Abdul Aziz (Pakistani cleric)

Abdul Aziz
Personal details
Nationality	Pakistan
Residence	Islamabad, Pakistan

Abdul Aziz (Urdu: محمد عبد العزيز‎) is a Pakistani cleric and khateeb (sermon giver) in the central mosque of Islamabad known as Lal Masjid, which was the site of a siege in 2007 with the Pakistani army. On 4 July 2007, he was arrested by the Pakistani police as he was trying to escape the complex while dressed in a burqa (veil). Aziz was released from custody by the Pakistani supreme court in 2009 and acquitted in 2013.

The mosque he leads operates Jamia Hafsa, an all-girls madrassa, and has a militia. Its followers have engaged in political protests and have been involved in vandalism, violence, kidnapping, and arson. Students of Jamia Hafsa have publicly declared their support for ISIS and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In 2014, Aziz named a library at one of the mosque's seminaries after Osama Bin Laden and openly declared his support for ISIS.

Aziz came to Islamabad as a six-year-old boy from his home town in Punjab, when his father was appointed khateeb of Lal Masjid in 1966. He grew up in Islamabad. Aziz is the son of Muhammad Abdullah, the first prayer leader of Lal Masjid, and elder brother of Abdul Rashid, who was killed in a government raid.

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