Growing Up bin Laden (2011 reissue)
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"The psychological portrait of the world's most wanted man is all the more devastating for being written by two people who apparently once revered him." --Culture (supplement to the Sunday Times)
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Osama bin Laden is the western world's most wanted terrorist. Intent on secrecy at all costs, his personal life has been shrouded in mystery until now. For the first time, Osama's first wife and fourth son break the silence to reveal the truth about the character and life of a man both feared and revered around the globe. Osama married his first cousin Najwa when he was just 17. Here she describes the quiet, serious young man she fell in love with, who would take her from a life of extraordinary wealth in Saudi Arabia to a remote mountaintop in Afghanistan. As his senior wife, she would bear him eleven children and watch him become ever stricter, until his growing fanaticism tore the family apart. Their son, Omar, gives a detailed account of his childhood, vying for his father's love in a household of more than 20 brothers and sisters and a youth spent learning desert survival skills and handling Kalashnikovs. Here we see Osama the authoritarian husband and stern father, the entrepreneur, and the leader of a complex terrorist network. Together, in gripping detail, mother and son reveal their life on the run forced to flee from country to country in response to Osama's increasingly militant activities until their eventual escape from Afghanistan just before the tragic events of 9/11 that would change the world forever. Never before has Osama's own family gone beyond the headlines to show us Osama the man. Now, with unprecedented access, and complete with exclusive family photographs, Jean Sasson, author of the bestselling Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia, takes us inside the secret world of Osama bin Laden.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked this up in a bookshop almost by accident, having vaguely remembered something about the fact that Bin Laden's wife and son had left his compound shortly before the attack on the Twin Towers. Frankly, even if it hadn't been about one of the world's most wanted men and his family, it would still have been riveting just for the glimpse it gives on another world. How many novels or even factual books can you pick up written by Arab women about their closeted lives, their hopes, their fears, their secret existences - the things they are forced to accept or endure?
Yet here is Najwa Bin Laden - cousin, childhood friend and ultimately wife of decades of Osama - mother to 11 of his children - telling her moving and heartbreaking tale in a way that no loving mother could fail to relate to. The decency and gentle temperament of both Najwa and her son Omar, who for so long went along, out of love and respect, with the wishes of Osama bin Laden, shines through. For him they endured constant domestic instability, separation, and utter privation - with a lifestyle steadily deteriorating from comfortable residences in Jeddah and Mesina - and a rather less good life in Khartoum, to the misery of life in storm-tossed rock shacks on top of Tora Bora mountain - with Najwa enduring pregnancy in these miserable conditions. Short of food and with not even basic sanitation or cooking facilities for her enormous family and that of her sister wives - who were dragged around with her along with their children too - she put up with everything without complaint - even as he doubts and fears increased as she watched her husband turning into a world pariah.
It must have taken Omar enormous courage to cross his father as he did finally, making clear to his father that he found his fanaticism and love of war utterly wrong, but he did the right thing and saved his pregnant mother and smallest siblings by persuading their father to let them leave Afghanistan, although one trembled for the other young children that Osama forced her to leave behind, motherless. After the 9/11 attacks Najwa could never return to her children in Afghanistan, even after her baby was born.
From their story you can see certain things - that Osama had the potential to be a great man - a sort of Arab Ghandi - had he but been a man of peace. He was of the land and loved nature, involving himself in ambitious agricultural and building schemes which could have usefully absorbed his energies had he but abandoned jihad. But his post-Afghan war frustration - that of a soldier addicted to combat combined wih his religious goals - and co-jihadists like Ayman al Zawahiri - led him to increase his military activity. He went along with them, dragging his family into the mire alongside him. The finer qualities in him were strength of character, courage, respect, and a kind of tribal honour that led him to employ and protect fellow Mujahadeen from the Afghan war who were no longer allowed to return to their own countries. His downfall was his arrogance, fanaticism and blind obsession with violent action - concerning both his faith and his hatred for America. Omar makes a good point when he refers to the truth of America - that most of America doesn't care one way or the other much about Islam or Muslims - as long as they're left in peace. It's politics that's the problem.
There was something in Najwa's part of the story that illuminated her. She came across as almost saintly and such a loving, loyal person. In any faith she would be regarded as exceptional.
The story is gripping anyway; but the inherent sadness of the book seems to steadily increase - until the end when the near-madness and heartbreak really shake you.
Yet here is Najwa Bin Laden - cousin, childhood friend and ultimately wife of decades of Osama - mother to 11 of his children - telling her moving and heartbreaking tale in a way that no loving mother could fail to relate to. The decency and gentle temperament of both Najwa and her son Omar, who for so long went along, out of love and respect, with the wishes of Osama bin Laden, shines through. For him they endured constant domestic instability, separation, and utter privation - with a lifestyle steadily deteriorating from comfortable residences in Jeddah and Mesina - and a rather less good life in Khartoum, to the misery of life in storm-tossed rock shacks on top of Tora Bora mountain - with Najwa enduring pregnancy in these miserable conditions. Short of food and with not even basic sanitation or cooking facilities for her enormous family and that of her sister wives - who were dragged around with her along with their children too - she put up with everything without complaint - even as he doubts and fears increased as she watched her husband turning into a world pariah.
It must have taken Omar enormous courage to cross his father as he did finally, making clear to his father that he found his fanaticism and love of war utterly wrong, but he did the right thing and saved his pregnant mother and smallest siblings by persuading their father to let them leave Afghanistan, although one trembled for the other young children that Osama forced her to leave behind, motherless. After the 9/11 attacks Najwa could never return to her children in Afghanistan, even after her baby was born.
From their story you can see certain things - that Osama had the potential to be a great man - a sort of Arab Ghandi - had he but been a man of peace. He was of the land and loved nature, involving himself in ambitious agricultural and building schemes which could have usefully absorbed his energies had he but abandoned jihad. But his post-Afghan war frustration - that of a soldier addicted to combat combined wih his religious goals - and co-jihadists like Ayman al Zawahiri - led him to increase his military activity. He went along with them, dragging his family into the mire alongside him. The finer qualities in him were strength of character, courage, respect, and a kind of tribal honour that led him to employ and protect fellow Mujahadeen from the Afghan war who were no longer allowed to return to their own countries. His downfall was his arrogance, fanaticism and blind obsession with violent action - concerning both his faith and his hatred for America. Omar makes a good point when he refers to the truth of America - that most of America doesn't care one way or the other much about Islam or Muslims - as long as they're left in peace. It's politics that's the problem.
There was something in Najwa's part of the story that illuminated her. She came across as almost saintly and such a loving, loyal person. In any faith she would be regarded as exceptional.
The story is gripping anyway; but the inherent sadness of the book seems to steadily increase - until the end when the near-madness and heartbreak really shake you.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
A man does not make a family, this is a fascinating book looking at the life and trials of a family and despite all the challenges and heartache they are a family like any other. It will change the way you look at things!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A very interesting book with lots and lots of facts about Osama's life. Very well researched, organized and beautifully written. Definitely worth a read !!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent read
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it gives an insight into Bin Laden's background and puts into context the information recently released about his thoughts and circumstances when he... Read more
Published 20 days ago by SusanY
Not convinced....
I'm afraid I don't agree with your other reviewers. I think the writing style was a bit plodding and repetative and not really that informative. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Lizzie Mac
A compelling read
Bought this in the post-Christmas 12 Days of Kindle sale, and it was one of the best purchases I've made recently. Read more
Published 4 months ago by mw_london
GROWING UP BIN LADEN
This is a very fascinating read. The story of Osama Bin Laden's first wife and her 4th son. Both of whom left Bin Laden prior to the 9/11 attack very authentic and almost... Read more
Published 5 months ago by J. Gamble
Well done Omar and Naswa
Initially I didn't really choose to read this book,I sort of had to read it as part of my research on a psychoanalytic paper I am writing on abusive parents and I began with a... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Phoenix
Fantastic book
This book relates the story of Osama Bin Laden, the man! Through testimonies by his first wife, Najwa and his forth son Omar and also notes from J Sasson, the author. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Aline David
Absolutely Brilliant
What can I say about this book? It was absolutely outstandingly brilliant. I loved it from start to finish. Was compulsive reading. Could not put it down. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Daisy
I loved this book
I found this book really moving and thought provoking. I dont usually bother writing reveiews but I did as this is a story that must be read . Read more
Published 11 months ago by mdev44
A Terrific Read!!!
Have to say this is the best book I have read for a long time. Takes you far away into a culture that I knew very little about. It is disturbing and at times extrem funny. Read more
Published 12 months ago by binkytop
Great story
Just finished this book and would highly recommend it...the story is told by 2 family members who catalogue in their own words the gradual decline of family life due to the... Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2009 by Dickie
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