Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, And Religion
Osama bin Laden was born on March 10th, 1957, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was the founder of Al-Qaeda, a militant based Islamist organization and was the mastermind of many devastating terrorist attacks against the United States and other Western Powers. Al-Qaeda started out as a communications network designed to help aid and support the Muslims who were fighting against the Soviet Union during the Afghanistan War. They recruited and targeted its members towards Muslims who were considered “common” and “ignorant”. Al-Qaeda also went after the rebellious youth and those with criminal records and societal outcasts. After Osama Bin Laden was exiled from Saudi Arabia due to his anti-government antics, he made the first headquarters of Al-Qaeda in Sudan. He then reestablished the headquarters in Afghanistan after the Soviets departed in 1989 and gained the support of the Taliban militia. With Al-Qaeda’s goal of removing Western Influence, and in particular, the presence of the United States from Islamic culture, they have turned to violence as the solution and have caused many life-changing events, one of which being 9/11 which has both reshaped the United States’ view and intensified the global war on terrorism.
Al-Qaeda has carried out endless amounts of violence and has been responsible for multiple terrorist attacks. On the sunny and clear day of September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda “terrorists aboard three hijacked passenger planes and carried out coordinated suicide attacks against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing everyone on board the planes and nearly 3,000 people on the ground. A fourth plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field, killing all on board, after passengers and crew attempted to wrest control from the hijackers”. 9/11 had many effects on the U.S. both psychologically and economically. One month after 9/11 occurred, there were “reported forecasts of a global decrease in Gross Domestic Product due to direct destruction, indirect disruption of activities and a decrease in confidence”. 9/11 also led to an increase of US presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, Muslim hate crimes, and massive changes in air travel and security. This terrorist attack would become the worst and most catastrophic attack in modern history, and Al-Qaeda would continue to carry out more deadly attacks in the years followed.
October 12th of 2002 was a day in history the people of Bali would never forget. At around 11pm, three bombs exploded in Kura Beach nightclub district of Bali in Indonesia and killed 202 people. Of those 202 people, 88 were Australian and hundreds of more people were wounded as a result of the bombings. Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamic group linked to Al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for this attack. This represented the biggest loss of Australian life due to a single act of terrorism. During this attack, the bombers detonated two bombs in front of the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar, and one in front of the American consulate. More than 30 different people were caught and arrested due to their involvement in the attacks.
Another act of violence that was performed by Al-Qaeda occurred on the morning of July 7, 2005 and resulted in 52 deaths and over 700 injuries in a total of four attacks. These attacks are also called 7 July attacks or 7/7 attacks. At 8:50 AM, multiple bombs ripped through three different trains on the London Underground, killing 39 people. An hour later, on the top deck of a bus in Tavistock Square, a bomb was detonated and killed 13 additional people. A few months later after the attacks, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s deputy leader claimed partial responsibility for the London bombings. However, al-Qaeda’s true involvement in these attacks still remains unknown.
On May 2, 2011, almost 10 years after 9/11, “U.S. Special Forces raided an al Qaeda compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed the world’s most wanted terrorist: Osama Bin Laden”. In addition to the death of bin Laden, ten computer hard drives, five computers, more than 100 storage devices, and also bin Laden’s journal were recovered at the compound. The families of many 9/11 victims believed “bin Laden’s death symbolized justice and retribution”. Osama Bin Laden’s death was a major blow to al Qaeda, but also to his supporters and recruits that he attracted from all over the world.
Both the members and supporters of Al-Qaeda are united in the belief that they are a part of a three-person jihad (Holy War) “against ‘apostate’ Muslims, non-Islamic rulers, and the West”. Their ideology is based off of two key sources: Wahhabism which is the official version of the religion of Islam and is found in Saudi Arabia, and Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian author, educator, poet, Islamist theorist, and politician. Al-Qaeda’s main leader is Bin Laden’s deputy, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. Al-Qaeda gained support among many angry Sunni Muslims after the US-led conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11 in two key ways: by focusing its discontent against the ‘West’, and in particular towards the United States, and also by separating the already sensitive relations between the Sunni and Shia sects.
Due to many Islamist extremist groups and the constant presence of terrorist attacks on the news, Muslims are often racially discriminated in modern society. Islam is an extremely peaceful and non-violent religion, and the extremist groups frequently misinterpret the Quran, giving fellow Muslims and the religion of Islam a bad reputation. In the years between 2015-2016, the number of attacks against Muslims increased sharply, surpassing the previous peak that occurred in 2001 after the September 11th attacks. In 2001, there were 93 anti-Muslim assaults and in 2016, this number significantly increased to 127 attacks against Muslims. This is extremely unacceptable, and our society needs to be changed and educated on the true meaning and value behind the religion of Islam. We can’t let identity politics decide our opinion over a whole group of people due to just a few harmful actions conducted by select groups of individuals.
After researching Al-Qaeda, I will never understand how a religious text can be misinterpreted and lead to acts of violence being committed as result. However, the harm that only a few extremist groups cause does not replace the good and beauty of the Muslim religion. As a member of the Roman Catholic Church, I have been raised to be accepting of people of all faiths and backgrounds. After learning how many Muslims are affected and discriminated against due to the terrorist attacks, I am extremely saddened and feel compelled to make a difference. No one deserves and should ever be judged due to the faith they belong to and everyone should be accepted and treated with respect. In high school, I took an IB World Religions course to help me become more open minded and have a better understanding of each of the main world religions. After this class, I felt that the Muslim faith is the most misunderstood religion. Faith is part of one’s identity and is part of what makes someone an individual. No faith or religion is superior/inferior to any of the other religions and therefore we all have a right to believe in and associate with what we want. Religion and spirituality is a key aspect in someone’s life and needs to be respected by society as a collective whole.
