'Abdullah 'Azzam on Usamah bin Ladin: "I have never laid my eyes on a man like him."

[ابن آل مرة]

'Abdullah 'Azzam on Usamah bin Ladin: "I have never laid my eyes on a man like him."

Regarding Usamah bin Ladin, 'Abdullah 'Azzam said:

"...they do not look to the dunya. If it comes to them, it is in their hands, and does not enter their hearts. The dunya is a means to an end, not the end itself. So, such people eat to live; they don't live to eat. They eat just enough to keep them alive, and on this occasion, I would like to ask Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - to preserve our brother, Abu 'Abdillah, Usamah bin Ladin. I have never laid my eyes on a man like him on this Earth; he lives in his home like one who is in a state of poverty. I used to stay at his home in Jeddah when making Hajj or 'Umrah, and he did not even have a single chair or table in the entire house! He had four wives, and not a single one of their houses had a chair or table in it. Any laboror from Egypt or Jordan has a better house than Usamah. Despite this, if you ask him for a million riyals for the Mujahidin, he would pull out a check and write it for you in a matter of seconds.

He once went to one of his sisters and presented her with Ibn Taymiyyah's fatwa regarding Jihad with one's wealth. So, she pulled out her checkbook and wrote a check for eight million riyals. All of a sudden, those who were around her came to talk her out of it, asking her: "Are you insane? You give out eight million in one shot, while you live in a rented apartment? It will cost at least one million for you to build your own house!" So, she went back to Usamah and said to him: "Usamah, my brother, I need one million of these riyals to build a house for myself." So, he said to her: "By Allah, I will not give you back a single riyal, as you live in an apartment, relaxed, while the people are dying and cannot even find a tent to shelter themselves with!"

If you were to sit with him, you would think that he was a servant from the servants, with his manners and manhood. By Allah, I hold him to be like this. I asked Sayyaf to announce a decision to prevent him from moving from here (in Peshawar), but he was always eager to be in the midst of battle. His blood pressure would drop often, so, he would fill his pockets with salt and carry a jug of water with him. He was unable to walk, as he would constantly have to swallow some salt and drink some water in order to raise his blood pressure.

Believe me when I tell you that when he would visit me in my home, when he would hear the telephone ring, he would get up and bring it to me, so that I would not have to get up from my place! Such manners, humility, manhood...we ask Allah to preserve him, if He Wills."

['Fi Dhilal Surat at-Tawbah'; p. 301]

May Allah protect the Sheikh from all harm and evil, and grant victory to the Mujahideen everywhere. Ameen.