ABSTRACT
It would seem, to paraphrase Thomas Carlyle, that the chapters of history are but the successive biographies of great men and women (Carlyle 1897: 39). The significance of such figures is even more acute within their own collectives where they become symbols ingrained in the eidetic shared memory, often rejuvenated as sources of inspiration when the proud cries of triumph turn to suspires of stagnation and decline. This trend seems to be particularly prominent in the modern history of Islam’s more radical and militant strains, which has seen the rise of iconic figures such as the ‘Blind Sheikh’ Rahman, Abdullah Azzam, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Anwar al-Awlaki and, of course, Osama bin Laden. Yet if one scratches the surface of their often polished images and wades through their at times hypnotic rhetoric, one would find that the source of their so-called ‘greatness’ is found in a complex web of socio-historical forces and relationships of which they are but a product. To paraphrase Herbert Spencer, the great man may remake his society but he does so only after his society has made him (Spencer 1974: 35). Thus, charismatic leaders emerge as products of their society and its history, complex compounds of sociological, historical, political and psychological forces, symbols representing a followership, a history and an identity.
