Yemeni cleric Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, founder of the Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood, has died at the age of 82 in Istanbul, Turkey. His son Muhammad bin Abdul Majeed Al-Zindani confirmed that he passed away in an Istanbul hospital.

Zindani’s long career in education, religious extremism, and revolutionary incitement have garnered praise from radical groups throughout the Middle East and condemnation from the United Nations, United States, and the monarchy governments on the Arabian Peninsula. He founded the Iman University in Sanaa Yemen in 1995 with Yemeni government support and was a leader member of Yemen’s al-Islah Party (the Yemeni Congregation for Reform). He also established the  Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah, based in Saudi Arabia, and claimed to have successfully administered AIDS treatments at Iman University, claims which have since been refuted.

U.S. Terror Designation

In February 2004, the United States Treasury labeled Zindani a Specially Designated Global Terrorist due to his ties as spiritual adviser to Osama Bin Laden and his service as a contact for Ansar al-Islam (Al), an Iraqi and Syrian-based terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda. John Walker Lindh was said to have been a student of Zindani at Iman University. Zindani was also designated as an Al-Qaeda associate by the UN 1267 Committee. However, due to the United States and the United Nations not providing evidence of these claims, the Yemeni government refused to honor the designation or deliver Zindani to any national or international court.

Zindani fled Yemen to Saudi Arabia in 2014 after the Houthis took control. He then travelled to Turkey in 2020 where he died today.