Father Of Jihad, The: 'Abd Allah 'Azzam's Jihad Ideas And Implications To National Security

This study revolves around the jihad ideas of 'Abd All¿h 'Azz¿m - an iconic figure in the study of militant jihad in the 20th century, history of Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union, Al-Qaeda and current threat of terrorism.
This study has several objectives:

to render an in-depth description of his ideas by way of a review of his writing, hitherto little referenced in the literature;

to identify how these ideas have inspired so many to participate in militant jihad in the Soviet-Afghan war, and indeed elsewhere;

to highlight the internal contradictions and inconsistencies in 'Azz¿m's ideas, and to juxtapose these ideas with contemporary jihadism;

to identify specific aspects of 'Azz¿m's ideas in order to extract key lessons for counter-ideology work within the framework of counter-terrorism.

some of 'Azz¿m's jihad ideas diverge from dominant ideas held by current jihadist groups like Al-Qaeda and these could potentially be used to counter contemporary jihad ideas and practices of jihadists.