5.0 out of 5 stars A biography that stands the test of time

A.F. · April 20, 2020

Thomas Heggehammer's newest work spans decades which encompasses the historical background of the most influential Afghan Jihadist and founder of modern day "jihad", Abdallah Yusuf Azzam. The volume is quite extensive, 718 pages, with 126 pages worth of footnotes. However, it is the single most comprehensive text which covers an already obscure individual whom has barely any historical document to be found. I have been covering Middle East Affairs and Religious Fundamentalism for over 12 years now, and can confidently say this is the most comprehensive work detailing not just Azzam, but also about the rise of Afghan Jihadism i have ever come across.Heggehammer gives the reader some forthcoming background at the start of each chapter , which is rather helpful, for readers can remember where each chapter covers a specific summary or detail. This is rather unorthodox but it helps the reader find specifics rather quickly. The interviews Heggehammer conducted are unprecedented, it took him ten years to finally reach the end of his study for the book which encompasses travelling to Pakistan and Afghanistan while meeting with the living relatives of Azzam's family.The work also details the Afghan-Soviet War, the construction of the Maktab al-Khidamat (Afghan Services Bureau) which was the bureau that assisted the foreign fighters, Arabs, who wished to participate in the Soviet-Afghan conflict. The influence of a young Saudi in Osama Bin Laden, as well as the youthful years of Azzam which covers his start in the West Bank, to his travels in Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The theological background which saw Azzam as unique in his perception of Islam. Heggehammer is also careful not to speculate much in this biography and allows the reader to witness the complete evolution of Azzam by relating a story-line rife with self-explanatory details.Quite simply, it is the authoritative narrative and preeminent work regarding one of the most authoritative figures whom was instrumental in constructing "global Jihad", in Abdallah Azzam.

5.0 out of 5 stars a history lesson well told.

E.G. · July 22, 2020

a informed hiistory of the start of world terroism

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent

A.C. · September 16, 2020

Excellent.. Well researched.. Very, very detailed.. 10/10

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Interesting and Useful Book

M.M. · June 20, 2021

This book is a must-read for those interested in understanding the Afghan jihad and the start of global Islamist extremism.Thomas Hegghammer was right to focus on this “spiritual father” of the jihad by detailing his biography. As one reads the book, it becomes increasingly clear how important Abdallah Azzam was to the effort directed at ending the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.You will not find satisfying answers to what it is that about Islam that led to the global religion-invoking extremism. To be fair to the author, that are part of the ongoing research.Understandably, this jihadist movement was backed by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan’s neighbor, Pakistan. Sadly, all three actors are still suffering from the consequences of riding the tiger – decades after Azzam died in a car bombing.As a cleric, Azzam was uniquely placed to legitimize the Afghan jihad as a religious war. The foundation he laid, in part, led to the longevity of what is known today as the global Salafi jihadi movement. But the broader Salafi movement is not necessarily violent but owes its existence to Saudi Arabia’s worldwide propagation of Wahhabism, an effort Azzam supported. This movement is suffocating communities around the world due to its strict conservativism.It is hard to agree with the author’s assertion that “Jihadism went global because of repression (p 493).” In countries that suffer from extreme religious conservatism, repression and exclusion are part and parcel of managing the zealots they tend to produce, where escape outlets such as transnational jihad come in handy to channel the zealots’ focus. Indeed, Azzam’s ideas found resonance in communities that were influenced by religious conservatism.Hegghammer has the right background to work on this project and his hard work has paid off. This book is a useful reference for scholars as well. Frankly, I could not put this book down, as it provides fascinating details. For that, I congratulate the author.

A fascinating, detailed look at the founder of jihad as we know it

D. · April 13, 2020

Abdallah Azzam is one of the most important people we don't know much about. Thomas Hegghamer has filled that gap by writing a very interesting, comprehensive book. His sources are numerous and include everyone from Azzam's own writings and family to jihadists and Pakistani military agents. We see exactly how Azzam went from a pious Islamic lecturer to the leader of the 'Afghan Arabs'. His story spans the history of the modern Muslim world, from the Nasserite years to the Islamic renaissance of the 1980s.Azzam's life was shaped by three key events: the Palestinian 'Nakba', Israel's seizure of the West Bank, and Jordan's sudden suspension of his teaching position in Amman. If not for each of these events, this intelligent Palestinian could've lived out his days as a successful but largely unknown sharia lecturer. Instead he personally took up arms against the perceived enemies of Islam: firstly for a brief time against Israel in the late 1960s, and then the Soviets in Afghanistan . However, Hegghamer is not a hagiographer. He gives Azzam full agency for his actions, noting that Azzam had always been a devout Islamist who detested secularism, Western influences, and non-militarist interpretations of jihad. Azzam had even denounced Arab nationalist rulers as 'taghut' during his time as a non-violent Muslim Brotherhood leader, coming dangerously close to takfirism.In any event, it was Azzam's years in Afghanistan that decided his legacy. As a well-read scholar of Islam, his most important contribution was using his credentials to rally Arabs. For the first time, Muslims were told that it was *their religious duty* as individuals to fight jihad against infidels. The rulings of states, clerical bodies, and even parents were declared irrelevant on this matter. Foreign volunteers, who were minuscule in the first half of the 1980s, came in their thousands. Most were Arab, but Azzam's writings spread much further. Hegghammer notes that America was in fact his easiest recruiting ground, with US intelligence agencies playing down the threat of jihadi proliferation. Azzam visited most American states and was warmly received by local Islamic centres. His open propagandising was welcomed in the Gulf and mostly overlooked elsewhere, with governments thinking it best to export problematic Islamists.Due to his extraordinary charisma and success, Azzam opened a Pandora's Box. Islamist extremists of every stripe got their start on the porous Af-Pak border where Azzam operated. The most famous was Osama Bin Laden. Hegghammer notes that Azzam did not create Al Qaida, but that he remained on good terms with Osama until his mysterious assassination in 1989. After 9/11, Pan-Islamists, Hamas, and various other admirers have argued that Azzam could've prevented the further radicalisation of jihad if he'd lived. But as Hegghamer himself argues, this is not certain. Azzam had eviscerated control structures on jihad by stating that all Muslims first-most had a duty to fight for the Ummah. He also promoted a theocratic Islamic state, justified the killing of communists, sanctioned the hypothetical murder of Israel supporters on US soil, and never ceased his vitriolic writings against Jews or secular Arab regimes. Azzam never endorsed sectarian anti-Shiism or the mass civilian attacks that dominate jihadism today. But neither did Bin Laden at the time!Hegghamer concludes that Azzam would've supported the jihads in Chechnya, Bosnia, Iraq, and Palestine. He might've supported target attacks against Muslim governments that worked with the US, as Osama did. And even if he would balk at 9/11 or ISIS' genocidal campaigns, he has nevertheless been hailed as an inspiration by thousands of terrorists the world over. He was the most successful jihadi entrepreneur of his time who was acclaimed as a hero for supporting the Afghan mujahideen, but his charisma shouldn't obscure his role in the jihad onslaught we have today.

OK

B. · September 27, 2020

OK

Amazing book

T.B. · January 12, 2021

Amazing book, high quality papier, easy to read.

One of the better book about Jihady and insurgency.

A.E. · March 19, 2023

This book is huge, but it is reading like some triller novel. I read dozens of books about jihadis and Islamic cults, but this book still one of my favorite. It is perfectly studied story that is written with a big attention to the small details, but at the same time it is anything but not boring.It is telling history of a modern Jihady movement right from the beginning, and about the man that created this movement. And - a little spoiler - in the beggining this movement have nothing to do with terrorism and wasn’t an enemy of the West. So, what went wrong?The book would not just made you forget some stereotypes about the early history of Al-Qaeda and Soviet-Afgan war, but also it will made you to thing about the questions that don’t have any simple answers.

Meticulous and compelling - a great book.

E. · March 28, 2020

An extremely interesting book which has obvious taken a huge amount of time and research.The book is well structured with each chapter setting out content and summarising at the end. The facts are set out clearly but areas of uncertainty or debate are highlighted with various potential theories or explanations set out in detail. This is helpful.Abdallah Azzam is a fascinating character who had a pivotal role in the rise of global jihad; this book has left me with a much clearer understanding of what he did and why he did it and I am left wondering if the world may have taken a different trajectory had he not been assassinated.