Osama bin Laden as Subject

What Osama bin Laden Did Not (Want to) Know: Manly Palmer Hall, Islam, and Conspiracism

“…96 As a corrective to distortions and shallowness Scheuer prescribes, and exemplifies in his own work, extensive reference to bin Laden's own work. 97 Scheuer describes how bin Laden was raised by his father in the puritanical, Wahhabite tradition, 98 and how he received his education almost entirely in Saudi Arabia, more particularly in Jeddah, from the elite Al-Thager Model School to King Abdulaziz University (where he pursued, and perhaps did not complete, studies in economics, business administration, and management). 99 Early on, bin Laden developed a keen interest in the Prophet's life, Islamic history, and the ummah (the Muslim community worldwide).…”

“…Let us scrutinise the question of Hall's affinity with Osama bin Laden. The Yemeni-Saudi millionaire and terrorist's biographer Michael Scheuer points out how he has been the subject of a "flood of words" 95 and of competing narratives. 96 As a corrective to distortions and shallowness Scheuer prescribes, and exemplifies in his own work, extensive reference to bin Laden's own work.…”

“…The Yemeni-Saudi millionaire and terrorist's biographer Michael Scheuer points out how he has been the subject of a "flood of words" 95 and of competing narratives. 96 As a corrective to distortions and shallowness Scheuer prescribes, and exemplifies in his own work, extensive reference to bin Laden's own work. 97 Scheuer describes how bin Laden was raised by his father in the puritanical, Wahhabite tradition, 98 and how he received his education almost entirely in Saudi Arabia, more particularly in Jeddah, from the elite Al-Thager Model School to King Abdulaziz University (where he pursued, and perhaps did not complete, studies in economics, business administration, and management).…”

“…97 Scheuer describes how bin Laden was raised by his father in the puritanical, Wahhabite tradition, 98 and how he received his education almost entirely in Saudi Arabia, more particularly in Jeddah, from the elite Al-Thager Model School to King Abdulaziz University (where he pursued, and perhaps did not complete, studies in economics, business administration, and management). 99 Early on, bin Laden developed a keen interest in the Prophet's life, Islamic history, and the ummah (the Muslim community worldwide). 100 He understood the concept of jihad as a martial one, as a war against the infidels (as opposed to jihad meant as a personal struggle), most notably aimed at ridding the world of the USA's (and Israel's) presence, at recovering lands taken from the Muslims, or at toppling rulers who did not abide by the shariah (i.e.…”

Soccer: Moulding the Middle East and North Africa

“…Once the Russians withdrew and foreign jihadists returned home, soccer matches were an opportunity to stay in touch. 673 Mohamed Abdel Rahman, a former Egyptian fighter in Afghanistan and the son of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who is serving a life sentence in the United States for the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, recalled in an interview with CNN that he played soccer in Pakistan with former Egyptian special forces officer Saif al-Adel, a senior Al Qaeda official who has since been killed. "We played football with a group of fellow jihadists, then had lunch before I left," (Mr.) Abdel Rahman said.…”