Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi

Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi , probably born Nour Karim al-Mutni Al-Obaidi Al-Rifai (; ), was an Iraqi militant and the third caliph of the Islamic State. He was named as caliph on 10 March 2022, in an audio message by the new spokesperson of IS, Abu Umar al-Muhajir, whose announcement came more than a month after the death of his predecessor Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. The message said that Abu al-Hassan was given a pledge of allegiance in response to the will of the former caliph. The Turkish government claimed that he was arrested in Istanbul on 26 May 2022. Later, Islamic State sources denied news reports of his arrest in the 347th issue of their weekly newsletter Al-Naba.

In November 2022, Islamic State spokesman Abu Umar al-Muhajir announced that Abu al-Hasan had been killed in combat. After confirmation by the Islamic State and the United States Central Command of his death in Syria, Abu Umar announced Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi as Abu al-Hasan's successor.

Identity Abu al-Hasan was his kunya. Al-Hashimi and al-Qurashi indicate that he belonged to the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe.

Al Ain News reported in March 2022 that al-Qurashi's real name was Zaid, an Iraqi national and the former emir of the Diwan of Education. A May 2022 United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report expanded on this, claiming that the most likely candidate as to his real identity was an Iraqi national by the name of Bashar Khattab Ghazal al-Sumaida'i, also known as Haji Zaid,

Abu al-Hassan's identity is not yet established but has been much discussed among Member States, with Iraqi national Bashar Khattab Ghazal al-Sumaida'i cited as the most likely candidate. Some Member States suggested that al-Sumaida'i was arrested in Turkey near Istanbul in May; others maintain that he remains at large. IS has not yet commented.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan initially agreed with this claim after al-Sumaida'i was arrested, claiming that he had been acting as the highest figure in the Islamic State since the death of former caliph Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. The Islamic State had never named their caliph to be al-Sumaida'i, and denied that he was imprisoned.

Ultimately, it was reported by IS-linked sources that Abu al-Hasan was actually Islamic State leader Abdur Rahman al-Iraqi (Sayf Baghdad), born in Rawa, Iraq and killed in mid-October 2022 in the city of Jasim in Daraa Governorate, Syria. belonged to the Albu 'Ubayd tribe of Rawa in western al Anbar Governorate and grew up there. While operating in the administration of the IS "Baghdad Province", al-Mutni earned the nicknamed "Sword of Baghdad" (Sayf Baghdad). He served as Emir of Diwan al-Amn after the killing of his predecessor Abu Nasir Al-Mosuli and became governor of Wilayat Al-Shaam after the demise of Abu Muhammad al-Furqan in 2016–17 period as well as becoming Emir of Shura Council.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appointed him as a representative for some of Distant Wilayat and later on Hajji Abdullah assigned him Southern Syria, Palestine, and attacks on Jews.

During his tenure, Islamic State's second leader Abdullah Qardash chose him to be his successor.

After becoming Caliph, he started moving between Iraq and Syria. He went to Anbar to establish camps with Abu Muslim Al-Isawi (Islamic State "governor" for Iraq) and then left for Syria to lead the battles of Badiyah and later on Dara'a. Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency later claimed that Turkish intelligence had been tracking his movements in Syria for a long period of time, and arrested him promptly after he illegally entered Turkey. In July, a UN Security Council report stated that there was no available clarification regarding the Turkish claim. On 16 September 2022, Islamic State spokesperson Abu Umar al-Muhajir seemingly denied claims that their caliph had been arrested, calling on Muslims globally to pledge allegiance to him.

Death In 2022, he arrived from Iraq to Daraa province and started working under aliases of Abdur Rahman al-Iraqi and Sayf Baghdad. On 14 August 2022, "reconciled" rebels in Tafas were able to apprehend a Syrian member of the IS shura council whose confessions indicated prominent IS leaders, including Abu Abdul Rahman al-Iraqi (who turned out to be the "Caliph") are present in Jassem. It is said that the intelligence from this arrested shura member eventually led to demise of Abu Hassan.

On 30 November 2022, the Islamic State announced that Abu al-Hasan had been killed while fighting. The spokesman of IS, Abu Umar, confirmed the news that same day. The United States Central Command confirmed that Abu al-Hassan killed himself by detonating a suicide vest during an operation carried out by former Free Syrian Army rebels which had aligned with government forces in Daraa Governorate in mid-October. In December, it was reported that the body of Abu Al-Hassan has been handed over to the US by reconciled rebels.

A pro IS media group created a tribute video on reign of Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi and claimed that 1547 military operations were carried in his tenure as supreme leader of the Islamic State.

In August 2023, Islamic State spokesman Abu Hudayfah Al-Ansari first time officially confirmed that Abu Hassan Al-Hashimi was personally leading Islamic State operations in southern Syria and was killed fighting there.

In September 2023, a Pro Islamic State biography of Abu Al-Hassan stated that he fought a two-day clash against the "Nusayris", the Russians, and the "Sahwat", which ended with him killing dozens of them, then detonating his belt resulting in his death Rabi` al-Awwal of the year 1444H of the Islamic calendar.

Succession He was replaced by Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi as the fourth Caliph of the Islamic State. Based on the announcement of Abu al-Hussein's appointment, researcher Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi argued that he had probably not been designated as successor by Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.

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