Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri (ابراهيم عواد ابراهيم علي البدري; 28 July 1971 – 27 October 2019), commonly known by his nom de guerre Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (أبو بكر البغدادي), was an Iraqi militant who was the first caliph of the Islamic State (IS) from 2014 until his death.

Al-Baghdadi was born on 28 July 1971 in Samarra, hence his (onomastic).

He was born to a Sunni Arab family that belonged to the tribe of Al-Bu Badri, giving him another.

This tribe includes a number of sub-tribes, including the Radhawiyyah, Husseiniyyah, Adnaniyyah, and Quraysh.

Al-Baghdadi later claimed that he was descended from the Quraysh tribe and therefore from Muhammad, although there was no evidence to back up his claim.

He was the third of the four sons of Awad Ibrahim, a religious cleric.

According to a short semi-authorized biography written by Abid Humam al-Athari, his grandfather, Ibrahim Ali al-Badri, apparently lived until the age of 94 and witnessed the US occupation of Iraq.

His father, Awad, was active in the religious life of the community.

Baghdadi was born in Samarra and obtained graduate degrees in Islamic theology in the late 1990s and 2000s.

Following the American invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Baghdadi led the "Jama'at Jaysh Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jama'ah" insurgent group in Iraq and was detained with al-Qaeda commanders at the American Camp Bucca in 2004.

His group joined the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) coalition in 2006 and fought alongside Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Upon the dissolution of the MSC in October 2006, Baghdadi became a leading member of the newly established Islamic State of Iraq organization, and rose through the group's ranks until he was appointed its emir, the highest leader, in 2010.

In March 2013, the group renamed itself as the "Islamic State of Iraq and Levant" (ISIL), announcing its intention to expand into Syria and forcibly assimilate the Al-Nusra Front, leading to a conflict with Al-Qaeda's general command.

In June 2014, the group once again re-designated itself as the "Islamic State", and declared itself to be a caliphate.

Baghdadi was chosen caliph of the Islamic State by the Shura Council, who represented those members of the Islamic State qualified to elect a caliph.

Baghdadi's claim to be "caliph" was almost universally rejected by the Muslim community.

IS was designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and almost all sovereign states, and Baghdadi was individually considered a terrorist by the United States and many other countries.

As leader of IS, Baghdadi led the Islamic State's wars against Iraq and Syria.

Baghdadi directed the use of controversial tactics, including the mass use of suicide bombings and the execution of prisoners of war.

IS briefly captured substantial territory in Iraq and Syria, but lost all of that territory and almost all of its fighters during Baghdadi's tenure as caliph.

Baghdadi would become directly involved in IS's atrocities and human rights violations.

These include the genocide of Yazidis in Iraq, extensive sexual slavery, organized rape, floggings, and systematic executions.

He directed terrorist activities and massacres.

He embraced brutality as part of the organization's propaganda efforts, producing videos displaying sexual slavery and executions via hacking, stoning and burning.

Baghdadi was a serial rapist who kept several personal sex slaves.

In 2014, the Telegraph reported that his birthname was Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badri.

In 2018, Reuters reported that his real name was Ibrahim al-Samarrai.

He was also known as Abu Du'a (أبو دعاء ), The word du'a signifies supplications, invocations, or prayers.

In regions formerly under IS control, various non-Islamic honorifics that recognize his rank were used as a formal address recognizing him as a noble and a head of state that might precede or follow his name.

He was also known as Abdullah al-Nasir and Abdul Sami.

On 27 October 2019, Baghdadi killed himself and two children by detonating a suicide vest during the Barisha raid, conducted by the United States following approval from President Donald Trump, in Syria's northwestern Idlib Province.

After being offered Islamic funeral rites, his body was buried at sea.

IS confirmed his death and named Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi as his replacement.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a pseudonym.

His (teknonym) was, meaning "father of a young camel".

Having at some time taken the name Abu Bakr, al-Baghdadi is thought to have adopted the name of the first caliph, Abu Bakr.

During the times when Muhammad might have suffered from illnesses, Abu Bakr was the replacement for leading prayer, according to the Sunni tradition of Islam.

His surname literally means "The one from Baghdad" and denotes that he was from Baghdad city or Baghdad governorate in Iraq.

He had various names and epithets such as ash-Shabah (the phantom or ghost), Invisible Sheikh, Amir al-Mu'minin, Caliph (sometimes followed by Abu Bakr, al-Baghdadi, or Ibrahim), and Sheikh Baghdadi''.

'' Other aliases used by al-Badri include Dr. Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai.