Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri (Arabic: إبراهيم عواد إبراهيم علي البدري, romanized: ʾIbrāhīm ʿAwād ʾIbrāhīm Alī al-Badri; 28 July 1971 – 27 October 2019), commonly known by his nom de guerre Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Arabic: أبو بكر البغدادي, romanized: ʾAbū Bakr al-Baghdādī), was an Iraqi militant who was the first caliph[a] of the Islamic State (IS) from 2014 until his death in 2019.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Himself (as Emir of the Islamic State)
Himself (as Emir of the Islamic State of Iraq)
Himself (as Caliph of the Islamic State)
Himself (as Emir of the Islamic State)
Position established
Position dissolved
27 October 2019 (aged 48)
Barisha, Syria
Jamaat Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaah
(2003–2006)- Mujahideen Shura Council (January 2006 – October 2006)
Islamic State of Iraq (October 2006 – April 2013)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(April 2013 – October 2019)
2003–2019
Saja ad-Dulaimi
son Hudhayfah al-Badri daughter Hagar
Baghdadi was born in Samarra and obtained graduate degrees in Islamic theology in the late 1990s and 2000s. According to supporters, he obtained a PhD at the Islamic University of Baghdad. [8] Following the American invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Baghdadi led the "Jama'at Jaysh Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jama'ah" insurgent group in Iraq and was detained with al-Qaeda commanders at the American Camp Bucca in 2004.[9][10] His group joined the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) coalition in 2006 and fought alongside Al-Qaeda in Iraq.[10] Upon the dissolution of the MSC in October 2006, Baghdadi became a leading member of the newly established Islamic State of Iraq organization, and rose through the group's ranks until he was appointed its emir, the highest leader, in 2010.[9][10] In March 2013, the group renamed itself as the "Islamic State of Iraq and Levant" (ISIL), announcing its intention to expand into Syria and forcibly assimilate the Al-Nusra Front, leading to a conflict with Al-Qaeda's general command. In June 2014, the group once again re-designated itself as the "Islamic State", and declared itself to be a caliphate.[11] Baghdadi was chosen caliph of the Islamic State by the Shura Council, who represented those members of the Islamic State qualified to elect a caliph.[12]
Baghdadi's claim to be "caliph" was almost universally rejected by the Muslim community. IS was designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and almost all sovereign states, and Baghdadi was individually considered a terrorist by the United States[13] and many other countries. As leader of IS, Baghdadi led the Islamic State's wars against Iraq and Syria. Baghdadi directed the use of controversial tactics, including the mass use of suicide bombings and the execution of prisoners of war. IS briefly captured substantial territory in Iraq and Syria, but lost all of that territory and almost all of its fighters during Baghdadi's tenure as caliph. Baghdadi would become directly involved in IS's atrocities and human rights violations. These include the genocide of Yazidis in Iraq, extensive sexual slavery, organized rape, floggings, and systematic executions. He directed terrorist activities and massacres. He embraced brutality as part of the organization's propaganda efforts, producing videos displaying sexual slavery and executions via hacking, stoning and burning.[14][15] Baghdadi was a serial rapist who kept several personal sex slaves.[16][17]
On 27 October 2019, Baghdadi killed himself and two children by detonating a suicide vest during the Barisha raid, conducted by the United States following approval from President Donald Trump, in Syria's northwestern Idlib Province.[18] After being offered Islamic funeral rites, his body was buried at sea.[19] IS confirmed his death and named Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi as his replacement.[20]
Names[edit]
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a pseudonym.[21] His kunya (teknonym) was Abu Bakr, meaning "father of a young camel".[22][23] Having at some time taken the name Abu Bakr, al-Baghdadi is thought to have adopted the name of the first caliph, Abu Bakr. During the times when Muhammad[24] might have suffered from illnesses, Abu Bakr was the replacement for leading prayer, according to the Sunni tradition[25] of Islam.[26] His surname literally means "The one from Baghdad" and denotes that he was from Baghdad city or Baghdad governorate in Iraq.[27]
He had various names and epithets such as ash-Shabah (the phantom or ghost),[28] Invisible Sheikh,[29][30][31] Amir al-Mu'minin, Caliph (sometimes followed by Abu Bakr, al-Baghdadi, or Ibrahim),[32] and Sheikh Baghdadi.[33] Other aliases used by al-Badri include Dr. Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai.[34] In 2014, the Telegraph reported that his birthname was Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badri.[35] In 2018, Reuters reported that his real name was Ibrahim al-Samarrai.[36]
He was also known as Abu Du'a[13] (أبو دعاء ʾabū duʿāʾ),[37] The word du'a signifies supplications, invocations, or prayers.[38] In regions formerly under IS control, various non-Islamic honorifics that recognize his rank were used as a formal address recognizing him as a noble and a head of state that might precede or follow his name.[39] He was also known as Abdullah al-Nasir[40] and Abdul Sami.[41]
Leader of Islamic State[edit]
Expansion into Syria and break with al-Qaeda[edit]
Al-Baghdadi remained leader of the ISI until its formal expansion into Syria in 2013 when, in a statement on 8 April 2013, he announced the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL); alternatively translated from Arabic as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).[82]
When announcing the formation of ISIL, al-Baghdadi stated that the Syrian civil war jihadist faction, Jabhat al-Nusra – also known as al-Nusra Front – had been an extension of the ISI in Syria and was now to be merged with ISIL.[82][83] The leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, disputed this merging of the two groups and appealed to al-Qaeda emir Ayman al-Zawahiri, who issued a statement that ISIL should be abolished and that al-Baghdadi should confine his group's activities to Iraq.[84] Al-Baghdadi, however, dismissed al-Zawahiri's ruling and took control of a reported 80% of Jabhat al-Nusra's foreign fighters.[85] In January 2014, ISIL expelled Jabhat al-Nusra from the Syrian city of Raqqa, and in the same month clashes between the two in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate killed hundreds of fighters and displaced tens of thousands of civilians.[86] In February 2014, al-Qaeda disavowed any relations with ISIL.[87]
According to several Western sources, al-Baghdadi and ISIL have received private financing from citizens in Saudi Arabia and Qatar and enlisted fighters through recruitment drives in Saudi Arabia in particular.[88][89][90][91]
Declaration of a caliphate[edit]
On 29 June 2014, ISIL announced the establishment of a worldwide caliphate. Al-Baghdadi was named its caliph, to be known as "Caliph Ibrahim", and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was renamed the Islamic State (IS).[92][93]
The declaration of a caliphate was heavily criticized by Middle Eastern governments, other jihadist groups,[94] and Sunni Muslim theologians and historians. Qatar-based TV broadcaster and theologian Yusuf al-Qaradawi stated: "[The] declaration issued by the Islamic State is void under sharia and has dangerous consequences for the Sunnis in Iraq and for the revolt in Syria", adding that the title of caliph can "only be given by the entire Muslim nation", not by a single group.[95]
As a caliph, al-Baghdadi was required to hold to each dictate of the sunnah, whose precedence is set and recorded in the sahih hadiths. According to tradition, if a caliph fails to meet any of these obligations at any period, he is required by the law to abdicate his position and the community has to appoint a new caliph, theoretically selected from throughout the caliphdom as being the most religiously and spiritually pious individual among them.[96] Due to the widespread rejection of his caliphhood, al-Baghdadi's status as caliph has been compared to that of other caliphs whose caliphship has been questioned.[97]
In an audio-taped message, al-Baghdadi announced that IS would march on "Rome" — generally interpreted to mean the West — in its quest to establish an Islamic State from the Middle East across Europe. He said that he would conquer both Rome and Spain in this endeavor[98][99] and urged Muslims across the world to immigrate to the new Islamic State.[98]
On 8 July 2014, IS launched its online magazine Dabiq. The title appeared to have been selected for its eschatological connections with the Islamic version of the end times, or malahim.[100]
According to a report in October 2014, after suffering serious injuries, al-Baghdadi fled IS's capital city Raqqa due to the intense bombing campaign launched by Coalition forces, and sought refuge in the Iraqi city of Mosul, the largest city under IS control at the time.[101]
Communications[edit]
A video, made during the first Friday prayer service of Ramadan, shows al-Baghdadi speaking on a pulpit in the Arabic language to a congregation at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, northern Iraq on 4 July 2014. In the video, al-Baghdadi declares himself caliph of the Islamic State and calls on Muslims worldwide to support him.[119] A representative of the Iraqi government denied that the video was of al-Baghdadi, calling it a "farce."[95] However, both the BBC and the Associated Press quoted unnamed Iraqi officials as saying that the man in the video was believed to be al-Baghdadi.[120][121][122]
IS released an audio-taped message, claiming it to be in the voice of al-Baghdadi, on 13 November 2014. In the 17-minute recording, released via social media, al-Baghdadi says that IS fighters would never cease fighting "even if only one soldier remains." Al-Baghdadi urges supporters of the Islamic State to "erupt volcanoes of jihad" across the world. He calls for attacks to be mounted in Saudi Arabia, describing Saudi leaders as "the head of the snake", and also says that the US-led military campaign in Syria and Iraq was failing. He declares that IS would keep marching forward and would "break the borders" of Jordan and Lebanon as well as "free Palestine".[123]
IS released an audio message which it claimed was from al-Baghdadi, on 14 May 2015. In the recording, al-Baghdadi urges Muslims to immigrate to the Islamic State and join the fight in Iraq and Syria. He also condemns the Saudi involvement in Yemen, and claims that the conflict will lead to the end of the Saudi royal family's rule. He further claims that Islam was never a religion of peace but instead is "the religion of fighting".[124]
An audio message that was approximately 23 minutes long was released on 26 December 2015. Al-Baghdadi warns Western nations to not interfere further in their matters and threatens the future establishment of IS in Israel. He also celebrates the defeat of "crusaders" and "Jews" in Iraq and Afghanistan.[125]
An audio message was released on 2 November 2016. In it, al-Baghdadi discusses the need for IS to defend their forces within Mosul and encourages IS forces to persecute Shia Muslims and the Alawites. He also states plans to begin fighting in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and further away, and argues in favour of using martyrdom in Libya to spread support.[126][127]
A 46-minute audio recording was released on 28 September 2017 through the IS-owned media organization Al Furqan in which al-Baghdadi accuses the United States of wilting in the face of Russia and lacking "the will to fight".[128][129] Al-Baghdadi refers to recent events including North Korean threats against Japan and the United States and the recapture of Mosul by US backed Iraqi forces over two months earlier, likely to dispel rumours of his death.[130] Throughout, al-Baghdadi calls for further attacks in the West and, more specifically, for attacks on Western media, saying: "Oh soldiers of Islam in every location, increase blow after blow, and make the media centers of the infidels, from where they wage their intellectual wars, among the targets."[130]
An audio message was released on 23 August 2018, almost a year after his previous communication. Al-Baghdadi calls on his followers to "persevere" despite heavy losses in Iraq and Syria and calls for more attacks around the world. He also comments on recent events, suggesting that the audio message was recorded recently. Many experts believed that it was him as the voice resembled that heard in his other audio messages.[131]
On 29 April 2019, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was shown in an 18-minute long video released by an Islamic State media group, his first public appearance in almost five years. In the video, al-Baghdadi is shown with an assault rifle mentioning recent events such as the loss of the last IS territory in Baghuz Fawqani, the Sri Lanka Easter bombings and the overthrow of Sudanese and Algerian presidents Omar al-Bashir and Abdelaziz Bouteflika, suggesting that the video was filmed around a week before being released.[132][133]
On 16 September 2019 al-Baghdadi released an audio message calling for his followers to free detained IS members and their families held in camps in Iraq and Syria.[134] It was recorded and distributed by Al Furqan Establishment for Media Production.[135]