On October 8, 2025,  Maulana Masood Azhar—leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Pakistan and a UN-designated terrorist—announced the creation of a women’s wing called Jamaat-ul-Muminat (JuM), or “Organization of Female Believers.” The announcement was made from the group’s headquarters at Masjid Usman-o-Ali in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. A week later, on October 19, 2025, JeM held a recruitment event titled “Dukhtaran-e-Islam” (Women in Islam) to recruit women into the organization in Rawalkot, Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PAK) (IANS Live, October 22, 2025). The recruitment of women in groups such as JuM signifies a shift from their traditional, support-focused roles to more organized involvement in militant activities (see Terrorism Monitor, March 13). 

JeM’s Gendered Expansion

This women’s wing was announced after a series of setbacks for JeM following India’s May 2025 airstrikes as part of Operation Sindoor. The airstrikes targeted the Markaz Suban Allah headquarters in Bahawalpur and other training sites in Kotli and Muzaffarabad, Pakistan. At least 12 relatives of Masood Azhar were killed, including Sadia Azhar’s husband, Yusuf Azhar. He was involved in the 1999 Kandahar hijacking and hostage episodes, leading to Masood Azhar’s release from an Indian prison (Hindustan Times, May 7, 2025; The Hindu, September 17, 2025).

JeM’s decision to impart both religious and armed training to women is likely a response to India’s employment of women in military roles, as Masood Azhar highlighted in one of his addresses last year (News9, October 29, 2025). This gendering of the anti-India or Kashmir jihad by JeM, however, seems more than just symbolic. Indeed, the leadership of the newly formed JuM includes several female relatives of deceased JEM commanders, strengthening the group’s core family and ideological network. 

Sadiya Azhar—sister of Masood Azhar—leads the group, supported by other family members, including younger sister Sumeira Azhar and Afreera Farooq, the widow of Umar Farooq. He was a nephew of Masood Azhar, who was a key mastermind behind the 2019 Pulwama attack that killed nearly 40 Indian paramilitary personnel (Times of India, June 20, 2021). The involvement of family members in the organization ensures loyalty and doctrinal unity for the jihadist group. Like other Kashmir-focused terrorist groups, JeM has long relied on kinship networks, which extend into the gender domain, turning personal loss into a recruitment narrative and making recruitment largely dependent on trusted social ties and external outreach.

Read the complete article @ Terrorism Monitor, Volume 24, Issue 9,  June 05 2026. 

• Tags:
• Pakistan, Jaish e Muhammed, Jamaat-ul-Muminat, JuM, Masood Azhar, India, Jihad, Suicide Terrorism