Growing Up Bin Laden - Jean P. Sasson [166]
Mohammed claimed to be in love with the daughter of Abu Hafs, my husband’s closest friend and highest-ranking commander. Although Mohammed had had no occasion to spend time with Abu Hafs’s daughter, he had seen her, and had fallen obsessively in love.
My husband and Abu Hafs told Mohammed no, that he was too young, as was the bride, who was several years younger than my son.
But my son had inherited his father’s willpower, refusing to take no for an answer. He so annoyed his father and Abu Hafs that the men conferred, agreeing to allow the youngsters to have a chaperoned meeting, which is considered proper in our society. The two children were so delighted with each other that the two fathers agreed upon an engagement, a long engagement—at least that was the plan.
So the engagement was announced and the proper papers were signed. Of course, the marriage was not consummated due to the young age of Mohammed and his bride.
Everyone hoped that the formal arrangements would soothe Mohammed into waiting until he became seventeen in 2002, a suitable age for a groom, according to my husband.
Our son had other ideas.
One night in October of 2000, while everyone was sleeping, my restless son slipped from his bed, sneaked to my husband’s stables, and took a horse. He galloped that horse over dangerous territory for six hours, traveling more than thirty miles from our country compound to the city of Kandahar. He arrived at the home of Abu Hafs shortly before dawn.
Abu Hafs was startled by a loud banging on his door.
He crept up to see if he needed to use his gun.
But there was Mohammed, so bold that he loudly proclaimed, “I am here to claim my bride.”
Mohammed was braver than most young teenagers, for Abu Hafs was a huge man, a fearless warrior, and a father who took the honor of his family seriously.
Mohammed was lucky not to get a caning, but instead was invited into Abu Hafs’s home, where he would not stop talking, speaking strongly to convince his future father-in-law that the wedding should be held sooner rather than later.
Abu Hafs traveled back to our compound with Mohammed to meet with Osama. The two men were concerned that Mohammed had risked his life to make that midnight ride alone.
The two fathers finally relented, convinced that a great love existed between their children.
And so it came to be that the two men who had been close friends since the days of the Russian war planned a big wedding for their son and daughter. Our children were so happy that the event spiraled into a huge occasion, taking several months to plan. Even family members from Saudi Arabia were invited. It was decided that Mohammed’s wedding would be in the month of January 2001. Osama’s mother, her husband, and one of her sons would travel to Kandahar for the event.
January came quickly. My son Mohammed’s wedding was a big event with much gaiety and laughter. Never have I seen Osama so pleased, for he loved Abu Hafs as a brother, and their two children were linking our families forever.
As always, men and women celebrated separately. After the wedding, Mohammed and his bride settled near to me, where they gave every appearance of being the happiest of couples. I loved my son’s wife as I love my own daughters.
I was so glad to be back in Afghanistan with my children that I hardly ever gave Omar’s warning of impending doom a single thought.
Chapter 28
Return to Saudi Arabia
OMAR BIN LADEN
During the four months I spent in Syria in late 1999 and early 2000, I accomplished little, other than learning the art of waiting. I was determined to reclaim my rightful heritage as a Saudi citizen. I had never accepted the sham of my Sudanese citizenship. I was a Saudi Arabian, and that was that.
My efforts to keep my mother and youngest two siblings out of Afghanistan had failed. My mother could not keep herself away from her other children, or from the only life she had known since the day she married my father, twenty-six years before.
Once she left, I fell into a listless