Page:Substitution for the Testimony of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.pdf/53

 command and control, and its members began formally swearing bayat to Bin Laden when al Qaeda was founded in the late 1980s. Over time, the idea spread throughout the jihad movement and is now used by many different groups.

Bayat is a solemn, spiritually binding commitment to obey the commands of a single leader, or emir. However, Sheikh Mohammed noted that the individual making the oath is in effect pledging allegiance to to the emir's organization as well, since he implicitly commits himself to obey the emir's lieutenants, follow the rules of the emir's organization, and transfer his allegiance to the emir's successor if the emir dies. Thus, if Bin Laden were killed, all sworn al Qaeda members would automatically owe allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, his designated successor.

Although bayat was an entirely voluntary act, Sheikh Mohammed said al-Faruq camp commander Abu Muhammad al-Masri sometimes used subtle peer pressure to persuade trainees to swear allegiance to Bin Laden, and pressure to take the oath was especially acute at more senior levels of the organization. For example, Sheikh Mohammed said he attempted to postpone swearing bayat as long as possible to ensure that he remained free to plan operations however he chose, but he eventually took the oath after Page 53 of 58