Political views of Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden took ideological guidance from prominent militant Islamist scholars and ideologues from the classical to contemporary eras, such as Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Sayyid Qutb, Nizamuddin Shamzai and Abdullah Azzam.^[1]^[2]^[3] During his middle and high school years, bin Laden was educated in Al-Thager Model School, a public school in Jeddah run by Islamist exiles of the Muslim Brotherhood; during which he was immensely influenced by pan-Islamist ideals and displayed strict religious commitment. As a teenager, bin Laden attended and led Muslim Brotherhood-run "Awakening" camps held on desert outskirts that intended to raise the youth in religious values, instil martial spirit and sought spiritual seclusion from "the corruptions" of modernity and rapidly urbanising society of the 1970s in Saudi Arabia.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Bin Laden subscribed to the Athari school of Islamic theology.^[7] During his studies in King Abdulaziz University, bin Laden became immersed in the writings of the Egyptian militant Islamist scholar Sayyid Qutb; most notably Milestones and In The Shade of the Qur'an. Bin Laden adopted Qutb's anti-Westernism, his assertion that the Muslim World has been steeped in a state of Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic ignorance) and embraced his revolutionary call for overthrowing the Arab governments by means of an ideologically committed vanguard.^[8]^[9]^[6]

To effectuate his beliefs, Osama bin Laden founded al-Qaeda, a pan-Islamist militant organization, with the objective of recruiting Muslim youth for participating in armed Jihad across various regions of the Islamic world such as Palestine, Kashmir, Central Asia, etc.^[10] In conjunction with several other Islamic leaders, he issued two fatwas—in 1996 and then again in 1998—that Muslims should fight those that either support Israel or any Western military forces in Islamic countries, stating that those in that mindset are the enemy, including citizens from the United States and allied countries. His goal was for Western military forces to withdraw from the Middle East and for foreign aid to Israel to cease as the aid is used to fund Israeli policy in the region.^[11]^[12]

^ DeLong-Bas, Natana (2007). Wahhabi Islam. London: I. B. Tauris. pp. 266, 273, 279.
^ Scheuer, Michael (2006). "6: The Young Bin Laden, 1957-1979". Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama Bin Laden, Radical Islam & the Future of America (2nd ed.). Dulles, Virginia 20166: Potomac Books, Inc. p. 93. ISBN 1-57488-967-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^
Sources:
- Zahid, Farhan (July 2018). "Deconstructing Thoughts and Worldviews of Militant Ideologue Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai". CTTA. 10 (7): 10. JSTOR 26458485 – via JSTOR.
- Stenersen, Anne (2017). "4: The Troublesome Guest". Al-Qaida in Afghanistan. University Printing House, Cambridge CB 2 8 BS , United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 73. doi:10.1017/9781139871501. ISBN 978-1-107-07513-9. Bin Laden's alliance with the Deobandi scholar Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai was of particular importance.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ Ismail, Evin (2022). "8: Between Qutb and ISIS: The Sahwa". The Antisemitic Origins of Islamist Violence: A Study of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State. Uppsala University, SE-75126 Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University. pp. 180–182. ISBN 978-91-506-2942-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ Miller, Flagg (2015). The Audacious Ascetic: What the Bin Laden Tapes Reveal about al-Qaʿida. Madison Avenue, New York, USA: Oxford University Press. pp. 54, 55, 64–66. ISBN 978-0-19-026436-9.
^ ^a ^b Osama Bin Laden - Up Close and Personal | Full Documentary, 23 March 2018, retrieved 2023-08-16
^ Halverson, Jeffry R. (2010). Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 80. ISBN 9780230106581.
^ Ismail, Evin (2022). "8: Between Qutb and ISIS: The Sahwa". The Antisemitic Origins of Islamist Violence: A Study of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State. Uppsala University, SE-75126 Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University. pp. 181–183. ISBN 978-91-506-2942-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ Miller, Flagg (2015). The Audacious Ascetic: What the Bin Laden Tapes Reveal about al-Qaʿida. Madison Avenue, New York, USA: Oxford University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-19-026436-9.
^ Scheuer, Michael (2006). Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama Bin Laden, Radical Islam & the Future of America (2nd ed.). Dulles, Virginia 20166: Potomac Books, Inc. p. 110. ISBN 1-57488-967-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ "BIN LADEN'S FATWA". PBS. Archived from the original on 2001-10-31. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
^ "Online NewsHour: Al Qaeda's 1998 Fatwa". PBS. Archived from the original on 1 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-21.

[1] DeLong-Bas, Natana (2007). Wahhabi Islam. London: I. B. Tauris. pp. 266, 273, 279.

[2] Scheuer, Michael (2006). "6: The Young Bin Laden, 1957-1979". Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama Bin Laden, Radical Islam & the Future of America (2nd ed.). Dulles, Virginia 20166: Potomac Books, Inc. p. 93. ISBN 1-57488-967-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

[3] Sources:
Zahid, Farhan (July 2018). "Deconstructing Thoughts and Worldviews of Militant Ideologue Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai". CTTA. 10 (7): 10. JSTOR 26458485 – via JSTOR.

Stenersen, Anne (2017). "4: The Troublesome Guest". Al-Qaida in Afghanistan. University Printing House, Cambridge CB 2 8 BS , United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 73. doi:10.1017/9781139871501. ISBN 978-1-107-07513-9. Bin Laden's alliance with the Deobandi scholar Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai was of particular importance.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

[4] Zahid, Farhan (July 2018). "Deconstructing Thoughts and Worldviews of Militant Ideologue Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai". CTTA. 10 (7): 10. JSTOR 26458485 – via JSTOR.

[5] Stenersen, Anne (2017). "4: The Troublesome Guest". Al-Qaida in Afghanistan. University Printing House, Cambridge CB 2 8 BS , United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 73. doi:10.1017/9781139871501. ISBN 978-1-107-07513-9. Bin Laden's alliance with the Deobandi scholar Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai was of particular importance.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

[4] Ismail, Evin (2022). "8: Between Qutb and ISIS: The Sahwa". The Antisemitic Origins of Islamist Violence: A Study of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State. Uppsala University, SE-75126 Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University. pp. 180–182. ISBN 978-91-506-2942-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

[5] Miller, Flagg (2015). The Audacious Ascetic: What the Bin Laden Tapes Reveal about al-Qaʿida. Madison Avenue, New York, USA: Oxford University Press. pp. 54, 55, 64–66. ISBN 978-0-19-026436-9.

[:1-6] Osama Bin Laden - Up Close and Personal | Full Documentary, 23 March 2018, retrieved 2023-08-16

[Halverson-80-7] Halverson, Jeffry R. (2010). Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 80. ISBN 9780230106581.

[8] Ismail, Evin (2022). "8: Between Qutb and ISIS: The Sahwa". The Antisemitic Origins of Islamist Violence: A Study of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State. Uppsala University, SE-75126 Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University. pp. 181–183. ISBN 978-91-506-2942-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

[9] Miller, Flagg (2015). The Audacious Ascetic: What the Bin Laden Tapes Reveal about al-Qaʿida. Madison Avenue, New York, USA: Oxford University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-19-026436-9.

[10] Scheuer, Michael (2006). Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama Bin Laden, Radical Islam & the Future of America (2nd ed.). Dulles, Virginia 20166: Potomac Books, Inc. p. 110. ISBN 1-57488-967-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

[11] "BIN LADEN'S FATWA". PBS. Archived from the original on 2001-10-31. Retrieved 2017-08-24.

[12] "Online NewsHour: Al Qaeda's 1998 Fatwa". PBS. Archived from the original on 1 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-21.

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