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Analyzing the Role of the Top LeT Ideologue: A Profile of Amir Hamza
Publication: Volume: 3 Issue: 6July 1, 2012
By: Arif Jamal
Maulana Amir Hamza is one of the most important leaders of the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) terrorist group after its emir Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. He is a fiery speaker and a prolific writer. These two skills enabled him to rise to a top slot in the group. He also played a key role in shaping the JuD and connecting the founding members. In 2008 the United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist group; it was listed as an alias for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group. [1]
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the commander of the LeT, originally recruited Hamza in 1984 during one of Lakhvis visits to Pakistan where he was recruiting new fighters. At the time, Hamza was an Ahle Hadith student from Central Pakistani Punjab (Ahle Hadith refers to various Islamic reformist movements that emphasize the use of hadith). In 1985 Lakhvi decided to organize the LeT as a jihadi group. Since the group comprised only the students from different Pakistani madrassas (Islamic seminaries), he needed an additional participant who could claim to be an accomplished alim (Islamic scholar). Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, a teacher of Islamic studies at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore, was one such person who could give some credibility to the group. Lakhvi asked Hamza in 1985 to meet Hafiz Saeed and convince him to lead the small group. Hamza met Saeed at the latters residence in Lahore. Saeed did not make a commitment initially however two years after the initial meeting Saeed took over command of the group. [2]
The Source of the Terrorist Group
The LeT was the militant wing of the Markaz al-Dawa wal-Irshad (MDI), a missionary-jihadi organization formally established in 1987. After its conception, the group started holding dawah (invitation) [3] and jihad conferences across the country. The MDI also started publishing pamphlets against democracy and in support of dawah and jihad, most of which were written by Hamza and Hafiz Abdullah Bahawalpuri, a well-known religious leader in Punjab. [4] The MDI held its first annual convention in March 1988 at the reform centre of Hafiz Mohammad Yahya Aziz Mohammadi at Bonga Balochan al-Badr Bhaiphero. The second annual convention was also held at that centre in March 1989. It was on this occasion that the MDI published its magazine Mujalla Ad-Dawah for the first time. It was later turned into a monthly magazine and Hamza was appointed editor. The membership and followers of the MDI started growing dramatically. The Mujalla Ad-Dawah and other pamphlets written by Hamza played a key role in this growth. By the time the MDI held its third annual convention in Muridke on November 14-16, 1990, the number of followers had grown to approximately 10,000. [5]
Networking in former the Soviet Union and Iran
As the Afghan jihad came to an end in 1988, the still small MDI decided to establish links with Salafist groups in the former Soviet Union. Hamza was one of several MDI leaders sent out for this purpose. He embarked on a long journey inside the former Soviet Union visiting Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and to Russias Chechnya and Kazan, the capitol of Tatarstan. [6,7] These were the days when the Muslims in the former Soviet states were experiencing an Islamic revival. According to a senior MDI leader, The goal of these visits was to establish permanent contacts with the Muslim religious leaders and give them the dawah for Salafism before they adopted any other sect. Hamza also visited Iran to establish links with Sunni groups there, which were fighting the Shiite majority. [8]
Campaign against the United States
While the MDI was India-centric, the JuD started giving increased attention to instigating anti-Western sentiment, particularly against the United States. A vigorous campaign was run against the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. As part of this campaign, the JuD sponsored rallies in big cities, focused on stoking hate against the United States and West. Hamza personally planned and led many of these rallies. [9] The anti-U.S. campaign received a boost in 2003 when the United States invaded Iraq in April of that year; subsequently, rallies and propaganda they organized became more virulent and frequent. [10]
The Rise of the JuD with the Asian Tsunami
Although the JuD has been active in East Asia since late the 1980s, the Asian tsunami in 2005 opened many doors in the region for the JuD since massive devastations produced an abundance of people in need. As soon as he heard news of the tsunami, Saeed ordered the JuD to send as many volunteers and relief goods as possible to the calamity-hit countries. He appointed Hamza as head of the Tsunami Relief Committee. According to a press release from JuD, the committee collected Rs 4.1 million (roughly 161,000 USD) for the victims of the Asian Tsunami in just half an hour. [11] The JuD committee contacted the diplomatic offices for several of the affected countries to learn about their needs. The Sri Lankan office was one of the first offices to respond and within a short amount of time, the JuD transferred over six truckloads of relief goods to them, worth approximately Rs 10 million (nearly 180,000 USD). The relief goods included family tents, stitched western suits, unstitched cloth, childrens garments, medicines, rice, etc. All the relief goods were new, [and] were bought or collected in view of the needs of the people affected Hamza said. [12] Hamza went to the Maldive Islands to personally offer relief to the Maldivian government and people. [13] This visit allowed him to establish closer links with the Salafist elements there where the JuD has since established a wide network. [14]
Getting Engaged in Politics
The news that interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility had flushed some pages from the Quran to extract information from inmates caused an uproar throughout the Muslim world. [15] The JuD took this as an opportunity to launch two of its most important political campaigns: Tehreek Tehreek Hurmat-e-Quran and Tehreek Hurmat-e-Rasool. On May 18, 2005, The JuD called a meeting of 40 Islamist groups at Markaz al-Qadsia, the center of the JuD in Lahore, Pakistan to form the Rabita Ulema Committee, which would run a sustained campaign called Tehreek Hurmat-e-Quran under the leadership of the JuD. The Rabita Ulema Committee asked the United States to apologize to the Muslims and hand over the accused to the Ulema who would try them in a Sharia court.
The Rabita Ulema Committee went beyond responding to the desecration of the Quran. [16] From the Martyrs Mosque in Lahore, they also launched the Tehreek Hurmat Quran in response to the Washington Times publication of cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad. Saeed asked the participants to turn each and every mosque in the country into a center for the Tehreek Hurmat Quran. He asked the government to expel the U.S. ambassador and U.S. armed forces personnel, to shut down the U.S. military bases in the country, and to stop receiving Christina Rocca, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs under President George W. Bush. Saeed also demanded that the government stop all FBI operations inside Pakistan and to expel the agents. Furthermore, the committee requested the imposition of the Quranic order in the country [17] and held public meetings across the country in which they discussed the sanctity of the Quran. Hamza was appointed and served as the Convener of the campaigns. [18]
Prolific Writer
Hamza is the editor of several JuD periodicals including its flagship, monthly Mujallah Ad-Dawah. He has also authored a number of books that include Torkhum se Kohqaf Roos ke taaqab mein (From Torkhum to the Caucasus Hotly Pursuing Russia), Shahrae Bahisht (The Road to Paradise), Mein ney bible sey pooccha, Quran kyun Jaley? (I Asked the Bible Why the Qurans were Set Alight), Mazhabi aur siyasi bavey (Religious and Political Men), Afghanistan ki chotion par qafila dawato jihad (On the Mountain Tops of Afghanistan The Caravans of Call and Jihad), and Rawaeey Merey huzoor key (The Mannerism of My Sire).
Conclusion
According to report published in the beginning of June by The News in Pakistan, Hamza attended a meeting in which the Difa-e-Pakistan Council discussed plans to protest the increasing number of drone strikes in Pakistan [19], which demonstrates his continued involvement in protests and politics. Considering Hamzas significant capacity to influence people through his writings and leadership positions, his role in future terrorist activities committed by the JuD or MDI should not be underestimated. And, like Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman has inspired The Blind Sheikh terrorist organization in Egypt, Hamzas teachings could inspire future jihadis.
Arif Jamal is an independent security and terrorism expert and author of Shadow War The Untold Story of Jihad in Kashmir.
Notes:
1. Bill Roggio, UN declares Jamaat-ud-Dawa a terrorist front group, The Long War Journal, December 11, 2008. Available at: UN declares Jamaat-ud-Dawa a terrorist front group - The Long War Journal
2. Amir Hamza, Qafila Dawat-o-Jihad published by Markaz Dawat wal Irshad, 1993, P 118.
3. Dawah is the practice of conveying the message of Islam to non-Muslims; literally means making an invitation.
4. Interview with Hafiz Saeed, October 1997, Lahore.
5. Interview with an attendee
6. Amir Hamza, Torkham sey kohqaf tak Roos key taaqub mein published by Darul Andlus, Lahore, 2005. P 15.
7. Ibid.
8. Author interview with an MDI commander, Rawalpindi, February 2001.
9. Author field work in Pakistan between 2001 and 2007.
10. Ibid.
11. Press release issued by JuD in February 2005.
12. Author interview with Amir Hamza, Lahore, February 2005.
13. Ibid.
14. For details on JuD in Maldives, see Praveen Swami, The jihad in Paradise in South Asia Intelligence Review in South Asia Terrorism Portal, Volume 6 No 19. Available at South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR), Weekly Assessments & Briefings
15. Hendrik Hertzberg, Big News Week in The New Yorker. Available at Big News Week : The New Yorker.
16. Author interview with Yahya Mujahid, Lahore, May 2005.
17. Arif Jamal, Differences Apart in The News [Karachi], June 5, 2005.
18. Author interview with Yahya Mujahid, Lahore, May 2005.
19. Mushtaq Paracha, DPC to protest US drone attacks on June 15, The News, June 6, 2012. Available at: DPC to protest US drone attacks on June 15 - thenews.com.pk
Publication: Volume: 3 Issue: 6July 1, 2012
By: Arif Jamal
Maulana Amir Hamza is one of the most important leaders of the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) terrorist group after its emir Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. He is a fiery speaker and a prolific writer. These two skills enabled him to rise to a top slot in the group. He also played a key role in shaping the JuD and connecting the founding members. In 2008 the United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist group; it was listed as an alias for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group. [1]
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the commander of the LeT, originally recruited Hamza in 1984 during one of Lakhvis visits to Pakistan where he was recruiting new fighters. At the time, Hamza was an Ahle Hadith student from Central Pakistani Punjab (Ahle Hadith refers to various Islamic reformist movements that emphasize the use of hadith). In 1985 Lakhvi decided to organize the LeT as a jihadi group. Since the group comprised only the students from different Pakistani madrassas (Islamic seminaries), he needed an additional participant who could claim to be an accomplished alim (Islamic scholar). Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, a teacher of Islamic studies at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore, was one such person who could give some credibility to the group. Lakhvi asked Hamza in 1985 to meet Hafiz Saeed and convince him to lead the small group. Hamza met Saeed at the latters residence in Lahore. Saeed did not make a commitment initially however two years after the initial meeting Saeed took over command of the group. [2]
The Source of the Terrorist Group
The LeT was the militant wing of the Markaz al-Dawa wal-Irshad (MDI), a missionary-jihadi organization formally established in 1987. After its conception, the group started holding dawah (invitation) [3] and jihad conferences across the country. The MDI also started publishing pamphlets against democracy and in support of dawah and jihad, most of which were written by Hamza and Hafiz Abdullah Bahawalpuri, a well-known religious leader in Punjab. [4] The MDI held its first annual convention in March 1988 at the reform centre of Hafiz Mohammad Yahya Aziz Mohammadi at Bonga Balochan al-Badr Bhaiphero. The second annual convention was also held at that centre in March 1989. It was on this occasion that the MDI published its magazine Mujalla Ad-Dawah for the first time. It was later turned into a monthly magazine and Hamza was appointed editor. The membership and followers of the MDI started growing dramatically. The Mujalla Ad-Dawah and other pamphlets written by Hamza played a key role in this growth. By the time the MDI held its third annual convention in Muridke on November 14-16, 1990, the number of followers had grown to approximately 10,000. [5]
Networking in former the Soviet Union and Iran
As the Afghan jihad came to an end in 1988, the still small MDI decided to establish links with Salafist groups in the former Soviet Union. Hamza was one of several MDI leaders sent out for this purpose. He embarked on a long journey inside the former Soviet Union visiting Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and to Russias Chechnya and Kazan, the capitol of Tatarstan. [6,7] These were the days when the Muslims in the former Soviet states were experiencing an Islamic revival. According to a senior MDI leader, The goal of these visits was to establish permanent contacts with the Muslim religious leaders and give them the dawah for Salafism before they adopted any other sect. Hamza also visited Iran to establish links with Sunni groups there, which were fighting the Shiite majority. [8]
Campaign against the United States
While the MDI was India-centric, the JuD started giving increased attention to instigating anti-Western sentiment, particularly against the United States. A vigorous campaign was run against the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. As part of this campaign, the JuD sponsored rallies in big cities, focused on stoking hate against the United States and West. Hamza personally planned and led many of these rallies. [9] The anti-U.S. campaign received a boost in 2003 when the United States invaded Iraq in April of that year; subsequently, rallies and propaganda they organized became more virulent and frequent. [10]
The Rise of the JuD with the Asian Tsunami
Although the JuD has been active in East Asia since late the 1980s, the Asian tsunami in 2005 opened many doors in the region for the JuD since massive devastations produced an abundance of people in need. As soon as he heard news of the tsunami, Saeed ordered the JuD to send as many volunteers and relief goods as possible to the calamity-hit countries. He appointed Hamza as head of the Tsunami Relief Committee. According to a press release from JuD, the committee collected Rs 4.1 million (roughly 161,000 USD) for the victims of the Asian Tsunami in just half an hour. [11] The JuD committee contacted the diplomatic offices for several of the affected countries to learn about their needs. The Sri Lankan office was one of the first offices to respond and within a short amount of time, the JuD transferred over six truckloads of relief goods to them, worth approximately Rs 10 million (nearly 180,000 USD). The relief goods included family tents, stitched western suits, unstitched cloth, childrens garments, medicines, rice, etc. All the relief goods were new, [and] were bought or collected in view of the needs of the people affected Hamza said. [12] Hamza went to the Maldive Islands to personally offer relief to the Maldivian government and people. [13] This visit allowed him to establish closer links with the Salafist elements there where the JuD has since established a wide network. [14]
Getting Engaged in Politics
The news that interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility had flushed some pages from the Quran to extract information from inmates caused an uproar throughout the Muslim world. [15] The JuD took this as an opportunity to launch two of its most important political campaigns: Tehreek Tehreek Hurmat-e-Quran and Tehreek Hurmat-e-Rasool. On May 18, 2005, The JuD called a meeting of 40 Islamist groups at Markaz al-Qadsia, the center of the JuD in Lahore, Pakistan to form the Rabita Ulema Committee, which would run a sustained campaign called Tehreek Hurmat-e-Quran under the leadership of the JuD. The Rabita Ulema Committee asked the United States to apologize to the Muslims and hand over the accused to the Ulema who would try them in a Sharia court.
The Rabita Ulema Committee went beyond responding to the desecration of the Quran. [16] From the Martyrs Mosque in Lahore, they also launched the Tehreek Hurmat Quran in response to the Washington Times publication of cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad. Saeed asked the participants to turn each and every mosque in the country into a center for the Tehreek Hurmat Quran. He asked the government to expel the U.S. ambassador and U.S. armed forces personnel, to shut down the U.S. military bases in the country, and to stop receiving Christina Rocca, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs under President George W. Bush. Saeed also demanded that the government stop all FBI operations inside Pakistan and to expel the agents. Furthermore, the committee requested the imposition of the Quranic order in the country [17] and held public meetings across the country in which they discussed the sanctity of the Quran. Hamza was appointed and served as the Convener of the campaigns. [18]
Prolific Writer
Hamza is the editor of several JuD periodicals including its flagship, monthly Mujallah Ad-Dawah. He has also authored a number of books that include Torkhum se Kohqaf Roos ke taaqab mein (From Torkhum to the Caucasus Hotly Pursuing Russia), Shahrae Bahisht (The Road to Paradise), Mein ney bible sey pooccha, Quran kyun Jaley? (I Asked the Bible Why the Qurans were Set Alight), Mazhabi aur siyasi bavey (Religious and Political Men), Afghanistan ki chotion par qafila dawato jihad (On the Mountain Tops of Afghanistan The Caravans of Call and Jihad), and Rawaeey Merey huzoor key (The Mannerism of My Sire).
Conclusion
According to report published in the beginning of June by The News in Pakistan, Hamza attended a meeting in which the Difa-e-Pakistan Council discussed plans to protest the increasing number of drone strikes in Pakistan [19], which demonstrates his continued involvement in protests and politics. Considering Hamzas significant capacity to influence people through his writings and leadership positions, his role in future terrorist activities committed by the JuD or MDI should not be underestimated. And, like Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman has inspired The Blind Sheikh terrorist organization in Egypt, Hamzas teachings could inspire future jihadis.
Arif Jamal is an independent security and terrorism expert and author of Shadow War The Untold Story of Jihad in Kashmir.
Notes:
1. Bill Roggio, UN declares Jamaat-ud-Dawa a terrorist front group, The Long War Journal, December 11, 2008. Available at: UN declares Jamaat-ud-Dawa a terrorist front group - The Long War Journal
2. Amir Hamza, Qafila Dawat-o-Jihad published by Markaz Dawat wal Irshad, 1993, P 118.
3. Dawah is the practice of conveying the message of Islam to non-Muslims; literally means making an invitation.
4. Interview with Hafiz Saeed, October 1997, Lahore.
5. Interview with an attendee
6. Amir Hamza, Torkham sey kohqaf tak Roos key taaqub mein published by Darul Andlus, Lahore, 2005. P 15.
7. Ibid.
8. Author interview with an MDI commander, Rawalpindi, February 2001.
9. Author field work in Pakistan between 2001 and 2007.
10. Ibid.
11. Press release issued by JuD in February 2005.
12. Author interview with Amir Hamza, Lahore, February 2005.
13. Ibid.
14. For details on JuD in Maldives, see Praveen Swami, The jihad in Paradise in South Asia Intelligence Review in South Asia Terrorism Portal, Volume 6 No 19. Available at South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR), Weekly Assessments & Briefings
15. Hendrik Hertzberg, Big News Week in The New Yorker. Available at Big News Week : The New Yorker.
16. Author interview with Yahya Mujahid, Lahore, May 2005.
17. Arif Jamal, Differences Apart in The News [Karachi], June 5, 2005.
18. Author interview with Yahya Mujahid, Lahore, May 2005.
19. Mushtaq Paracha, DPC to protest US drone attacks on June 15, The News, June 6, 2012. Available at: DPC to protest US drone attacks on June 15 - thenews.com.pk
