List of leaders of the Islamic State

This is a list of leaders of the Islamic State since the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq.

Caliph of the Islamic State
Jihadist flag
Incumbent Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi since 3 August 2023
Inaugural holder	Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Formation	7 April 2013

List of leaders

Emirs of the Islamic State of Iraq

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Time of Leadership			Note(s)
			Announced	Left office	Time in office
1		Abu Omar al-Baghdadi حَمِيدُ دَاوُدَ مُحَمَّدُ خَلِيلِ ٱلزَّاوِيِّ (1959–2010)	15 October 2006	18 April 2010	3 years, 185 days	Al-Baghdadi was killed when a joint operation of US and Iraqi forces rocketed a safe house 10 kilometers (6 mi) southwest of Tikrit.[1]
2		Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi أَبُو بَكْرٍ ٱلْبَغْدَادِيُّ (1971–2019)	18 April 2010	7 April 2013	2 years, 354 days	The position was succeeded by a caliph after ISIL announced the establishment of a worldwide caliphate.

Caliphs of the Islamic State

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Time of Leadership			Note(s)
			Announced	Left office	Time in office
1		Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi أَبُو بَكْرٍ ٱلْبَغْدَادِيُّ (1971–2019)	7 April 2013	27 October 2019	6 years, 203 days	On 27 October 2019, US Joint Special Operations Command's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (SFOD-D) along with soldiers from the 75th Ranger Regiment and 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment conducted a raid through air space controlled by Russia and Turkey into the rebel-held Idlib province of Syria on the border with Turkey to capture al-Baghdadi.[2][3] He was cornered in a tunnel and died by self-detonating a suicide vest, killing alongside two other young children.[4][5]
2		Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi أبو إبراهيم الهاشمي القرشي (1976–2022)	31 October 2019	3 February 2022	2 years, 95 days	On 3 February 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that U.S. military forces successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation in the town of Atme in Idlib, resulting in the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi by a suicide vest which also killed 12 others.[6][7]
3		Abu al-Hasan al-Qurashi أبو الحسن القرشي (19??-2022)	10 March 2022	15 October 2022	219 days	Little is known about al-Qurashi. According to Iraqi security and government officials, al-Qurashi was the elder brother of former leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Research published by Hisham al-Hashimi in 2020 stated that al-Qurashi headed the five-member Shura Council. He killed himself on 15 October 2022 by detonating a suicide vest during an operation carried out by former Free Syrian Army rebels which had aligned with government forces in Daraa province.[8][9][10]
4		Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi أبو الحسين الحسيني القرشي (19??-2023)	30 November 2022	29 April 2023	150 days	Abu al-Hussein was announced as the new leader of Islamic State by Abu Omar al-Muhajir, in the same audio that confirmed Abu al-Hasan's death.[10] The Islamic State announced on August 3, 2023 that Abu al-Hussein was killed by Tahrir al-Sham militants in Idlib province.[11]
5		Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi ابو حفص الهاشمي القريشي (born 19??)	3 August 2023	Incumbent	2 years, 14 days	Abu Hafs was announced as the new leader of Islamic State, in the same audio that confirmed Abu al-Hussein's death.[12]

List of Spokesmen of the Islamic State

• Abu Mohammad al-Adnani (2014–2016)
• Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir (2016–2019)
• Abu Hamza al-Qurashi (2019-2021)
• Abu Omar al-Muhajir (2021–2023)
• Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansari (2023–present)

Leaders of the international branches of the Islamic State

List of known leaders of the international branches of the Islamic State part of the worldwide caliphate.

Boko Haram as part of IS

1. Abubakar Shekau (2015–2016)

Islamic State – Caucasus Province

1. Rustam Asildarov (23 June 2015 – 3 December 2016)^[13]
2. Aslan Byutukaev (2016-2021)

Islamic State – Sahel Province

1. Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi (13 May 2015 – 2019)^[14]
2. Abdoul Hakim al-Sahrawi (2019 (Possible) – present)^[14]

Islamic State – Khorasan Province

1. Hafiz Saeed Khan (2015 – July 2016)
2. Abdul Haseeb Logari^[15][16] (2016 – April 2017)
3. Abdul Rahman Ghaleb^[17][18] (April – July 2017)
4. Abu Saad Erhabi^[19] (July 2017 – August 2018)
5. Ziya ul-Haq^[20] (August 2018 – April 2019)
6. Abdullah Orokzai^[21][22] (April 2019 – April 2020)
7. Shahab al-Muhajir (April 2020 – present)^[23]

Islamic State in Libya

1. Abu Nabil al-Anbari (13 November 2014 – 13 November 2015)^[24]
2. Abdul Qader al-Najdi (March 2016 – 2020)^[25]

Islamic State in Somalia

1. Abdul Qadir Mumin (22 October 2015 – present)

Islamic State – West Africa Province

1. Abubakar Shekau (2015 – 2016) – deposed for being too radical
2. Abu Musab al-Barnawi (2016 – 2019) – deposed and demoted without explanation
3. Abu Abdullahi Umar Al Barnawi "Ba Idrisa" (2019 – 2020) – purged and reportedly killed after some of his followers opposed his deposition^[26]
4. Lawan Abubakar "Ba Lawan" / "Abba Gana" (2020 – 2021)^[26][27]

Claimed leaders by media and officials

1. Lawan Abubakar (July – August 2021)^[27][28]
2. "Abu Dawud" / "Aba Ibrahim" (from August 2021)^[28][29]
3. Malam Bako or Abu Musab al-Barnawi (c. October 2021)^[29]
4. Sani Shuwaram (November 2021–February 2022)^[29]

Islamic State – Yemen Province

1. Abu Bilal al-Harbi^[30] (c. 2014 – March 2017 (or earlier))
2. Abu Osama al-Muhajir^[31] (POW)^[32][33] (March 2017 – 25 June 2019)