Life Summary: Osama bin Laden, Terrorism Mastermind

Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden, born to a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia as one of 53 siblings, would grow up to form the Sunni Islamist militant organisation responsible for a number of terrorist attacks around the world, including the Sep. 11 attacks in the U.S.A. This is the summary of his life and how he developed the beliefs that would be responsible for the deaths of thousands of people worldwide…

1957 – Osama is born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to a large, wealthy, Sunni Muslim family. His father, Mohammad, is an immigrant from Yemen—an illiterate, self-made millionaire who founded construction company, the Bin Laden Group, and has 53 children. Osama is the 17th son of 29 boys. His mother, Alia, is 14 and the 4th wife of his father.

Age 4 – His parents divorce and his mother marries his father’s executive, Mohammad al-Attas.

Childhood – Osama is educated in Saudi Arabia. He sees his father only 5 times and becomes well-versed in Islamic scriptures. His teachers remember him to be courteous and others remember him to be pious.

Age 10 – Osama’s father dies in a plane crash.

Age 17 – He marries his 14-year-old cousin, Najwa Ghanem, and they would go on to have 11 children together. He makes his family live in the mountains to avoid the decadence of urban life.

Age 21 – He enrols in Heddah’s King Abdul Aziz University and studies economics, business administration, and religion. He studies the works of Muhammad Qutb, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well. He does not graduate.

After leaving school – Osama works for his father’s company, handling demolition projects. He works with explosives, operates huge machines and learns about the structural weaknesses of buildings. He manages a workforce of Arabs from different nations.

Age 26 – He marries his second wife, Khadijah Sharif. She is 9 years older than him, highly educated and a direct descendent of the Prophet. They have 3 children.

Age 27 – Osama starts spending $300,000 a year to run an NGO called Mkhtab al-Khadamat in Afghanistan and Pakistan that recruits, trains and supports Muslims fighting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This organisation opens offices worldwide and publishes a monthly magazine, Al-Jihad, to recruit volunteers and donors. Because his content is blocked by state-controlled media, he relies on the internet.

Age 28 – His first wife helps him arrange his 3rd marriage to Khairiah Sabar. They have 1 son together.

Age 29 – He moves his family to Pakistan and gets more involved in the war in Afghanistan. When in-fighting in Afghanistan factions increases, he moves back to Saudi Arabia.

Age 31 – He marries Siham Sabar and they have 4 children.

Age 31 – Osama and a group of men start al-Qaeda (meaning: ‘The Base’) to take on future holy wars. Osama’s mentor, Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar and preacher, is the leader.

Age 32 – Muslims defeat the Soviets. Many Muslims take this event as proof that they can ‘beat God’s enemies’. Osama is now a follower of Salafism—which believes in following Muhammad’s traditions closely and taking a literal approach to scripture. He believes in pursuing and killing the “enemies of Islam” around the world. When Osama’s mentor is killed in a car bombing, Osama becomes the leader of al-Qaeda. He rejoins the family firm and also reportedly receives $8million in cash distributed by his late father’s estate.

Age 33 – Saddam Hussain (leader of Iraq) invades Kuwait and threatens to invade Saudi Arabia. Osama offers to build a defensive barrier with his construction machines and is shocked when the rulers decline but invite the U.S. military to build a base inside the nation to protect the Arabian Peninsula. Later when Saudi troops raid his farm and take weapons away from his workforce of Afghan war veterans, he feels betrayed.

Age 34 – Osama is expelled by Saudi Arabia. He moves to Sudan where the ruler shares his vision of establishing a purist Islamic state, and there, plots to attack U.S. forces in Yemen and Somalia, and plans attacks against U.S. planes and U.S. embassies, and also Pope John Paul II. He also finances efforts in Saudi Arabia to impose Shariah law, fight al-Saud family corruption and have foreign policy support only pro-Islamic nations. In the meantime, takfiris—who believe that one Muslim can kill another Muslim if he decides that Muslim is not a good Muslim—try to kill him at least 3 times.

Age 37 – His siblings cut him off financially after failing to persuade him to cease his militant activities. Saudi Arabia revokes his citizenship.

Age 38 – His second wife, Khadijah Sharif, leaves him and returns to Saudi Arabia.

Age 39 – He marries again but the marriage is annulled within days. Under pressure from Saudis and Americans, Sudanese officials make him leave Sudan. He returns to Afghanistan with his 3 wives and children and is welcomed by Taliban leaders as a hero. There, he declares war on the U.S. because it has financed corrupt Arab states, Israel and the Shia Muslims. He signs and issues a declaration of jihad.

Age 41 – Osama arranges for the bombings of U.S. embassies around the world. Hundreds die, several thousand more are hurt. He endorses a fatwa that states that Muslims should kill all Americans all over the world.

Age 42 – Osama gets on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Age 43 – He marries 18-year-old Yemeni Amal al-Sadab and they would go on to have 5 children. Al-Qaeda bombs the USS Cole in Yemen. Takfiris and Saudi intelligence try to kill him at least 6 times.

Age 44 – Osama moves his supplies and people to Pakistan and Afghanistan for safe-keeping. His first wife, Najwa, leaves him. Al-Qaeda executes the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, killing more than 3000 people. Osama goes into hiding and begins a media war over the next few years, appearing in video and audio to justify his attacks against infidels and apostate Muslim leaders, all while being hunted by U.S. forces.

Age 52 – His estranged first wife and son publish their book, ‘Growing Up bin Laden’.

Age 54 – Osama is killed by U.S. forces, along with 1 woman and 3 adult males, when the forces raid his luxury hideout in Pakistan. Within 24 hours, his body is buried at sea.

More life summaries available here.

Photographs: Hamid Mir, Sajjad Ali Qureshi. Compiler: Sy
Sponsor or support the Life Summary series here.
If you found this article useful: