That's a different and more interesting question, as some things can have legal and illegal aspects. For example, I'll cite some Irish examples, e.g.,the Sinn Féin party (legal) in Ireland that was regularly viewed as the political arm of the IRA (illegal) during the time of 'The Troubles' prior to the Good Friday Agreement Sinn Féin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia or the Molly Maguires (illegal) insurrectionists that were tucked inside local Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) chapters (legal) in Pennsylvania during the 1860s-1870s. Molly Maguires - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ancient Order of Hibernians - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia AQ is not such a political party organisation, though, no more so than the Los Zetas or Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gangs are, etc. They are just straight up criminal organisations. Even if AQ had some kind of legal wing under a different name, AQ would still be the illegal wing like the IRA, Molly Maguires, etc.