Draft:Abdullah Azzam

Abdullah Azzam
Name	Abdullah Azzam
Other Names	{{{other_names}}}
Personal Details
Birth Place	Palestine
Brith Date	1941
Death Place	Pakistan
Death Date	1989

Abdullah Azzam was of Palestinian origin and is considered the main theorist of Jihadist Salafism and Al-Qaeda, and was the most important figure who, with his pen and speech, determined the ideological line of jihadist forces.

Life

Abdullah Azzam was born in 1941 in the village of "Sila al-Harithiya", Palestine. At a young age, he migrated to Jordan and completed his primary education there. He received his Bachelor's in Sharia in 1966 from the University of Damascus and simultaneously with his studies in Syria, joined the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and participated in the 1967 Arab-Israel War. He then went to Egypt for further studies and received his Master's in 1969 and PhD in Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence in 1973 from Al-Azhar University. He then returned to Jordan and spent the years 1970 to 1979 teaching at the University of Jordan. After encountering problems there due to revolutionary movements, he withdrew from socio-political activities for a while. In 1981, he taught for a few months at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia. From there, he was voluntarily sent to teach at the International Islamic University Islamabad. He considered the reason for his interest in Islamabad to be getting closer to the Jihad in Afghanistan and helping it, and from there he began his activity in the Afghanistan Jihad; just as he was also one of the main founders of the Hamas Movement in Palestine.

Jihad in Afghanistan

Abdullah Azzam is referred to as the Commander of the Arabs in the Soviet war in Afghanistan. From 1980 CE, he facilitated the entry of thousands of Arab youth into Afghanistan. Azzam initially worked in an Arab charity organization in Peshawar to help Afghan migrants, but later founded an independent jihadist organization called Maktab al-Khadamat. He announced his plan to liberate Palestine after the liberation of Afghanistan.

Unlike his like-minded individuals and allies, Abdullah Azzam had a positive view regarding Ahmad Shah Massoud. According to Musa al-Qarni, during that period almost all Arab mujahideen in Peshawar, except Abdullah Azzam, had a negative view of Massoud and leveled many accusations up to the level of disbelief against him. Also, the discussion was raised whether financial aid to Massoud was permissible according to Sharia or not? Even a trial in absentia was held in Peshawar where 21 people testified against Massoud and two people defended him. Abdullah Azzam, Osama bin Laden, and Abdul Majeed al-Zindani were present as judges in this court, and ultimately the court announced in its verdict that it could not confirm or reject Massoud.

Works

• "Titan of the North" about Ahmad Shah Massoud.
• "Defense of the Muslim Lands: The First Obligation after Faith".
• "Joining the Caravan"
• "The Lofty Mountain" about Tamim Adnani of the Afghan mujahideen.
• "Signs of Mercy in the Afghan Jihad".
• Will of the Martyr Imam Abdullah Azzam

Colleagues and Associates

During Sheikh Azzam's activity period in Afghanistan, many individuals from the Arab world and Islam joined him. Some of the most famous individuals who were in Abdullah Azzam's group include:

• Osama bin Laden
• Ayman al-Zawahiri
• Abu Hajar
• Mullah Krekar, leader of the Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan
• Omar al-Bashir
• Sheikh Abdul Rahman
• Abu Sayyaf (Philippines)
• Abu Hafs
• Abu Sayyaf (Chechnya)
• Abu Hani

Fate of Abdullah Azzam's Center

After Abdullah Azzam; group members pledged allegiance to Abdul Hamid al-Zindani, but he refused leadership of this group and a number of them joined the Al-Qaeda center led by Osama bin Laden.

Death

In 1989 CE, on the way to a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, he was killed along with his two sons due to a bomb explosion.