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Identification Items and Review Questions Chapter 1
Sayyid Qutb; Gamal Abdul Nasser; Anwar al-Sadat; Takfir; Jahiliyya
Why did Sayyid Qutb leave Egypt and travel to the US? What
impact did Qutb’s trip to the US have on him?
What were Qutb’s criticisms of the US?
What was the political situation in Egypt when Qutb returned?
Who were the Muslim Brothers and what did they share with Qutb? Why
was Qutb imprisoned?
Why did Qutb’s writings say and why were they so dangerous to the governments of Arab nations in the 1950’s and 60’s? Chapter 2
Ayman al-Zawahiri; Islamic Group; Al-Jihad; Sharia; Camp David Accords; Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman
What impact did Qutb’s writings and teachings have on Ayman al-Zawahiri? Why?
What impact did the 1967 war between Egypt and Israel have on Zawahiri and other young Arabs? Who
was the primary target of the new Egyptian Nationalists? Why?
What was Sadat’s relationship with the Muslim Brothers when he became President of Egypt? Did this change?
How did Zawahiri get involved in Afghanistan? How did his view of the conflict differ from that of other volunteers?
How did the events of 1979 shape Zawahiri’s ideology?
Who was responsible for Sadat’s assassination? How did this event impact Egypt? How did it impact al-Jihad? How
did prison transform Zawahiri and other Islamists? Why? Chapter 3
Mohammed bin Laden; King Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud; Wahhabis; Aramco; Kaaba; Grand Mosque; Jamal Khalifa
What was Saudi Arabia like when Mohammed bin Laden arrived from Yemen?
What impact did the discovery of oil have on Saudi Arabia?
How did Mohammed bin Laden become wealthy?
How did the Saudi Royal family become indebted to Mohammed bin Laden?
What was Osama bin Laden’s childhood like?
What religious and political awakening did Osama bin Laden have when he was fourteen? Why
did Osama begin practicing polygamy? Chapter 4
Prince Turki; Foreign Liason Bureau; Mahdi; Abdullah Azzam
Why did Prince Turki come to the US, and why did he return to Saudi Arabia?
How and why did Saudi society change in the years after Turki returned in 1973?
What happened to King Faisal in 1975?
Why was the Grand Mosque assaulted on the morning of Nov, 20, 1979?
How did Turki bring about an end to the takeover of the Grand Mosque?
What impact did the takeover of the Grand Mosque have on Saudi Arabia? How
did bin Laden react to the Society invasion of Afghanistan? Chapter 5
ISI; Services Bureau; Tora Bora; Lion’s Den; Abu Hajer al-Iraqi
What did Turki believe the USSR was after with their invasion of Afghanistan?
What was Turki’s role in the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan? What was bin Laden’s impression of the Afghanis? How did this impact his role in the Afghan struggle? How
did Abdullah Azzam and bin Laden provide a religious justification for the Afghan jihad?
What was the initial result of the bin Laden’s financial support and Azzam’s fatwah? What
characterized the young Arabs who participated in the Afghan jihad?
What role did martyrdom play in the Afghan jihad?
How did the Arab mujahideen in Afghanistan define jihad? How did this differ from previous conceptualizations of jihad?
By 1986, how had bin Laden and Azzam begun to diverge over Afghanistan? Why did the Pakistani’s move to shut down
Arab operations in Peshawar? Chapter 6
Al-Qaeda; Islamic Jihad; Abu Ubaydah al-Banshiri; Abu Abdul Rahman
What was the relationship between the various Afghan warlords? What
did Zawahiri do in Peshawar? How did it change him?
How did takfir cause a division within Islam? How was it incorporated into Zawahiri’s and bin Laden’s visions of Islam?
What was the relationship like between Zawahiri and bin Laden in Peshawar?
Why did the Soviets begin to withdraw their forces from Afghanistan in 1988? How did the Afghan warlords respond ?
How did Azzam view takfir differently from Zawahiri?
How and why was al-Qaeda created?
What were the requirements for joining al-Qaeda?
What characterized the Arab mujahideen movement after the Soviets began their withdrawal?
What was the “ugly irony” of the Arab Afghan crusade, which Wright identifies in this chapter? What does this indicate
about the growing fundamentalist movement?
Who were the strongest competing Afghan leaders in the civil war? How
was Azzam killed? How did Zawahiri react to his death? Chapter 7
muttawa
Why did bin Laden’s return to Saudi Arabia in 1989 present a problem from the Saudi Royal Family? What
made Turki unique within Saudi government and society?
What did the confrontation between Turki and the muttawa show about Saudi politics and society?
What impact did the Wahhabi assumption of power in Saudi Arabia have for the rest of the Islamic world?