sage (Greenberg, 2001).
The following essay will first look at the careers of the two top leaders of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri. It will then outline the writings and ideas of Sayyid Qutb, a radical Egyptian intellectual who created the ideology that al-Qaeda has developed and follows. Finally, it will discuss the implications that radical religion-based movements like al-Qaeda have for the study of political inquiry in the modern world.
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri: Two Journeys to Terrorism
It is an interesting fact that the top leaders of al Qaeda have come from families that were at least well off, rather than poor. In the case of Osama bin Laden, his family is in fact extremely rich. Osama bin Laden's own portion of the family fortune may be hundreds of millions of dollars. Ayman al-Zawahri is not from such an extremely well-established background. However, his family was well-to-do enough for him and other brothers and sisters to afford medical school training. It was also a well-established family in Egyptian upper middle class society at the time when Ayman was growing up.
The fact that these men came from privileged backgrounds raises questions about how they became leaders of a radical, militant cause. A common assumption about terrorist groups and other radical movements are that they get their members from people who are "marginal." That is, people who don't have much of a fixed place in society. They may not be able to get jobs, so they cannot look forward to establishing a family. If they have education, they do not have much chance to use it to improve their living situation. Young men in this situation can easily turn toward a radical movement that gives them a sense of purpose.
This, however, can't be the motivation for people like Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawhahri. They come from backgrounds that are at least comfortable, or even extremely wealthy. We...