Abdullah Maute (1979 - August 7, 2017) was a Filipino Islamist militant who co-founded, along with his brother Omar Maute, a ''Dawlah Islamiyah'' (

Islamic state The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

) group in

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commonly known as the Wahhabi based Maute group after their surname. On September 4, 2017, the Philippine military announced that Maute had been killed in an airstrike in August 7, 2017, during the

Battle of Marawi The siege of Marawi (), also known as the Marawi crisis () and the Battle of Marawi (), was a five-month-long armed conflict in Marawi, Philippines, that started on May 23, 2017, between Government of the Philippines, Philippine government Arme ...

. They cited ISIL sympathizers proclaiming his death as an act of martyrdom on the social media platform

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. He was referred to as "Sheik Al Miyahad Abu Al Hassan", an alias he was known to have used within the ISIL network. AFP Western Mindanao Command chief Carlito Galvez Jr. confirmed deaths of all seven Maute brothers in December 2017.

Early life and education

Siblings Omar and Abdullah Maute are descended from a Maranao warrior clan based in Butig, Lanao del Sur, the town where they were born and spent their childhood. They were born to Cayamora and Farhana Maute. The brothers had worked in the

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as Overseas Filipino Workers. While working for secular schools in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and the

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, the brothers studied

Islamic theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding creed. The main schools of Islamic theology include the extant Mu'tazili, Ash'ari, Maturidi, and Athari schools; the extinct ones ...

. Abdullah reportedly was educated in

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Militant activity

MILF

Philippine military sources state that the siblings' father, Cayamora Maute, was a senior official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). After the MILF began to engage in peace negotiations with the Philippine government, the brothers criticized the MILF leadership and pledged allegiance to

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Maute group

The Mautes, according to their relatives, later established connections with Ameril Umbra Kato, the founder of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) since both groups follow

Wahhabism Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to oth ...

. The siblings reportedly sent representatives to Kato after the BIFF leader suffered a hypertensive stroke which rendered the left portion of his body paralyzed. After forging ties with Kato, the Mautes established the Maute group. Five other brothers also became involved in the group according to the Philippine military.

Battle of Marawi and death

On June 10, 2017, during the Marawi crisis, the Philippine Army claimed that the Maute brothers had been killed in a firefight, although details were not available. On September 4, 2017, the military announced that Abdullah was killed in August 7, 2017, in an airstrike. They cited ISIL sympathizers proclaiming his death as an act of martyrdom on the social media platform

. He was referred to as "Sheik Al Miyahad Abu Al Hassan", the name he was known to have used within the ISIL network. In September 2017, the military stated that Omar alone among the seven Maute brothers remained alive, as the other six were killed in battle. AFP Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. confirmed in December 2017 that all seven Maute brothers had been killed by the Philippine Army.

Personal life

His mother, Ominta Romato Maute, also known as Farhana Maute, has been described by some sources as the financier of the Maute group's activities, providing logistics and recruiting fighters. She was arrested on June 9, 2017, in Lanao del Sur. Her husband, Cayamora Maute, was arrested the day before in

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao, is a City of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the List of Philippine cities and municipalities ...

. Cayamora Maute died in August 2017 on the way to Taguig-Pateros District Hospital after experiencing difficulty in breathing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maute, Abdullah 20th-century births 2017 deaths Filipino Islamists People from Lanao del Sur Siege of Marawi Leaders of jihadist groups Year of birth missing