Jihad Joe_ Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam - J. M. Berger [9]
Yet Abdullah Azzam stood head and shoulders over the rest. At least dozens and as many as hundreds of Muslims living in America heard his call and were moved to action. Azzam toured the world propounding the jihad in Afghanistan, leveraging his scholarly credentials to argue for the legitimacy of the Afghan jihad as an act of defense against outside aggression. He also wrote books and produced videos exhorting Muslims to the cause. Although he frequently invoked the struggle of the Palestinians against the Israelis, most of his energy and direct efforts were reserved for Afghanistan. It was easier to get there and fight, thanks in no small part to the covert helping hand provided by the United States and the generous financing of the Saudi government.
Although one can find arguments in favor of offensive jihad (that is, attempting to conquer non-Muslims without provocation), most jihadist ideologues find it easier to persuade audiences of the need for defensive jihad, which allows Muslims to conduct war in certain circumstances. In Afghanistan few could argue against the right of Muslims to fight the Soviets. Azzam’s 1984 book, Defense of Muslim Lands, lays out some of this rationale.
Defensive Jihad: This is expelling the Kuffar [infidels] from our land, and it is Fard Ayn, [Arabic for] a compulsory duty upon all. It is the most important of all the compulsory duties and arises in the following condition: if the Kuf far enter a land of the Muslims.
We have to concentrate our efforts on Afghanistan and Palestine now, because they have become our foremost problems. Moreover, our occupying enemies are very deceptive and execute programs to extend their power in these regions. The people of Afghanistan are renowned for their strength and pride. It seems as if the Glorified and Exalted prepared the mountains and the land there especially for jihad.29
Azzam advanced the same line of thought in his lectures, often with stirring effect.
In situations like Afghanistan and Palestine, [the scholars] have all ruled that jihad becomes an individual obligation, that if the enemy enters a Muslim land by as much as a hand span, jihad becomes the personal duty of every Muslim man and woman in that territory. [ … ] And if the people of that land are incapable, or negligent, or lazy, or refrain, the individual obligation expands in a circular fashion to include those nearest to them. And if they are also negligent, or lazy, or refrain, and so on, until the entire earth is included in the individual obligation. [ … ] All of [the scholars] stated this fundamental, that the individual obligation becomes, in this situation, like prayer and fasting—an obligation which cannot be abandoned.30
The latter point is among the most controversial positions taken by jihadist thinkers. Daily prayer and the annual Ramadan month of fasting are among the “Five Pillars” of Islam, the baseline obligations that every Muslim is required to meet. Jihad is notably absent from that list, an omission that many jihadist scholars have tried to rectify. Although such rhetoric is largely rejected by mainstream Islamic scholars, it can have a profound effect on individuals looking for an excuse to fight—even those who neglect the actual pillars, as many jihadists do.
One of Azzam’s best-known books was Join the Caravan, which was published a few years after Defense of Muslim Lands. This work showed a distinct expansion of the author’s jihadist vision. The war with the Soviets was winding to a close, and the mujahideen were poised to claim victory over the world’s most fearsome superpowers. Azzam had assembled a force of fighters, many of whom had been trained by experts and hardened in