Bin Laden Considered Rebranding Al Qaida

One of the odder items that floated past our transom in recent days goes back to how the original name of Al Qaida (aka Al Qaeda, or "the world's most famous terrorism organization") was al-Qaida al-Jihad, which means The Base of Holy War.

The West’s lopping off of the last part of the name apparently really irked the now-deceased Osama bin Laden so much that he considered renaming the organization, the Associated Press reports.

Among the papers taken from bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan were some letters that suggested bin Laden was annoyed that al-Qaida was losing the battle for everyday Arabs.

The problem with the name al-Qaida, as bin Laden (no marketing genius, as you'll see below) expounded, is that it is missing any reference to religion or, as Forbes blogger Marc Babej puts it, “something to convince Muslims worldwide that they are in a holy war with America.”

In his papers, bin Laden suggested a rebranding to "Taifat al-Tawhed Wal-Jihad," which means Monotheism and Jihad Group, or "Jama’at I’Adat al-Khilafat al-Rashida," which means Restoration of the Caliphate Group, as possible new names, Forbes notes.

As Babej writes for Forbes, bin Laden's thinking was flawed.

“Like many of the more mediocre minds in the field, he appeared to believe that rebranding — even absent a different product strategy — can fundamentally change a reputation,” he writes. “Had Bin Laden been more versed in history, he would have found powerful precedents showing that a name change is not a way to fundamentally change perceptions of an organization.”

Even if the name is as catchy as Jama’at I’Adat al-Khilafat al-Rashida.

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