Word: zarqawi
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Such fiery rhetoric, though, masks a gradual but unmistakable effort by al-Zarqawi to recast his image. Based on interviews by TIME with Bakr and others who have associated with al-Zarqawi, a picture emerges of a cold-blooded killer trying to reinvent himself as a quasi-religious leader. He wants to be seen as a deeply spiritual Muslim whose actions are driven by a desire to save Islam from attacks from external and internal enemies, according to those sources. The most striking aspect of that transformation is al-Zarqawi's attempt to mimic the sirah, or lifestyle...
What explains such conspicuous expressions of piety? Some Western officials believe that al-Zarqawi may be trying to project a more moderate, appealing image to regain some of the prestige he has lost in recent months. Clashes between al-Qaeda, which mainly comprises foreign fighters, and homegrown Iraqi insurgent groups have been interpreted as an indication that al-Zarqawi is no longer the all-powerful figure leading the anti-U.S. forces in Iraq. He has also attracted criticism for his group's deadly attacks on Iraqi Shi'ites...
...Zarqawi hasn't lost his appetite for murder--or his determination to sow civil war in Iraq. Bakr says he recalls conversations in which al-Zarqawi raged at the Shi'ites. "Those were the only times I hear him shout," he says. "He really hates the Shi'ites, even more than the Americans." The terrorist leader may carry his Koran at all times, but his Kalashnikov is never far from his reach, as evidenced by last week's video, in which he is clearly seen wearing an ammunition belt. Bakr and other sources say al-Zarqawi constantly wears a suicide...
...ZARQAWI IS NO RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR. A high school dropout, he memorized the Koran while in prison and acquired his religious ideas from extremist preachers and thinkers in Afghanistan and Jordan. To devout Muslims, emulation of the Prophet is considered desirable, and most believers concentrate on Muhammad's well-documented attributes, like frugality, modesty, charity and respect for elders. But al-Zarqawi, like others who subscribe to extremist schools of Islam, takes emulation literally. Among the examples Bakr cites is al-Zarqawi's tendency, modeled on the Prophet's, to "do everything from right to left: he puts on his right...
Like many other literalists, al-Zarqawi favors one of the Koran's more complex chapters, known as "The Cave." It includes some metaphysical stories whose meaning has been debated by theologians for centuries. The Prophet is said to have advised his followers to read the "The Cave" before Friday prayers, and "some people mistakenly take this to mean that this surah was the Prophet's favorite," says Khaled Abou al-Fadl, an Islamic jurist at UCLA. Bakr says al-Zarqawi frequently quotes extensively from "The Cave" and encourages discussion about its stories...