Major Al Qaeda Spiritual Leader renouces Jihad and Bin Laden

What would have happened if the Pope had suddenly renounced the Crusades and called for the public trials of the Crusaders who committed acts of heinous violence in the name of Christ? Perhaps history would have gone very differently, and the status quo of Jerusalem today would be more balanced and peaceful. Well, according to the New York Sun, the main theologian for Al Qaeda has renounced Jihad again America and is calling for a sharia court to try Osama Bin Laden and other senior leaders of Al Qaeda. This is the same man who years ago wrote the definitive theoological works justifying the Jihad.

One of Al Qaeda's senior theologians is calling on his followers to end their military jihad and saying the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a "catastrophe for all Muslims."

In a serialized manifesto written from prison in Egypt, Sayyed Imam al-Sharif is blasting Osama bin Laden for deceiving the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, and for insulting the Prophet Muhammad by comparing the September 11 attacks to the early raids of the Ansar warriors. The lapsed jihadist even calls for the formation of a special Islamic court to try Osama bin Laden and his old comrade Ayman al-Zawahri.

It is important to note that al-Sharif is in an Egyptian prison, and Islamic critics suggest that this turnaround was extracted by means of torture. But experts quoted in the article seem to believe the change of heart is genuine, and that this may be a sign that Al Qaeda is breaking apart from internal dissention and dissatisfaction with what the Jihad has really acccomplished to benefit the average Muslim.