Editing Islamism (section)

===Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979–1989)===
[[File:October_87_-_Khalis-loyal_Muja.jpg|thumb|Afghan Mujahideen of [[Hezb-i Islami Khalis|Hezb-i Islami]], 1986]]
In 1979, the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet Union deployed its 40th Army into Afghanistan]], attempting to suppress an Islamic rebellion against an allied Marxist regime in the [[War in Afghanistan (1978–present)|Afghan Civil War]]. The conflict, pitting indigenous impoverished Muslims ([[mujahideen]]) against an anti-religious superpower, galvanized thousands of Muslims around the world to send aid and sometimes to go themselves to fight for their faith. Leading this pan-Islamic effort was Palestinian [['alim]] [[Abdullah Yusuf Azzam#Life in Pakistan and Afghanistan|Abdullah Yusuf Azzam]]. While the military effectiveness of these "[[Afghan Arabs]]" was marginal, an estimated 16,000<ref name=Atkins>{{cite book|last1=Atkins |first1=Stephen E.|title=Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups|date=2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo0000atki/page/35 35] |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo0000atki|url-access=registration |quote=abdullah azzam afghanistan. |access-date=5 October 2014|isbn=978-0-313-32485-7}}</ref> to 35,000 Muslim volunteers<ref name=Commins-174 /> came from around the world to fight in Afghanistan.<ref name=Commins-174>{{cite book|last1=Commins|first1=David |title=The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia|url=https://archive.org/details/wahhabimissionsa0000comm|url-access=registration|date=2006|publisher=I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/wahhabimissionsa0000comm/page/174 174]|quote=In all, perhaps 35,000 Muslim fighters went to Afghanistan between 1982 and 1992, while untold thousands more attended frontier schools teeming with former and future fighters.}}</ref><ref name=rashid-129>Rashid, Ahmed, ''Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia'' (New Haven, 2000), p. 129.</ref>

When the Soviet Union abandoned the Marxist Najibullah regime and withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 (the regime finally fell in 1992), the victory was seen by many Muslims as the triumph of Islamic faith over superior military power and technology that could be duplicated elsewhere.

<blockquote>The jihadists gained legitimacy and prestige from their triumph both within the militant community and among ordinary Muslims, as well as the confidence to carry their jihad to other countries where they believed Muslims required assistance.<ref name=for-aff-bergen>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20051101facomment84601/peter-bergen-alec-reynolds/blowback-revisited.html |title=blowback revisited |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071129203155/http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20051101facomment84601/peter-bergen-alec-reynolds/blowback-revisited.html |archive-date=2007-11-29 |magazine=Foreign Affairs |date=2005 |author=Peter Bergen}}</ref></blockquote>

The collapse of the Soviet Union itself, in 1991, was seen by many Islamists, including Bin Laden, as the defeat of a superpower at the hands of Islam. Concerning the $6&nbsp;billion in aid given by the US and Pakistan's military training and intelligence support to the mujahideen,<ref>{{cite news |title=How the CIA created Osama bin Laden |url=https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/24198 |date=19 September 2001 |newspaper=[[Green Left Weekly]] |access-date=9 January 2007 |archive-date=12 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912101441/https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/24198 |url-status=live }}</ref> bin Laden wrote: "[T]he US has no mentionable role" in "the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]]... rather the credit goes to [[Allah|God]] and the ''[[mujahidin]]''" of Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.anusha.com/osamaint.htm |title=bin Laden interview with Peter Arnett, March 1997 |publisher=Anusha.com |access-date=8 June 2012 |archive-date=18 August 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818075220/http://www.anusha.com/osamaint.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>