Capital’s Jamia Hafsa declares support for Islamic State
December 08, 2014
ISLAMABAD: In a major development that will have far reaching consequences for the Taliban-led Jehadi movement in Pakistan, the Lal Masjid-run Jamia Hafsa madrassa for girls has expressed support for the Islamic State (IS) being led by Commander Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi.
Jamia Hafsa, which is adjacent to the Lal Masjid, is run by Majida Younis alias Umme Hassan (the principal) who is also the spouse of Maulana Abdul Aziz, the ex-prayer leader of the Red Mosque and elder brother of Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, who was killed in the July 2007 military operation in Islamabad. The video has been released by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks online activity of jehadi outfits worldwide. The video shows a group of women representing Lal Masjid-linked Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad, expressing their support to the Islamic State and its ameer Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi. The burqa (veil) clad women have been shown urging the Pakistani militants to join the ranks of the Islamic State, being led by Commander Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi [who has already been declared by his followers the Caliphate of the Islamic State].
The video has surfaced at a crucial time when Pakistani authorities are already trying to contain the growing emergence of the extremely violent international terrorist group in Pakistan. The expression of solidarity by the Jamia Hafsa with the Islamic State is quite significant because the IS chief, Abu Bakar Baghdadi, has literally challenged Mullah Mohammad Omar by declaring himself to be the ‘Ameerul Momineen’ or the leader of the faithful and the caliph of the Islamic State. Therefore, a renewed battle to clinch the position of the so-called Ameerul Momineen has already intensified, with the fugitive al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri already throwing his weight behind Mullah Omar. While countering Baghdadi’s action of declaring himself the caliph, al-Qaeda leadership deemed it fit to renew its oath of allegiance to Mullah Omar and recognise him as their ameer, while reminding that the late Osama bin Laden too had pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar.
Al-Qaeda also released a video starring Osama bin Laden which was recorded in the middle of 2001, hardly a few months before the 9/11 attacks, wherein the al-Qaeda chief pledged his allegiance to Mullah Omar. The move was meant to counter Baghdadi’s bid to replace Mullah Omar as the ameer of the believers. Since the beginning of this year, several splinter groups from al-Qaeda and its Taliban affiliates, including those from Pakistan, have pledged their loyalty to the Islamic State, amid media reports that the IS fighters are being aided by hundreds of militants from Pakistan. Since the beginning of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a large number of fighters from several Muslim countries including Pakistan have traveled to Syria to fight with the IS. An IS training camp named after Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi has been operational in Iraq-Syria region for a few years now.
And now the Jamia Hafsa students have come forward, asking the Pakistani fighters to join the ranks of the Islamic State. Since its emergence in Peshawar in September this year, the IS has garnered plenty of support from key commanders of Tehrik-e-Taliban who have already abandoned the TTP and pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State, at the cost of Mullah Omar, who is regarded as the Ameerul Momineen by the Pakistani Taliban. Those who have already pledged allegiance to Baghdadi included former ameer of TTP in Mohmand Agency Omar Khalid Khurasani, former central TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, former TTP chief in Orakzai Agency Saeed Khan, former TTP chief in Kurram Agency Hafiz Quran Dolat, former TTP chief in Khyber Agency Gul Zaman, former TTP chief in Peshawar Mufti Hassan, former TTP chief in Hangu district of KP, Khalid Mansoor and Jundallah spokesman in Pakistan, Fahad Marwat.
However, the expression of support for Baghdadi by the Jamia Hafsa leadership will be a rude shock not only for the leadership of the Pakistani Taliban but also for the Afghan Taliban. In fact, Maulana Mohammad Abdullah, who was the first prayer leader of Lal Masjid and father of Maulana Abdul Aziz and Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, had decade-old ties with the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban who owe allegiance to Mullah Omar. Approached for comments, a spokesman for Jamia Hafsa confirmed that the video in question has been prepared by the female students of the seminary with the knowledge and possible approval of Umme Hassan, Principal of the seminary. However, despite repeated efforts, this scribe could not talk to the principal as she was travelling out of Islamabad.
In fact, Jamia Hafsa is named after Hafsa Bint Umar Bin Al Khattab who was one of the seven wives of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). For the female students of the Jamia Hafsa, the sole aim is to implement Islamic way of life in the country and the entire world. Known for its fringe conservatism, the Jamia Hafsa has been criticised in the past for getting involved in some ugly incidents like raiding a Chinese massage centre in Islamabad and kidnapping five Chinese for allegedly running a brothel. The same year, the Jamia students had forcibly occupied the children’s public library in Islamabad besides taking hostage four policemen and demanding the release of their ten aides. The Musharraf regime eventually launched a military operation against Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa on July 3, 2007 that killed 100-plus people.
The Lal Masjid and the adjacent Jamia Hafsa were badly damaged during the operation that had to be rebuilt on the same land. As things stand, Umme Hassan, who had lost her 19-year-old son, Hassan, during the bloody Lal Masjid operation, is the moving spirit behind Jamia Hafsa. She is also the chairperson of Lal Masjid Shuhda Foundation. However, when asked about his reaction to the Jamia Hafsa video and the expression of support for a terrorist group, the President of the Lal Masjid Shuhda Foundation, Tariq Asad Advocate, condemned it, saying: “All the office bearers of the Foundation are law abiding citizens and none of them should support any terrorist organisation come what may. Let me make it clear that the Lal Masjid Shuhda Foundation has nothing to do with any terrorist outfit and I disown the video statement released by the Jamia Hafsa students”.
On his part, the Shuhda Foundation spokesman Hafiz Ehtesham Ahmed confirmed that the video statement was prepared by the Jamia Hafsa girls’ students, but added in the same breath that their act was simply disappointing and they shouldn’t have expressed support for an international terrorist group which is involved in brutal killings of the Muslims. However, it must be mentioned that in a July 28, 2014 interview, Maulana Abdul Aziz had expressed his support for the Islamic State. Aziz was asked to comment on Baghdadi’s declaration of the caliphate and he had responded: “See, we ourselves want a caliphate and we want that the caliphate should be established in the entire world including Pakistan. The caliphate is the solution to all our problems. So, if these Arab mujahideen have brought about the establishment of the caliphate, we view it as good omen for the Muslim Ummah. Allah Almighty willing, as their organisation is, if it continues, we will see its springs across the worl.”
But Hafiz Ehtesham Ahmed insisted that Maulana Abdul Aziz had never extended his support to either the Islamic State or Baghdadi. Aziz was arrested by the security forces during the Lal Masjid raid and tried on charges of murder, incitement and kidnapping. But he was released on April 16, 2009 after being bailed out by the Supreme Court. He was finally acquitted in the last criminal case pending against him on September 24, 2013. In February 2014, the TTP nominated Aziz as a member of the four-member team to hold peace talks with the Sharif government. But he had distanced himself from the team shortly afterwards, insisting that the peace talks should only be held under Quran and Sunnah and not under the Constitution of Pakistan.
Jamia Hafsa, which is adjacent to the Lal Masjid, is run by Majida Younis alias Umme Hassan (the principal) who is also the spouse of Maulana Abdul Aziz, the ex-prayer leader of the Red Mosque and elder brother of Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, who was killed in the July 2007 military operation in Islamabad. The video has been released by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks online activity of jehadi outfits worldwide. The video shows a group of women representing Lal Masjid-linked Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad, expressing their support to the Islamic State and its ameer Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi. The burqa (veil) clad women have been shown urging the Pakistani militants to join the ranks of the Islamic State, being led by Commander Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi [who has already been declared by his followers the Caliphate of the Islamic State].
The video has surfaced at a crucial time when Pakistani authorities are already trying to contain the growing emergence of the extremely violent international terrorist group in Pakistan. The expression of solidarity by the Jamia Hafsa with the Islamic State is quite significant because the IS chief, Abu Bakar Baghdadi, has literally challenged Mullah Mohammad Omar by declaring himself to be the ‘Ameerul Momineen’ or the leader of the faithful and the caliph of the Islamic State. Therefore, a renewed battle to clinch the position of the so-called Ameerul Momineen has already intensified, with the fugitive al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri already throwing his weight behind Mullah Omar. While countering Baghdadi’s action of declaring himself the caliph, al-Qaeda leadership deemed it fit to renew its oath of allegiance to Mullah Omar and recognise him as their ameer, while reminding that the late Osama bin Laden too had pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar.
Al-Qaeda also released a video starring Osama bin Laden which was recorded in the middle of 2001, hardly a few months before the 9/11 attacks, wherein the al-Qaeda chief pledged his allegiance to Mullah Omar. The move was meant to counter Baghdadi’s bid to replace Mullah Omar as the ameer of the believers. Since the beginning of this year, several splinter groups from al-Qaeda and its Taliban affiliates, including those from Pakistan, have pledged their loyalty to the Islamic State, amid media reports that the IS fighters are being aided by hundreds of militants from Pakistan. Since the beginning of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a large number of fighters from several Muslim countries including Pakistan have traveled to Syria to fight with the IS. An IS training camp named after Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi has been operational in Iraq-Syria region for a few years now.
And now the Jamia Hafsa students have come forward, asking the Pakistani fighters to join the ranks of the Islamic State. Since its emergence in Peshawar in September this year, the IS has garnered plenty of support from key commanders of Tehrik-e-Taliban who have already abandoned the TTP and pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State, at the cost of Mullah Omar, who is regarded as the Ameerul Momineen by the Pakistani Taliban. Those who have already pledged allegiance to Baghdadi included former ameer of TTP in Mohmand Agency Omar Khalid Khurasani, former central TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, former TTP chief in Orakzai Agency Saeed Khan, former TTP chief in Kurram Agency Hafiz Quran Dolat, former TTP chief in Khyber Agency Gul Zaman, former TTP chief in Peshawar Mufti Hassan, former TTP chief in Hangu district of KP, Khalid Mansoor and Jundallah spokesman in Pakistan, Fahad Marwat.
However, the expression of support for Baghdadi by the Jamia Hafsa leadership will be a rude shock not only for the leadership of the Pakistani Taliban but also for the Afghan Taliban. In fact, Maulana Mohammad Abdullah, who was the first prayer leader of Lal Masjid and father of Maulana Abdul Aziz and Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, had decade-old ties with the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban who owe allegiance to Mullah Omar. Approached for comments, a spokesman for Jamia Hafsa confirmed that the video in question has been prepared by the female students of the seminary with the knowledge and possible approval of Umme Hassan, Principal of the seminary. However, despite repeated efforts, this scribe could not talk to the principal as she was travelling out of Islamabad.
In fact, Jamia Hafsa is named after Hafsa Bint Umar Bin Al Khattab who was one of the seven wives of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). For the female students of the Jamia Hafsa, the sole aim is to implement Islamic way of life in the country and the entire world. Known for its fringe conservatism, the Jamia Hafsa has been criticised in the past for getting involved in some ugly incidents like raiding a Chinese massage centre in Islamabad and kidnapping five Chinese for allegedly running a brothel. The same year, the Jamia students had forcibly occupied the children’s public library in Islamabad besides taking hostage four policemen and demanding the release of their ten aides. The Musharraf regime eventually launched a military operation against Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa on July 3, 2007 that killed 100-plus people.
The Lal Masjid and the adjacent Jamia Hafsa were badly damaged during the operation that had to be rebuilt on the same land. As things stand, Umme Hassan, who had lost her 19-year-old son, Hassan, during the bloody Lal Masjid operation, is the moving spirit behind Jamia Hafsa. She is also the chairperson of Lal Masjid Shuhda Foundation. However, when asked about his reaction to the Jamia Hafsa video and the expression of support for a terrorist group, the President of the Lal Masjid Shuhda Foundation, Tariq Asad Advocate, condemned it, saying: “All the office bearers of the Foundation are law abiding citizens and none of them should support any terrorist organisation come what may. Let me make it clear that the Lal Masjid Shuhda Foundation has nothing to do with any terrorist outfit and I disown the video statement released by the Jamia Hafsa students”.
On his part, the Shuhda Foundation spokesman Hafiz Ehtesham Ahmed confirmed that the video statement was prepared by the Jamia Hafsa girls’ students, but added in the same breath that their act was simply disappointing and they shouldn’t have expressed support for an international terrorist group which is involved in brutal killings of the Muslims. However, it must be mentioned that in a July 28, 2014 interview, Maulana Abdul Aziz had expressed his support for the Islamic State. Aziz was asked to comment on Baghdadi’s declaration of the caliphate and he had responded: “See, we ourselves want a caliphate and we want that the caliphate should be established in the entire world including Pakistan. The caliphate is the solution to all our problems. So, if these Arab mujahideen have brought about the establishment of the caliphate, we view it as good omen for the Muslim Ummah. Allah Almighty willing, as their organisation is, if it continues, we will see its springs across the worl.”
But Hafiz Ehtesham Ahmed insisted that Maulana Abdul Aziz had never extended his support to either the Islamic State or Baghdadi. Aziz was arrested by the security forces during the Lal Masjid raid and tried on charges of murder, incitement and kidnapping. But he was released on April 16, 2009 after being bailed out by the Supreme Court. He was finally acquitted in the last criminal case pending against him on September 24, 2013. In February 2014, the TTP nominated Aziz as a member of the four-member team to hold peace talks with the Sharif government. But he had distanced himself from the team shortly afterwards, insisting that the peace talks should only be held under Quran and Sunnah and not under the Constitution of Pakistan.
