We, the Mothers of the Lashkar‐e‐Tayyaba by Umm-e-Hammad*

Abstract Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) is a distinctive militant group in Pakistan because it dedicates considerable resources to recruiting women and their families, acknowledging that women are responsible for reproducing the ummat and raising good Muslims. While LeT encourages women to observe strict purdah, it also relies upon women to engage in important social and political activities. This affords women significant status within the organization and a socially acceptable public life, with the relatively rare opportunity to leave their homes to participate in LeT’s various women’s ijtema’at (pl. ijtema, meetings). Umm-e-Hammad is a well-known member of LeT women’s wing; she is a prolific writer of jihadi poetry for LeT, and the compiler of the three-volume Hum Mayen Lashkar‐e‐Tayyaba Ki (We, the Mothers of Lashkar‐e‐Tayyaba). The first and second volumes, published (1998–2003), include several hundred biographies of slain fighters. The third volume, published in 2003, has only a ‘Publisher’s Note’, and thus, is not translated here.