Ayman al-Zawahiri

Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (Arabic: أيمن محمد ربيع الظواهري‎ ʾAyman Muḥammad Rabīʿ aẓ-Ẓawāhirī, detailed transliteration: Åỉmɑn Mʋhɑm̑ɑd Rɑbio al-Ƶ̑ɑuaeɩri ; born 19 June 1951 – July 31, 2022), or simply known as al-Zawahiri or Ayman, was an Egyptian Islamic theologian and leader of al-Qaeda, taking over from Osama bin Laden. He was previously the emir of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

Quotes

 * The Sheikh has departed, may God have mercy on him, to his God as a martyr and we must continue on his path of jihad to expel the invaders from the land of Muslims and to purify it from injustice. Today, and thanks to God, America is not facing an individual or a group, but a rebelling nation, which has awoken from its sleep in a jihadist renaissance.


 * We have endured a lot of harm from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his brothers, and we preferred to respond with as little as possible, out of our concern to extinguish the fire of sedition. But Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his brothers did not leave us a choice, for they have demanded that all the mujahideen reject their confirmed pledges of allegiance, and to pledge allegiance to them for what they claim of a caliphate.
 * As quoted in "Al Qaeda 'declares war' on ISIS as 9/11 terror group boss blasts rival for declaring himself leader of all Muslims", The Mirror (11 September 2015)