safe-haven-in-turkish-controlled-idlib/%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>\n* In Somalia: 7,000–12,000 (2023)<ref>{{cite web|title=S/2023/95|url=https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=S%2F2023%2F95&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop&LangRequested=False%7Cwebsite=United Nations Security Council|access-date=February 15, 2023|archive-date=February 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225222740/https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=S%2F2023%2F95&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop&LangRequested=False%7Curl-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-15336689%7Ctitle=Who are Somalia's al-Shabab?|publisher=BBC News|date=December 22, 2017|access-date=June 9, 2018|archive-date=April 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403052911/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-15336689%7Curl-status=live}}</ref>\n}}"},"revenue":{"wt":""},"part_of":{"wt":""},"war":{"wt":"{{Collapsible list |title={{Nbsp}} |{{Plainlist|\n* War on terror\n* Afghan conflict\n* War in North-West Pakistan\n* Somali Civil War\n* Insurgency in the Maghreb\n* Iraq War\n* Iraqi insurgency\n* Yemeni civil war\n* Syrian civil war\n* other conflicts\n}}\n}}"},"website":{"wt":""},"preceded_by":{"wt":"Maktab al-Khidamat<br />Egyptian Islamic Jihad"},"succeeded_by":{"wt":""},"module":{"wt":""}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwDw">

Al-Qaeda is a transnational pan-Islamist militant organization led by Sunni Islamist jihadists who self-identify as a vanguard spearheading a global Islamist revolution to unite the Muslim world under a supra-national Islamic caliphate. Its core membership is primarily composed of Arabs, with additional representation from other ethnic groups. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets of the U.S. and its allies; such as the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, the USS Cole bombing, and the September 11 attacks. It has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations and over two dozen countries around the world.

The organization was founded in a series of meetings held in Peshawar during 1988, attended by Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, Osama bin Laden, Mohammed Atef, Ayman Al-Zawahiri and other veterans of the Soviet–Afghan War. Building upon the networks of Maktab Al-Khidamat, the founding members decided to create the organization to serve as a "vanguard" for jihad. When Iraqi forces invaded and occupied Kuwait in 1990, bin Laden offered to support Saudi Arabia by sending his mujahideen fighters. His offer was rebuffed by the Saudi government, which instead sought the aid of the United States. The stationing of U.S. troops in the Arabian Peninsula prompted bin Laden to declare a jihad against both the rulers of Saudi Arabia – whom he denounced as murtadd (apostates) – and against the US. From 1992, al-Qaeda established its headquarters in Sudan until it was expelled in 1996. It then shifted its base to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and later expanded to other parts of the world, primarily in the Middle East and South Asia. In 1996 and 1998, bin Laden issued two fatwās that demanded the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia.

In 1998, al-Qaeda conducted the US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people. The U.S. retaliated by launching Operation Infinite Reach, against al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan and Sudan. In 2001, al-Qaeda carried out the September 11 attacks, resulting in nearly 3,000 deaths, long-term health consequences of nearby residents, damage to global economic markets, the triggering of drastic geo-political changes as well as generating profound cultural influence across the world. The U.S. launched the war on terror in response and invaded Afghanistan to depose the Taliban and destroy al-Qaeda. In 2003, a U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq, overthrowing the Ba'athist regime which they falsely accused of having ties with al-Qaeda. In 2004, al-Qaeda launched its Iraqi regional branch. After pursuing him for almost a decade, the U.S. military killed bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011.

Al-Qaeda members assert that a Judeo-Christian alliance led by the U.S. is waging a war against Islam and conspiring to destroy Islam. Al-Qaeda also opposes man-made laws, and seek to implement sharia law in Muslim countries. Al-Qaeda fighters characteristically deploy tactics such as suicide attacks (Inghimasi and Istishhadi operations) involving simultaneous bombing of several targets in battle-zones. Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch, which later morphed into the Islamic State of Iraq after 2006, was responsible for numerous sectarian attacks against Shias during the Iraqi insurgency. Al-Qaeda ideologues envision the violent removal of all foreign and secularist influences in Muslim countries, which it denounces as corrupt deviations. Following the death of bin Laden in 2011, al-Qaeda vowed to avenge his killing. The group was then led by Egyptian Ayman Al-Zawahiri, until he too was killed by the U.S. in 2022. Zawahiri was de facto replaced by Saif al-Adel, a former micro-manager of Al-Qaeda and one of the few surviving founding members. As of 2026, the militant group operates under a decentralized structure, focusing on regional insurgencies rather than global operations.

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