The militant Islamist organization, Al-Qaeda, began as a logistical network to aid Muslims
fighting against the Soviet Union during the Afghan War (1979-1989). After the Soviets
withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, Al-Qaeda dispersed throughout the Middle East and
Africa. Al-Qaeda continues to oppose other Islamic regimes and despises the presence of
foreign countries in their land. Its headquarters was originally located in Sudan in the early
1990s, but it eventually moved to Afghanistan in 1996 under the patronage of the Taliban
militia (“The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica”). First emerging in the early 1990s in
northern Pakistan, the Taliban militia finally came to global prominence in Afghanistan in
late 1994. It is generally believed that they first appeared in religious seminaries paid for
by Saudi Arabia, which preached a radical and strict form of Sunni Islam (“Who are the
Taliban?”). Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are both very distinct groups who have many
differences, but their ideologies of Islamic fundamentalism are both founded by Muslim
extremists who participated in many forms terrorism.
Al-Qaeda was founded in Peshawar, Pakistan by Osama bin Laden and Mohammed Atef
right before the Soviet War in Afghanistan ended in 1989 (“Al-Qaeda vs. Taliban”). Led by
Osama bin Laden, the members of Al-Qaeda were heavily recruited throughout the Islamic
world of the Middle East (“The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica”). The ideology
followed by Al-Qaeda members is based on Sharia law and greatly influenced by the
writings of Sayyad Qutb or Qutbism (“Al-Qaeda vs. Taliban”). Sharia law is cast from the
Quran and is the main law of Islam. It is based on the actions and reasoning of their
