Identity
During his lifetime, little was known about al-Walid’s background, lifestyle or fighting methods. In sharp contrast to his predecessor – Ibn al-Khattab (more commonly known as Khattab) who was known to have a personal camera crew of two who followed him even into combat, al-Walid was very reclusive. This led to speculation about his identity, whereabouts and actions, and occasionally to rumours of his death. One such rumour that was very persistent was that he had drowned in June 2002 after he and his horse were carried off by the current of a river he was trying to cross. Russian officials announced his death at least seven times and at one point, even his very existence was deemed doubtful.
However on 23 June 2002, his family gave an interview to the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan, revealing much about his background, including his full given name, Abd Al-Aziz Bin Ali Bin Said Al Said Al-Ghamdi.
Read more about this topic: Abu Al-Walid
Famous quotes containing the word identity:
“Growing has no connection with audience. / Audience has no
connection with identity. / Identity has no
connection with a universe. / A universe has no
connection with human nature.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“One of the most highly valued functions of used parents these days is to be the villains of their children’s lives, the people the child blames for any shortcomings or disappointments. But if your identity comes from your parents’ failings, then you remain forever a member of the child generation, stuck and unable to move on to an adulthood in which you identify yourself in terms of what you do, not what has been done to you.”
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“The adolescent does not develop her identity and individuality by moving outside her family. She is not triggered by some magic unconscious dynamic whereby she rejects her family in favour of her peers or of a larger society.... She continues to develop in relation to her parents. Her mother continues to have more influence over her than either her father or her friends.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)