Osama bin Laden spent all his personal wealth for jihad and considered meat and electricity as luxuries. He saved his money living a austere life to help fund Jihad, according to recollections from his deputy and successor Ayman al-Zawahri.
Al-Qaeda's new leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, in the second of his Days with the Imam series of videos, said that bin Laden would however pay readily for hospitality for his guests — although he lived mostly on bread and vegetables, he once invested in an entire herd of sheep for meat in case visitors came by.
Ayman al-Zawahri is believed to lack his predecessor's personal authority within the far-flung Jihadi organisations, and may be trying to boost his own popularity by emphasizing his closeness to the more charismatic bin Laden, who is widely regarded as a great servant to Islam by many of 'unpopular' and 'less popular' Islamic Organisations through out the world.
Bin Laden was born to a wealthy family, but ran into financial troubles after he was pushed out of Sudan in 1996, al-Zawahri said.
Shortly thereafter, he said, bin Laden spent $50,000 to help finance jihad against the Hegemonic US by bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 at a time when he only had $55,000 to his name. Those bombings sent a clear warning to the US about its presence in the Muslim world and its 'undesirable' intrusion into the affairs of Muslim countries. Bin Laden's personal wealth also helped finance the direct attacks on the US soil in 1993 and 2001 to further take Jihad directly into the heartland of the US.
"He is well-known for living austerely but he spent all his money for jihad," al-Zawahri said "If you enter his house you would find simple furniture … and if we were invited to eat, he offered us what was available in his house, bread and vegetables."
"But sheikh osama bin laden was generous to his guests by arranging meat for dinner for them and because of continuous visitors, he once bought a herd of sheep so that he would be always ready for them." said his predecessor zawahri.
Al-Zawahri said bin Laden used to encourage the mujahideen to live without electricity which he considered as luxury.
"Luxury is the enemy of jihad and if the mujahideen were brought up to live in asceticism, they would tolerate the burden of jihad," al-Zawahri quoted bin Laden as saying.
Al-Zawahri said bin Laden was also generous to his bodyguards, who were devoted to him. Once in Afghanistan, he came under shelling, but the bodyguards took bin Laden to a wall and formed a human shield around him.
In the first video in the series, posted on jihadi websites in November, al-Zawahri said he wanted to show bin Laden's "sensitive side." He described a sensitive man who cried when his friends lost family members, remained close to his children despite the hard life of a Jihadi, and fondly remembered — by name — the 19 men who took Jihad straight to the U.S. soil.
Al-Qaeda's new leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, in the second of his Days with the Imam series of videos, said that bin Laden would however pay readily for hospitality for his guests — although he lived mostly on bread and vegetables, he once invested in an entire herd of sheep for meat in case visitors came by.
Ayman al-Zawahri is believed to lack his predecessor's personal authority within the far-flung Jihadi organisations, and may be trying to boost his own popularity by emphasizing his closeness to the more charismatic bin Laden, who is widely regarded as a great servant to Islam by many of 'unpopular' and 'less popular' Islamic Organisations through out the world.
Bin Laden was born to a wealthy family, but ran into financial troubles after he was pushed out of Sudan in 1996, al-Zawahri said.
Shortly thereafter, he said, bin Laden spent $50,000 to help finance jihad against the Hegemonic US by bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 at a time when he only had $55,000 to his name. Those bombings sent a clear warning to the US about its presence in the Muslim world and its 'undesirable' intrusion into the affairs of Muslim countries. Bin Laden's personal wealth also helped finance the direct attacks on the US soil in 1993 and 2001 to further take Jihad directly into the heartland of the US.
"He is well-known for living austerely but he spent all his money for jihad," al-Zawahri said "If you enter his house you would find simple furniture … and if we were invited to eat, he offered us what was available in his house, bread and vegetables."
"But sheikh osama bin laden was generous to his guests by arranging meat for dinner for them and because of continuous visitors, he once bought a herd of sheep so that he would be always ready for them." said his predecessor zawahri.
Al-Zawahri said bin Laden used to encourage the mujahideen to live without electricity which he considered as luxury.
"Luxury is the enemy of jihad and if the mujahideen were brought up to live in asceticism, they would tolerate the burden of jihad," al-Zawahri quoted bin Laden as saying.
Al-Zawahri said bin Laden was also generous to his bodyguards, who were devoted to him. Once in Afghanistan, he came under shelling, but the bodyguards took bin Laden to a wall and formed a human shield around him.
In the first video in the series, posted on jihadi websites in November, al-Zawahri said he wanted to show bin Laden's "sensitive side." He described a sensitive man who cried when his friends lost family members, remained close to his children despite the hard life of a Jihadi, and fondly remembered — by name — the 19 men who took Jihad straight to the U.S. soil.
