Shahadat-e al Hiqma (Bengali: শাহাদাৎ-এ এল হিকমা, lit. 'Wisdom in Shahadat') is a banned Islamist terrorist organization in Bangladesh.[1][2]
Shahadat-e al Hiqma was established on 8 February 2003 by Sayed Kawsar Hossain Siddique.[3][4] It is believed to be funded by Dawood Ibrahim.[5][6] It announced that it would wage an armed struggle to establish an Islamic state in Bangladesh.[7] Siddique claimed his group had 35 thousand "commandos" and "fighters".[7] It was banned on 9 February 2003[8] by the Government of Bangladesh.[5][3] Siddique was arrested on 9 November 2005.[4]
In July 2011, Siddique was arrested from Rajshahi after Bangladesh Police "found" a three year old "missing" warrant in his name.[9] Siddique was also a member of the Freedom Party.[9] He has in the past referred to the Bangladesh Liberation war as "terrorist activity".[9] He founded Himaloy Beverage Company which according to him is a 5 billion taka company.[9] He was sent to jail on 28 July 2011.[10]
The group was then allegedly reactivated by Jakir Khandakar in July 2014,[11] who would then shift the headquarters to Bandarban District in Chittagong.[11]
It was investigated by the National Investigation Agency of India for the 2014 Burdwan blast in West Bengal.[11]