Osama bin Laden: The making of a jihadist

Osama bin Laden appeared destined to lead Saudi Arabia’s most important construction company. Instead, he went on to create the first major international jihadist network, Al Qaeda. His rise reflects the growth of radical Islamism during the final decades of the 20th century.

Bin Laden was the 17th son of a nearly illiterate Yemeni immigrant who built a successful construction business during Saudi Arabia’s oil-fuelled investment boom. The company became the Saudi Binladin Group. Osama initially seemed likely to follow his father into the family business, inheriting technical expertise in construction, particularly tunnel excavation.

That experience later helped him build Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan, as he acknowledged in a 1997 interview with a Pakistani media outlet. He also stood out from a young age for his austere lifestyle and intense religious devotion. At the University of Jeddah, where he enrolled to study economics in 1978, he encountered fellow students and professors linked to Islamist circles, including the Muslim Brotherhood.

The radical Muslim world was entering a period of upheaval. Three events in 1979 proved especially important: Iran’s Islamic Revolution, which became a reference point for both Shiite and Sunni radicals; the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca by ultra-conservative Islamist insurgents; and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan late that year.

The Mecca crisis pushed the Saudi monarchy to strengthen its alliance with the official Wahhabi establishment and adopt more conservative religious policies. The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan would have the most direct effect on bin Laden. In 1984, at the age of 27, he traveled to Peshawar, Pakistan, which had become a destination for hundreds of Arab volunteers seeking to fight communist forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

Despite his growing radicalism, bin Laden initially resisted going to the front. He instead used his professional experience to organize bunkers and other shelters for the mujahideen, while contributing his personal fortune to bring in and train Muslim volunteers. He received direct assistance for these activities from Saudi intelligence services, which were interested in spreading Wahhabi radicalism.