Tariq Abu al-Azm: Ashmawi’s mentor in takfiri ideology
Friday 19/October/2018 - 04:10 PM
Ashmawi’s
Abdul Hadi Rabee
The detained terrorist Tariq Abu al-Azm nicknamed Abu Hamza is considered one of the most polarized to the takfiri thought and influence although he is not famous in the media.
Abu al-Azm was born in the city of Mahalla al-Kobra in the western province of
Al-Gharbia in 1970. At first he did not show any features of takfiri thought.
He graduated from high school and went to the military academy. He graduated as
an officer of the armed forces. He traveled to receive military courses in the
United States. He rose to the rank of a major and was responsible for one of
the air bases of the Egyptian Air Force.
The first spark that pushed him to the takfiri thought after his return from the
United States was his shock of the features of Western civilization and what he
saw as religious deviation. He began to attend some lectures and religious
lessons, where he learned some extremist ideas.
Abu al-Azm was not convinced of the principles he learned from his elders, but
he saw that they were deficient in their reliance on religious legislation and
not practicing practical jihad. This opened the way to research in the
literature of the jihadist trend.
Abu al-Azm was the first to take the path of radicalism in 2002. He was accused
along with a number of members of what later became known as Jundallah (the
al-Qaeda branch in Gaza), of planning a number of operations on Egyptian
territory. These attempts include targeting US ships in the Suez Canal, and the
blowing up of the American Embassy in Cairo. The competent court issued a
decision to release Abu al-Azm after the case was saved. Abu al-Azm was then
separated from the military establishment. He was detained with his companions
as part of a state an emergency announced in Egypt. He was released in March
2011 weeks after the outbreak of the January 25 Revolution.
In October 2012, Abu al-Azm was re-arrested along with 43 other defendants in
case No. 333, known as "Nasr City Cell" on several charges. He was
not a regular prisoner, but provoked disturbances inside the prison, including
demonstrations, hunger strikes and attempts to attract young people to follow
the takfiri thought, most notably Muhammad Jamal al-Kashif, who established a
network of arms transfers across the western border with Libya and the
terrorist Hisham Ashmawi, who embraced takfiri ideas through Abu al-Azm.
Tariq Abu al-Azm is now serving a life sentence after being convicted in the
Nasr City cell case of establishing a group following the takfiri ideology, and
attacking the state's individuals and institutions.
