The Al-Azhar University is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic learning. In addition to higher education, Al-Azhar oversees a national network of schools with approximately two million students. As of 1996, over 4,000 teaching institutes in Egypt were affiliated with the university.
Islam is the official religion of the United Arab Emirates. Of the total population, 76.9% are Muslims as of a 2010 estimate by the Pew Research Center. Although no official statistics are available for the breakdown between Sunni and Shia Muslims among noncitizen residents, media estimates suggest less than 20 percent of the noncitizen Muslim population are Shia.
The Pulwama district is an administrative district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is located to the south of Srinagar. Its district headquarters are situated in the city of Pulwama. It is located in the central part of the Kashmir Valley.
Jaish-e-Mohammed is a Pakistan-based Deobandi Jihadist terrorist group active in Kashmir. The group's primary motive is to separate Kashmir from India and merge it into Pakistan.
Hizbul Mujahideen, also spelled Hizb-ul-Mujahidin, is a Pakistan-affiliated Islamist militant organisation that has been engaged in the Kashmir insurgency since 1989. It aims to separate Kashmir from India and merge it with Pakistan, and is thus one of the most important players in the region as it evolved the narrative of the Kashmir conflict by steering the struggle away from nationalism and towards jihadism.
Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz, popularly known as Bin Baz or Ibn Baz, was a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar who served as the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia from 1993 until his death in 1999. According to French political scientist Gilles Kepel, ibn Baz was a "figurehead" whose "immense religious erudition and his reputation for intransigence" gave him prestige among the population of Saudi Arabia. He "could reinforce the Saud family's policies through his influence with the masses of believers". His death left the government without a comparable figure from amongst Salafi scholars to "fill his shoes". He was a leading proponent of the Salafi school of thought.
Abdallah bin Mahfudh ibn Bayyah is a Mauritanian Islamic scholar, politician and professor of Islamic studies at the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, who serves as the chairman of the UAE Council for Fatwa.
Kulgam district is an administrative district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is in the Kashmir division and is located at a distance of 18 kilometres (11 mi) towards south-west of Anantnag. The district comprises block, tehsil and town of Kulgam.
Zakir Rashid Bhat was a Kashmiri separatist who became the commander of Hizbul Mujahideen after the killing of Burhan Wani and Sabzar Bhat, who were the former commanders of the same outfit. He later became the chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.
Sabzar Ahmed Bhat was a kashmiri militant, who is the area commander of the militant organisation Hizbul Mujahideen. He was killed in an encounter by the police on 26 May 2017 at Saimoh Tral
Indian Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir include security operations such as Operation Rakshak, which began in 1990, Operation Sarp Vinash in 2003 and Operation Randori Behak in 2020. Other operations include humanitarian missions such as Operation Megh Rahat and operations with a social aim such as Operation Goodwill and Operation Calm Down. The Indian Army works in tandem with the other arms of the Indian Armed Forces and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir such as during Mission Sahayata or joint operations.
Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2018 include:
Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind is an Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist militant group active in Kashmir. The group's stated objective is to create Kashmir as an independent Islamic state under Sharia law and jihad against India.
Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo was one of the top ten most wanted terrorist commander of Jammu and Kashmir. He was a top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, an Islamist Pro-Pakistan militant organization active in Jammu and Kashmir.
Ladhoo or Ladhu is a village in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is situated on the Jhelum River and of all villages in Pampore Constituency is one of the largest village. It is 18 km (11 mi) from Srinagar and 4 km (2.5 mi) from NH44 via Lethpora. It is spread over an area of 9 km2 (3.5 sq mi) including a long stretch of very famous trekking spot known as Wasturwan. This hill is also referred as 'Veshrivan' by some scholars and is said to be a store house of many myths and truths for the people living in its vicinity.
Tehreek-e-Soutul Awliya, also written as Tehreek-e-Soutul Auliya, is an Indian Islamic Barelvi Sunni religious seminary and non-governmental organization based in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. It was founded by Abdul Rashid Dawooodi in 2005 as a small seminary.
The Resistance Front or TRF is a separatist militant organization involved in the ongoing insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. The organization has positioned itself as a secular organization fighting against the Indian government for Kashmiri freedom, in contrast to past Kashmiri insurgents which have been Islamist. The Indian government has accused the TRF of being an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a claim that TRF has denied. TRF operates primarily in the Kashmir region, with a main base in Srinagar.
