Hashim al-Sheikh (), also known by his ''

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

'' Abu Jaber Sheikh () is a Syrian rebel commander and senior leader of

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham facti ...

. Previously a senior commander in

Ahrar al-Sham Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya (), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, was a coalition of multiple Sunni Islamist units that coalesced into a single brigade and later a division in order to fight against the Syrian Government led by Bas ...

, he directed its merger with other Islamist groups to form Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham.

Pre-war activities

Abu Jaber received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

at the

University of Aleppo University of Aleppo (, also called Aleppo University) is a public university located in Aleppo, Syria. It is the second largest university in Syria after the University of Damascus. During 2005–06, the university had over 61,000 undergraduate ...

. After this, he worked at the Defence Factories near as-Safira. His Islamist activities and opposition against the Ba'athist government led to him being arrested by the

Syrian government The government of Syria takes place in a presidential system and is currently in a transitionary period under and led by a transitional government. The seat of the government is located in Damascus, Syria. On 8 December 2024, after the succ ...

several times. In 2005, he was imprisoned in the

Sednaya Prison Sednaya Prison (), also known as "Human Slaughterhouse" (), was a military prison and death camp in the north of Damascus, Syria, operated by Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist Syria. Those imprisoned included civilian detainees, Armed factions in the ...

, infamous for holding a number of other Salafist prisoners who were later released.

Syrian Civil War

On 25 September 2011, during the early phase of the Syrian Civil War, Abu Jaber was released from

along with a number of other Salafist and Islamist

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

s. He joined Harakat Fajr ash-Sham al-Islamiya and fought alongside the

al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Nusrat Ahl al-Sham, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, and also later known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist ...

. He led a subgroup within Harakat Fajr ash-Sham al-Islamiya called the Mus‘ab ibn 'Umair Battalion, which became one of the founding members of

. As of 2017, Abu Jaber was one of the three surviving founding figures of Ahrar al-Sham. In September 2014, the founder and commander of Ahrar al-Sham, Hassan Aboud, was

assassinate Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

d along with 45 of his fighters in a bombing in the

Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama Governorate to the sou ...

. Abu Jaber replaced his position and became the overall commander of Ahrar al-Sham. He resigned and was replaced by Muhannad al-Masri ('' Abu Yahia al-Hamawi'') in September 2015. An Ahrar al-Sham spokesman described Abu Jaber's leadership as the "hardest" period of the group. On 15 February 2016, during the northern Aleppo offensive, 8 rebel factions pledged allegiance to Abu Jaber and established the Army of Aleppo to fight the Syrian Armed Forces and the

Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...

, including the Army of Revolutionaries. On 28 January 2017, Abu Jaber and dozens of other Ahrar al-Sham commanders declared their resignation from Ahrar al-Sham as five major

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Islamist rebel groups, including

Jaysh al-Ahrar Jaysh al-Ahrar (), was an armed Salafi Islamist rebel group in northwestern Syria that originated as a clique composed of 16 units in Ahrar al-Sham that opposed involvement in Operation Euphrates Shield, after a fatwa was released by religiou ...

and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, merged into

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham facti ...

. Abu Jaber became the group's

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

. Abu Jaber is one of the three surviving founding leaders of Ahrar al-Sham. On 1 October 2017, Abu Jaber resigned from his position as the general commander of Tahrir al-Sham, being replaced by

Ahmed al-Sharaa Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (born 29 October 1982) also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a Syrian politician and former rebel commander serving as the president of Syria since January 2025. He previously served as the coun ...

(also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani). Abu Jaber took another position as the head of HTS's

Shura council In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura (; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a khalifa (Islamic leader) may be selected, the other way being b ...

References

{{Syrian Civil War 1968 births Living people People from Aleppo Governorate Syrian Salafis Syrian anti-communists Critics of Shia Islam People of the Syrian civil war Al-Qaeda leaders Leaders of jihadist groups University of Aleppo alumni

Pre-war activities

Syrian Civil War

See also

References