Najwa Ghanem ( ar, نجوى غانم; born c. 1960), is a

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n woman who was the first wife and first cousin of

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

, being the daughter of his mother's brother. She is also known as '' Um Abdallah'' (mother of

Abdallah Abd Allah ( ar, عبدالله, translit=ʻAbd Allāh), also spelled Abdallah, Abdellah, Abdollah, Abdullah and many others, is an Arabic name meaning "Servant of God". It is built from the Arabic words '' abd'' () and '' Allāh'' (). Although the ...

). She was born to Ibrahim and Nabeeha in

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

, Syria, and her family was originally from

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. She had five siblings. Osama married Najwa in 1974 at the age of fourteen in

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

. She travelled with Osama to

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. According to

Abu Jandal Nasser al-Bahri (1972 – 26 December 2015), also known by his '' kunya'' or ''nom de guerre'' as Abu Jandal – "father of death" or "the killer", was a member of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2000. According to his memoir, he gave his B ...

, she left Afghanistan before the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

and did not return. According to Najwa and her son

Omar bin Laden Omar bin Osama bin Mohammed bin 'Awad bin Laden ( ar, عمر بن أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن, ''ʿUmar bin ʾUsāmah bin Muḥammad bin ʿAwaḍ bin Lādin''; born March 1, 1981), better known as Omar bin Laden, is a Saud ...

, she left Afghanistan on September 9, 2001. In 2005, Hutaifa Azzam, son of

Abdullah Azzam Abdullah Yusuf Azzam ( ar, عبد الله يوسف عزام, translit=‘Abdu’llāh Yūsuf ‘Azzām; ) was a Salafi jihadist, a Palestinian scholar, and theologian of Sunni Islam. During the Soviet–Afghan War of the 1980s, he advocated "de ...

, stated that she was living in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

with her son Abdel Rahman. She is the mother of 11 children, including Omar, Abdallah, Saad, Abdul Rahman, Osman, Mohammed, Fatima, Iman, Ladin, Rukhaiya and Nour. She co-authored ''

Growing Up bin Laden ''Growing Up bin Laden: Osama's Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret World'' is a 2009 book based on interviews with a wife and son of Osama bin Laden. References 2009 non-fiction books American biographies Books about al-Qaeda Wor ...

'' with Omar. Her daughter Iman who was released by

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in 2010 went to live with her in Syria. According to a close family member in 2011, Najwa's mother died of shock and grief after hearing of her son-in-law's death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghanhem, Najwa Bin Laden family 1960s births Living people Syrian women

See also

References