Mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

Abdul Hannan (; died 12 April 2017) was a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

Islamist militant and the former chief of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B), a banned extremist organization. He played a central role in orchestrating numerous terrorist attacks in Bangladesh between 1999 and 2005, resulting in the deaths of over 100 people. He was sentenced to death by hanging on charges of multiple crimes and executed on 12 April 2017.

Militancy

Hannan is thought to have fought in the

Afghan war War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in t ...

against the Soviet Union. He trained in

Peshawar, Pakistan Peshawar is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district population of over 4.7 million in the 2023 census. It is situated in the north-west o ...

and spent six months in a seminary in

Uttar Pradesh, India Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a state in northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world – more populous than all but four other co ...

. He was the chief of the Bangladeshi branch of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami. He was arrested on 1 October 2005. The charges included, two counts of

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seve ...

and

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

for the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2000 and a grenade attack on British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury at Shah Jalal Shrine in 2004. Two counts of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

and conspiracy to commit terrorism for the Ramna Batamul bombing during

Bengali New Year Pohela Boishakh () is the Bengali New Year celebrated by the Bengali people worldwide and as a holiday on 14 April in Bangladesh and 15 April or 14 April (leap year) in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Jharkhand and Assam ( Goalpara ...

in 2001, and a grenade attack on Awami League rally in 21 August 2004. He was also given the charge of unlawful possession of explosives for the bombing of Udichi cultural event at Jessore in 1999. Hannan was

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

on 23 December 2008, by the Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal for his role in the 2004 grenade attack on British High Commissioner in Sylhet. Additionally, on June 23, 2014, he received another death sentence from a Dhaka court for the 2001 Ramna Batamul bombing, which resulted in 10 deaths. Both sentences were upheld by higher courts.

Death

Hannan was

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

at approximately 10:00 p.m. local time on 12 April 2017 in Kashimpur Prison for the attempt to kill the British High Commissioner through bombing the Shah Jalal Shrine.

Militant activity

*Planned the 1999 bombing of an Udichi Cultural event in Jessore Bangladesh. He admitted his role after his arrest and called the bombing a success. *Involved in

2001 Ramna Batamul bombings The Ramna Batamul bombing was a series of bomb attacks on 14 April 2001 at a cultural programme of the Pahela Baishakh celebrations arranged by Chaayanot, the leading cultural organization of Bangladesh. Ten people, including Shujan, a Harkat-u ...

. He was sentenced to death in 2014. *Indicted in the 2001 bombing of Communist Party of Bangladesh rally. *Involved in the attempt to kill the British High Commissioner through bombing the

Shah jalal Shāh Jalāl Mujarrad Kunyāʾī (), popularly known as Shah Jalal (), was a celebrated Sufi Saint, conqueror and historical figure of Bengal. His name is often associated with the Muslim conquest of Sylhet and the Spread of Islam into the ...

shrine. He was sentenced to death. *Planned 21 August bombing at

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

rally.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannan, Mufti Abdul 20th-century births 2017 deaths Bangladeshi Islamists Sunni Islamists Mujahideen members of the Soviet–Afghan War Bangladeshi male criminals People executed by Bangladesh by hanging Executed Bangladeshi people Executed mass murderers Year of birth missing People convicted of attempted murder Leaders of jihadist groups People from Gopalganj District, Bangladesh