Abdullah Azzam was a Palestinian-Jordanian who worked with Osama bin Laden in establishing the Afghan Services Bureau (MAK) -- the precursor to Al Qaeda. Azzam had extensive influence on bin Laden's thinking, and helping formulate the jihad doctrine. Azzam was also instrumental in internationalizing the "Islamist struggle".[1]
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Azzam was born in 1941 to Mustafa Azzam and Zakia Saleh in Assba'ah al-Hartiyeh, a Palestinian village, in the province of Jenin.[2] Growing up, Azzam was educated in the Islamic tradition, and at an early age, he joined Muslim Brotherhood. After completing elementary and secondary school in his village, Azzam attended Khadorri College, an agricultural college. After graduating, Azzam worked as a teacher in Adder, a village in Jordan.[2] Azzam then attended Damascus University (Syria), where he studied shariah (Islamic law) and earned a degree in 1966. Azzam then returned to Palestine where he experienced firsthand when Israel invaded his village in 1967. Azzam participated in the resistance, and then went into exile.[3]
Azzam continued his education at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, obtaining a master's degree in 1970. Azzam returned to Jordan to teach, but left when he was awarded a scholarship to continue studies at Al-Azhar University. In 1973, Azzam earned a Ph.D. in Islamic jurisprudence.[2] Azzam also taught at Al-Azhar University, and while there, he met Omar Abdel-Rahman, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, and other followers of Sayyed Qutb. Azzam then returned to Jordan. Azzam was hired as faculty at the University of Jordan, but he was dismissed due to his activism.[4]
After leaving Jordan, Azzam came to Saudi Arabia, where he was a lecturer at King Abdul-Aziz University.[5] Azzam was lecturing at King Abdul-Aziz University while Osama bin Laden was a student there. Azzam befriended Osama, and his wife became friends with Osama's wives. Azzam sensed opportunity with Bin Laden able to provide finances, along with will and youthfulness, while Azzam brought extensive knowledge and experience.[3]
Azzam's goal in life was to establish "Allah's rule on earth" and viewed this as the "clear responsibility of each and every Muslim." To accomplish this goal, Azzam was focused on the idea of jihad. He believed that jihad should be carried out until the Caliphate is "established so the light of Islam may shine on the whole world."[6]
Azzam defined two types of jihad:[7]
Azzam preached his ideas, and by going to Afghanistan, he also practiced what he preached. Before going to Afghanistan, Azzam was involved in jihad in Palestine.[6] Azzam joined the resistance, but found ideological differences with the Palestine Liberation Organization which was largely secular and socialist.[1]
Azzam's ideology was greatly influenced by the medieval scholar Ibn Taymiyah, as well as Egyptians Sayyid Qutb and Muhammad Faraj. Azzam spread his ideas through sermons, which were circulated on tapes, as well as in two books: Join the Caravan and The Defence of Muslim Lands.[1]
Soon after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Azzam went to Pakistan. Azzam had been teaching in Jeddah at King Abdul-Aziz University, when in November 1981, the Saudis sent him to Pakistan where he could "oversee the curriculum at the Islamic University in Islamabad. The Islamic University in Islamabad had recently been funded by the Saudis. Azzam was also a consultant for the Muslim World League, an official Saudi charity.[3]
After arriving, Azzam split his time between his teaching duties in Islamabad and weekends in Peshawar, the capital of the Northwest Frontier Province. He spent increasing amounts of time in Peshawar, "in order to be nearer the jihad." He visited refugee camps and was horrified at the conditions and suffering he saw.[4] Azzam also met regularly with the ISI, including Zia ul-Haq.[8] Azzam's presence in Peshaware there provided a channel for Saudis to funnel donations to the Afghan jihad.[3]
In 1984, Azzam and Bin Laden established the Maktab al-Khidamat ("MAK" or "Services Office") in Peshawar to support and help coordinate Arabs joining the mujahideen in Afghanistan.[5] Azzam's idea was for the office to involve Islamic charity, as well as employ marketing techniques to spread the message about jihad. Azzam's projects with the Maktab al-Khidamat included creating and publishing the Al-Jihad magazine.[3]
| “ | The struggle of Islam, as Qutb had framed it, and as Azzam deeply believed, was against jahiliyya—the world of unbelief that had existed before Islam, which was still corrupting and undermining the faithful with the lures of materialism, secularism, and sexual equality. Here in this primitive land, so stunted by poverty and illiteracy and patriarchal tribal codes, the heroic and seemingly doomed Afghan jihad against the Soviet colossus had the elements of an epochal moment in history. In the skillful hands of Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, the legend of the Afghan holy warriors would be packaged and sold all over the world. -- Wright, Lawrence - Looming Tower | ” |
Azzam also issued a pamphlet, "Defending Muslim Territory Is the Most Important Duty," where he explained that Muslims should not only regain Afghanistan, but also other places including Palestine, Bokhara, Lebanon, Chad, Eritrea, Somalia, the Philippines, Burma, Southern Yemen, Tashkent, and Andalusa.[9]
By 1986, Azzam quit his teaching position in Islamabad and came to Peshawar. Azzam was respected by the Afghans, preaching about jihad as well as helping raise funds and recruit volunteers. Azzam was influential for persuading Muslims to join the fight (the jihad) in Afghanistan. Using violence was previously restricted to small radical groups like Egypt's Islamic Jihad or Gama'a al-Islamiyya.[10] As well, Azzam spent time traveling around the Middle East and to the United States, in order to recruit, raise more funds, and promote the cause.[9] Azzam found financial backing, mainly in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, for salafi-minded madrasas, as well as military training camps in Pakistan.[10]
Towards the end of the 1980s, as the Soviets were retreating in defeat, bin Laden and Azzam had discussions about the future of MAK and what to do with the mujahidin force that had built up. Osama and Azzam both wanted to use the force as a "rapid reaction force" to defend oppressed Muslims around the world. He wanted to train the Egyptian mujahidin in terrorist tactics; Azzam strongly disagreed with this approach, issuing a fatwa saying that it would violate Islamic law. Azzam reiterated the hadith that orders Muslims not to kill any women or children.[11]
On November 24, 1989, soon after bin Laden and Azzam split, Azzam was killed in Peshawar, Pakistan. Azzam and his two sons were travelling to Jummah (Friday prayer) when a remote-control activated bomb detonated and killed them. It is not known for certain if Osama was behind this, but thought unlikely. Nonetheless, Osama was free to take full control of MAK, laying groundwork for Al Qaeda.