CAIRO, Egypt — Muslim extremist women are challenging al-Qaida's refusal to include — or at least acknowledge — women in its ranks, in an emotional debate that gives rare insight into the gender conflicts lurking beneath one of the strictest strains of Islam. In response to a female questioner, al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman Al-Zawahri said in April that the terrorist group does not have women. A woman's role, he said on the Internet audio recording, is limited to caring for the homes and children of al-Qaida fighters.
His remarks have since prompted an outcry from fundamentalist women, who are fighting or pleading for the right to be terrorists. The statements have created confusion, because suicide bombings by women seem to be on the rise, at least within the Iraq branch of al-Qaida.
A'eeda Dahsheh is a Palestinian mother of four in Lebanon who said she supports al-Zawahri and has chosen to raise children at home as her form of jihad. However, she said, she supports any woman who chooses instead to take part in terror attacks.
Another woman signed a more than 2,000-word essay of protest online as Rabeebat al-Silah, Arabic for "Companion of Weapons." "How many times have I wished I were a man ... When Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahri said there are no women in al-Qaida, he saddened and hurt me," wrote "Companion of Weapons," who said she listened to the speech 10 times. "I felt that my heart was about to explode in my chest ... I am powerless."
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I found this interesting when I read the article on an ME forum.
My thought was at the time that it is well documented that the global jihad does use women and children for jihad purposes. Why not acknowledge that?
NEW DELHI: After decades of bloodbath in the name of jihad or holy war, terrorists are changing gear and indulging in qattal , an act by which they kill even their own people, a top Pakistan leader said. "Terrorists are now replacing the term jihad with the Islamic term qattal for their acts," Hasham Baber, additional secretary general of Pakistan's Awami National Party said.
Hardline religious leaders in Pakistan are now using the new term because moderate Muslims have started denouncing the use of jihad by terrorists who indulge in violence in the name of Islam, said Baber. Explaining the term 'jihad', Baber, who was in India to attend an anti-terrorism conference, said: "It is not about fighting a war or battle or even killing people but a struggle for peace. It means a collective decision to struggle.” " Qattal , on the other hand, means I am allowed to kill a Hindu, Christian at will or even a Shia."
Stressing that Islam does not permit killing of innocents, he said "Terrorism is being given a religious colour by fundamentalists out to achieve their skewed agenda." Baber, whose party is part of the newly-elected PPP-led coalition, said: "The religious education in Pakistan as whole has degenerated into bloodshed."
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Terrorists_now_swear_by_qattal/articleshow/3095758.cms