Magomed Vagabov, also known as Emir Seyfullah or Seyfullah Gubdensky, was the leader of the militant

Vilayat Dagestan Vilayat Dagestan (; ), formerly known as Shariat Jamaat (), was an Islamist Jihadist group based in the Russian republic of Dagestan and is part of the Caucasus Emirate. The group is closely associated with the separatist conflicts in the nearb ...

organisation in the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n Republic of

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

, and the Supreme

Qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

of the

Caucasus Emirate The Caucasus Emirate (, IK; ), also known as the Caucasian Emirate, Emirate of Caucasus, or Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, was a jihadist organisation active in rebel-held parts of Syria and previously in the North Caucasus region of Russia. It ...

Biography

An ethnic

Dargin Dargin may refer to: *Dargwa language, Caucasus *Dargwa people Dargins or Dargwa (, ''darganti'') are a Northeast Caucasian native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus, and who make up the second largest ethnic group in the North Cau ...

, Vagabov was born in the Dagestani village of Gubden. In 1990, he took part in rallies, led by the

Salafist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retur ...

Sheikh Muhammad Bagauddin, for Soviet Muslims to be allowed to make the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

pilgrimage. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a group of Arabs in the Islamic

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

organisation

Tablighi Jamaat Tablighi Jamaat ( , also translated as "propagation party" or "preaching party") is an international Islamic schools and branches, Islamic religious movement. It focuses on exhorting Muslims to be more religiously observant and encourages f ...

visited his native village in 1992. Vagabov, who spoke Arabic, served as their interpreter, and travelled with them around Dagestan. In 1994 the 19-year-old Vagabov went for religious instruction in

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# ...

, where he memorized the

Koran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

. He moved on to

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 ...

, where he studied

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

and learnt

Farsi Persian ( ), also known by its endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoke ...

and

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 ...

. In 1997 he returned to Dagestan and open a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

in Gubden. In the same year he reportedly travelled to

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

and attended a training camp ran by the Arab field commander Khattab. He returned to Dagestan, and took part in militant activities before he turned himself into the authorities in 2001 during an

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

. He would return to militancy and work his way up the ranks of

Shariat Jamaat Vilayat Dagestan (; ), formerly known as Shariat Jamaat (), was an Islamist Jihadist group based in the Russian republic of Dagestan and is part of the Caucasus Emirate. The group is closely associated with the separatist conflicts in the nearb ...

. In mid-July 2010, Dokku Umarov appointed Vagabov as both the

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 ...

and the

of the

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'' ...

court, filling the positions previously held by the late

Umalat Magomedov Umalat Magomedov, also known as Emir Al Bara, was the leader of the militant Vilayat Dagestan organisation in the southern Russian Republic of Dagestan. Biography He was appointed emir by Dokka Umarov, leader of the Caucasus Emirate, in April 200 ...

and

Anzor Astemirov Anzor Astemirov (, 3 December 1976 – 24 March 2010), also known as Emir Sayfullah (Sword of God), was an Islamist leader in the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the North Caucasus. For several years, Astemirov headed the local terroris ...

respectively. In 2010 he took part in organizing the

2010 Moscow Metro bombings The 2010 Moscow Metro bombings were suicide bombings carried out by two female Islamic terrorists during the morning rush hour of March 29, 2010, at two stations of the Moscow Metro (Lubyanka (Moscow Metro), Lubyanka and Park Kultury (Sokolnich ...

, killing 40 people and wounding more than 100. It was reported that one of the

suicide bombers A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

, Mariam Sharipova, was his wife, although her father denied this. Vagabov and 4 other militants were killed during a raid by the FSB in the village of Gunib in August 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vagabov, Magomed 1975 births 2010 deaths People from Karabudakhkentsky District Russian Sunni Muslims Russian Islamists Caucasus Emirate members Caucasian Front (militant group) People of the Chechen wars Russian rebels Leaders of jihadist groups