jihadist

Abdallah al-Muhaysini

عبدالله المحيسني

Journeys

Abdallah al-Muhaysini: The Cleric Who Blessed the Bombs

Al-Muhaysini left Saudi Arabia to become the most prominent foreign religious authority embedded with jihadist factions in northwest Syria. He issued fatwas for military operations, filmed last-will videos with suicide bombers, and shaped the ideology of the Idlib front. His trajectory illustrates the transnational religious infrastructure that sustained armed opposition in Syria.

Biography

Abdallah al-Muhaysini is a Saudi Islamic cleric who became one of the most influential jihadist religious figures operating inside Syria during the civil war. He arrived in Syria around 2013 and embedded himself with Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate) and later the Jaish al-Fatah coalition. He became known for recording recruitment videos with fighters before suicide bombings and for religious rulings (fatwas) justifying military operations. He played a key ideological and recruiting role in the 2015 Idlib offensive that toppled regime control of Idlib city, and in subsequent operations in northwest Syria. The U.S. designated him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2016. His whereabouts became unclear after HTS consolidated control in Idlib; some reports suggest he was expelled or fled after tensions with HTS leadership.

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Key Facts

Born:1981

Place:Buraydah, Saudi Arabia

Nationality:Saudi Arabian