The Qur’an, an Islamic holy text, often states that it is a religion of peace and charity, and, until recently, violence in the name of the faith was quite isolated. As an anonymous member of Reddit’s r/Islam community states, “though Islam is a peaceful religion, not all Muslims support peace.” One of those few was Osama bin Laden, commonly known as America’s prime adversary. He and his organization, Al Qaeda, took responsibility for atrocities committed against the American people, atrocities like the September 11th attacks, one of the nation’s darkest days. However, in the 1970’s and 80’s, the United States itself funded bin Laden and his colleagues. A man from an esteemed Saudi Arabian family that was on fairly good relations with the U.S.
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Though relatively normal in his mid-adolescence, bin Laden soon gravitated towards radical ideas. Lawrence Wright explains this change on page 88 of his book, stating that “[bin Laden was] exposed to so few alternative ways of thinking even in Islam [and] was trapped in a two-dimensional spiritual world; [he] could only become more extreme or less so.” bin Laden cut off everything associated with the West from his life, and became infuriated when something he deemed unworthy of God played on the radio or television (Wright 88). According to Wright’s book, “[Osama] loved adventure and poetry and little else but God” (87). His piety dictated his life, and soon “...as stated in his unclassified CIA biography...[he] left Saudi Arabia to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan” (WashingtonsBlog). Like many other zealots, bin Laden felt it necessary to fight off a threat to the Muslim world and to preserve his culture. The group he joined, the Afghan Mujahideen, was known for pseudo-terrorist tactics and jihadist ideologies, and was one of bin Laden’s central inspirations for the formation of Al
Though relatively normal in his mid-adolescence, bin Laden soon gravitated towards radical ideas. Lawrence Wright explains this change on page 88 of his book, stating that “[bin Laden was] exposed to so few alternative ways of thinking even in Islam [and] was trapped in a two-dimensional spiritual world; [he] could only become more extreme or less so.” bin Laden cut off everything associated with the West from his life, and became infuriated when something he deemed unworthy of God played on the radio or television (Wright 88). According to Wright’s book, “[Osama] loved adventure and poetry and little else but God” (87). His piety dictated his life, and soon “...as stated in his unclassified CIA biography...[he] left Saudi Arabia to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan” (WashingtonsBlog). Like many other zealots, bin Laden felt it necessary to fight off a threat to the Muslim world and to preserve his culture. The group he joined, the Afghan Mujahideen, was known for pseudo-terrorist tactics and jihadist ideologies, and was one of bin Laden’s central inspirations for the formation of Al