Juhayman al-Otaybi (16 September 1936-9 January 1980) was the leader of the Ikhwan Salafi extremist group during the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure. Although his extremists were defeated in the siege and Otaybi was executed, the government of Saudi Arabia implemented strict Salafist laws after the end of the siege, fulfilling Otaybi's wishes.
Biography[]
Juhayman al-Otaybi was born on 16 September 1936 in al-Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia to a Sunni Muslim family. Many of his relatives fought in the Ikhwan Revolt of 1929 against King Ibn Saud, and from 1955 to 1973 he was a Saudi National Guard soldier before studying at the Islamic university in the holy city of Medina, having been obsessed with religious texts. al-Otaybi believed in Islamic extremism, hoping to establish a puritanical Islamic community where Westerners and nonbelievers would be expelled or persecuted. He later became a dedicated follower of Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al Qahtani, who claimed to be the Mahdi who would usher in judgment day. In December of 1979, Otaybi and Qahtani led a group of 500 militant Saudi Salafists called "al-Ikhwan" in seizing the Grand Mosque in Mecca after accusing King Khalid of Saudi Arabia of leading an infidel state that was loyal to corrupt rulers in exchange for honors and riches. After two weeks, Saudi special forces captured the mosque from the extremists, and on 9 January 1980, al-Otaybi was executed by beheading. After Otaybi's death, Khalid decided to Islamicize Saudi Arabia to appease conservative Muslims, and Saudi Arabia ironically became a puritan Muslim state like Otaybi had envisioned.