Al Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman al Zawahiri published a new book last week in which he targeted Pakistan for Islamist takeover.
The 65-page book in Arabic, ÒThe Morning and The Lamp,Ó was posted on an Al Qaida web site and it criticizes the Pakistan government by noting ÒcontradictionsÓ between Islamabad and Islamic shiriah law.
The book quotes numerous Hadiths and Koranic verses in seeking to illustrate the incompatibilities of an Islamic society and a constitutional government.
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In the introduction Zawahiri stated that he had always heard from Pakistani scholars that the Pakistani constitution is indeed based on "true Islamic foundations," but that "the ruling class" is corrupt.
Challenging the claims, Zawahiri said he studied the Pakistan constitution to determine why the country is Òthe biggest U.S. ally.Ó
He condemns those who do not make Islamic law the foundation for ruling society, and notes that in Pakistan the president can "pardon anyone he wishes," whereas the Muhammad, according to an Islamic saying, was not immune to punishment. He concluded ÒPakistan is an un-Islamic country," and that "its constitution is un-Islamic" due to its "many grave contradictions with the Islamic shariah."
PakistanÕs 176 million people are believed to include about 17.6 million or 10 percent who are viewed as sympathetic to Al QaidaÕs Islamist creeds.