religious obligation (fard al-'ayn) which attracted thousands of young Arab fighters to the war in Afghanistan (1979-1989). 12 One of these early recruits was the young Osama bin Laden (1957-2011) who was mentored by the violent Islamist ideologue and original author of the fatwa, Abdullah Azzam (1941-1989) (see further below). Claimant’s core propositions in the speech 223. The Claimant uses the teachings or fatwa of Sheikh bin Baz without even mentioning the context in which they were issued, namely the Afghan jihad (1979-1989). This leads the audience to believe that there is authoritative Salafi support for the Claimant’s two core propositions in the speech: first, that jihad means exclusively armed jihad (i.e. qital); second, that "fighting against the enemies of Islam" is “prescribed” and “obligatory” for Muslims. Claimant’s explanations 224. The Claimant sought to explain his regular references to Sheikh bin Baz on the basis that he was simply seeking to tell his audience of a link between him and the deviant neo-Salafis. He suggested in his witness statement that the ‘deviant’ neo-Salafis, who held a “very rigid” understanding and interpretation of Islam, were predominantly associated with Saudi Arabia and he said it was simply for this reason that he mentioned the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh bin Baz, “whose scholarly credentials they [i.e. the neo-Salafis] accepted and whose views they claimed to follow”. 225. I do not accept this explanation. In my judgement, it is quite clear that the Claimant’s numerous references in his DEVIANTS GROUP SPEECH (2009) praising Sheikh bin Baz and his work were aimed at encouraging his audience to study and follow Sheikh bin Baz’s teachings. Claimant praises and endorses Sheikh bin Baz 226. The speech is replete with laudatory language about Sheikh bin Baz and is, in effect, a paean of praise for him and his work: viz. e.g. “…the greatest Imam of our recent times” (56:11), “…great Imam, great scholar” (59:03), “…noble scholar[] we take knowledge and advice from (63:11-13), “…here we find again Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Baz giving us the approach and the way of dealing with others that we might differ with” (64:20-21) “…one very, very famous, famous book, and a famous Fatwa (Legal Opinion)…by again the legendary Sheikh, the Imam Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Baz” (69:19), “…this makes us understand the stature of Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Baz” (69:24), “…So, very important in terms of…understanding concepts clearly and understanding them based upon Qur’an and based upon the Sunnah”; “…after a very beautiful introduction” (75:19), “…the true scholars, the likes of Sheikh bin Baz (77:20), “…look at all the other, you know, the great points and work of this noble individual” (91:10-12). These references, individually and cumulatively, point to the Claimant’s unconditional approval of Sheikh bin Baz and his teachings. The last reference is particularly significant because it comes near the end of the questionandanswer session and is in the form of a final exhortation to the audience to study “all… the great points and work” of Sheikh bin Baz and, ergo, follow his approach. 12 In Defence of Muslim Lands drawn up by the Palestinian ideologue ‘Abdullah’ Azzam (See further below). 51