WALTER LAQUEUR
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As he saw it, the liberation of Afghanistan was not the main aim but
just the first step in the coming jihad. The real aim was to establish Mus–
lim rule over all the territories that had once been theirs, from Spain to
the Philippines, Central Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe. He believed
in what could be called a Muslim Brezhnev doctrine: a country that had
become Muslim should remain so forever. But why only Spain? Why not
France, the rest of Europe, America, and Asia? Azzam believed in doing
one thing at a time-but jihad was to continue until Allah alone was
worshiped by all mankind.
Azzam's greatest contribution was the creation of the mystique of
Muslim invincibility. On one occasion he said that he felt that he was
nine years old, with seven and a half years in the Afghan jihad, and a
year-and-a-half in the jihad in Palestine; the rest of the years did not
count. As his biographer writes, "The gun became his preoccupation
and his recreation, and his slogan was no negotiations, no conferences,
and no dialogues."
It
was in Peshawar that Azzam first met a young
Saudi named bin Laden who became his follower and main financial
supporter. Azzam was killed with two of his sons when his car was
blown up outside Peshawar in
I989.
A short time before there had been
another attempt on his life. Who was responsible? According to rumor
bin Laden was involved, but there was no obvious motive nor any
proof. In later years bin Laden always referred to the sheikh with rev–
erence and admiration. The killers were never found, and apparently
there was no great effort to find them.
The works of Azzam are prominently displayed in this bookshop.
Among the other bestsellers are
Al Farida al ga 'iba
(The Absent Oblig–
ation), a book which first came out more than twenty years ago and has
had a cult following of Muslim radicals.
It
was written by one
Muhammed Abdu Salam Faraj, an electrician by profession and the ide–
ologist of the group of Egyptian terrorists who killed Anwar el-Sadat.
Farrag, though he was only the theoretician, was hanged along with
those who shot Sadat, but his message lives on. He encourages jihad
now, here and everywhere, and bitterly attacks all those who want to
postpone it for one reason or another. The book attracted some atten–
tion when it first appeared-a distinguished Dutch professor analyzed it
at length-but only the specialists paid attention. Of course, this was
the problem with all the literature of this kind. Most academics told us
that it was of no consequence.
Tremendous exposure was given in the American and European
media to the comments on terrorism by famous people-composers,
Nobel Prize winners, pop stars, pop philosophers, psychologists, and
