From Jordan To Iraq: The Jama’at al Tawhid wal Jihad & The Rise Of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi a Jordanian criminal whose crimes varied from pimping to murder, was not a notable figure, far from ikt. All that would change within a short 10 years. In 1992 he traveled to Afghanistan to fight against the communist forces under the Mohammad Najibullah governement. It was here he would meet the single most influential man in his life, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, al-Maqdisi was considered al-Zarqawi's mentor, and would meet once again, this time at the Jordanian Mukhaberat prison. It was here al-Maqdisi persuaded the volatile al-Zarqawi to study the Quran. Within 5 years al-Zarqawi had built a small but insular cell within the prison, dedicated to the Salafi ideology al-Maqdisi introduced him to. By 1999, with members from his prison block, he formed a violent group based on the ideology of Salafi Islam, Jama’at al Tawhid wal Jihad . They would later be reamed to the more infamously known title, the Islamic State & The Levant.