Book 87: Growing Up bin Laden

Growing Up bin Laden, by Najwa bin Laden, Omar bin Laden, and Jean Sasson

When I started reading this book, I thought I would be most interested in Najwa’s perspective, but the more I read, the more I learned from her son, Omar. Najwa’s story is limited in that she lived her entire life with her husband in purdah, or isolation, and thus wasn’t privy to any details of what was happening. Her role was to be a happy, submissive, sweet, unquestioning wife and she fulfilled that perfectly. I was more infuriated with her, for her unquestioning obedience, but I can understand that that is due to a difference of upbringing, life experiences, culture, and religion.

Omar, the fourth son of Najwa and Osama, had a difficult and bewildering childhood. The family went from living in luxury in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to middle-class life in Khartoum, Sudan, to living on the side of a mountain in Afghanistan, each step accompanied by more involvement in al-Qaeda and jihad. Omar is an extreme opposite of his father in every way – never understanding the thirst for violence shown by Osama, Omar instead dreamed of peace, and an ordinary life. But he was constrained by his culture, and suffered emotionally and physically for many years before he developed the courage to get out.

This book is educational, as it provides a narrative timeline of the development of al-Qaeda, and the increasing terrorist activity of the organization. We see how Osama bin Laden changed from a student of economics to the world’s most wanted man, and the senselessness of many of the acts he and his group endorse. Omar describes an incident where men killed a monkey, because they were convinced the monkey was a Jew. The book is both terrifying and enlightening, as I don’t realize how people could believe such…garbage? Idiocy? But then I saw how so many of the recruits were boys from villages, who were easily swayed by powerful speakers and religious authorities, and who had no real opportunities in life other than the fighting offered by jihad violence.

4/5.