Sana-ul-Haq (1974/1976 – 23 September 2019), better known as Asim Umar, was an Indian Jihadist militant leader of the al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent.

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

leader

Ayman al-Zawahiri Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (; 19 June 195131 July 2022) was an Egyptian-born pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist militant and physician who served as the second general emir of al-Qaeda from June 2011 until Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, his dea ...

announced the creation of AQIS and introduced Asim Umar as its leader in a video posted online in September 2014. Outside his militant activities he was also an author of what Praveen Swami calls "several best-selling dystopic

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

fantasies that give fascinating glimpses into the inner world of Islamists", centered on a global conspiracy involving the Dajjal and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

as well

Islamic eschatology Islamic eschatology includes the afterlife, apocalyptic signs of the End Times, and final Judgement. It is fundamental to Islam as life after death is one of the six Doctrines of Islam. Resurrection is divided into Lesser Resurrection (''al-q ...

Biography

Early life and education

He was born Sana-ul-Haq into an influential peasant family (his grandfather was a village pradhan, his grand uncle a freedom fighter and great-grandfather a district magistrate under the British rule), between 1974-76 in

Sambhal Sambhal (pronounced Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, sə̃bʰəl) is a city located in the Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city lies approximately 158 km (98 mi) east of New Delhi and 355 km (220 mi) north-west of the state capit ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He attended the

Darul Uloom Deoband Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic university and seminary ( darul uloom) in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, India, at which the Sunni Deobandi Islamic movement began. Established in 1866 by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Fazlur Rahman Usmani, Sayy ...

seminary in

and graduated from there in 1991. In the late 1990s, he visited

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Umar studied at

Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia (, ''Jāmiā Ulūm-i Islāmīyā'' / , ''Jāmi‘at-ul-‘Ulūm-ul-Islāmīyah'') is an Islamic University in Binori Town, Banoori Town, Karachi, Pakistan. The university continues the tradition of the Darul Uloom system ...

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

and the Darul Uloom Haqqania in

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

. His friend in Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia, Moazzam, said of him that at that time "he was known for his very strong views against democracy and in favor of jihad. He could be described as a version of Anwar Awlaki, who was good in indoctrination too." Before joining militancy, he was himself a teacher in a madrassa in Karachi and used to translate jihadist literature from

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Militancy

Umar is said to have traveled to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

where he met

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

, and later joined Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI), a

Jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

group with branches across the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. Umar's affiliation with Al-Qaeda was reportedly solidified after the Pakistani government's 2007 storming of the radical Lal Masjid seminary, resulting in the deaths of many militants. He is said to have made contact with

Ilyas Kashmiri Ilyas Kashmiri (10 February 1964– 3 June 2011) was a Pakistani ex-Special Forces Islamist turned militant who fought against Indian troops in Kashmir. NBC News said that United States officials had mentioned him as a possible successor to O ...

, a top

with close links to al-Qaeda. In 2009, Indian intelligence officials visited Asim Umar's house in Deepa Sarai,

. Umar was missing for 14 years at that time and was presumed dead. Indian officials informed Umar's family that their son was alive and working for a terrorist organisation. After hearing the news, Umar's father promptly inserted advertisements in newspapers where he disowned his son. Umar quickly began playing a prominent role as a propagandist in video releases from al-Qaeda and authored at least four books promoting

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

. By April 2014, several months before being named leader of AQIS, Al Qaeda was identifying Umar as the head of its

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

committee in Pakistan. In September 2014,

leader

announced the creation of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and introduced Asim Umar as its leader in a video posted online. In 2016 and 2018, the United States had designated Asim Umar a

Specially Designated Global Terrorist A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the U.S. Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of U.S. Executive ...

in the

Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...

Death

On 23 September 2019, Afghan officials announced that Asim Umar was killed in a joint US-Afghan military raid in the Afghan Province of Helmand. 40 Afghan civilians and six other

militants were also killed in the raid.

Books

He wrote "a number of

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

books", centered around

and the Dajjal, that he himself translated from

into

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and Uzbek languages, including: *''Teesri Jang-e-Azeem Aur Dajjal'' () *''Dajjal Ka Lashkar: Black Water'' () *''Imam Mehdi ke Doost aur Dushman'' () *''Bermuda Tikon aur Dajjal'' () *''Adyan ki Jang'' () *''Ghaltiyan'' ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umar, Asim Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders Al-Qaeda leaders 2019 deaths Indian al-Qaeda members Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan members Leaders of jihadist groups People from Sambhal district Indian expatriates in Pakistan Year of birth missing 1970s births Indian conspiracy theorists Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia alumni Darul Uloom Deoband alumni Darul Uloom Haqqania alumni Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List Indian Islamists