Aḥmad Faḍīl al-Nazāl al-Khalāyla, better known by the alias Abū Muṣʿab al-Zarqāwī (1966–2006), was the founder and leader of the Iraqi affiliate of al-Qāʿida (al-Qaeda), known as al-Qāʿida in Iraq, the predecessor of the so-called Islamic State.

Born in 1966 in the Jordanian city al-Zarqā as a member of the East Bank Bedouin tribe of Banī Ḥasan, al-Zarqāwī grew up in his native city. He dropped out of school when he was 17 and became involved in criminal activities. Indirectly, it was his involvement in crime that led him to religi…