Nizamuddin Shamzai

Nizamuddin Shamzai (also Nizam al-Din Shamzai, 12 July 1952 – 30 May 2004) was a pro-Taliban Pakistani Deobandi Sunni Islamic scholar and the senior professor of hadith at the Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia. He was considered "one of the most important Deobandi figures in Pakistan" and "one" of the "most revered Sunni clerics" in Pakistan. He was the mentor of Mullah Mohammed Omar, and his madrassa (known as Banuri Town), "taught many students who later became important members of the Taliban regime in Kabul". He issued religious edicts and travelled to elicit support for the Taliban, including a called for a “jihad” against the US after the Al-Qaeda September 11 attacks and US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.