Abu Azrael

Ayoub Falih Hasan Al-Rubayie (أيوب فالح حسن الربيعي; born 1978), known by his nom de guerre Abu Azrael, is an Iraqi commander in the Kataib al-Imam Ali, an Iraqi Shi'a militia group of the Popular Mobilization Forces that fought the ISIS (ISIL) in Iraq. He has become a public icon among Shia's Iraqis, gaining a large following on social media. His motto and catchphrase is "Ella Tahin", literally meaning "until/into dust," interpreted to mean "grind you to dust."

Abu Azrael was a member of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, which fought against the U.S.-led Coalition forces during the Iraqi insurgency.

Personal life
Abu Azrael is a Shi'a Muslim who is a former university lecturer and a one-time Taekwondo champion. According to an Iranian source, reports from March 2015 claimed that Azrael is a father of five, and lives an ordinary life when not on the battlefield.

Following incidents where he was filmed desecrating the corpses of ISIS The militants, Azrael stated that he had been told by a senior imam in Najaf that he should pray for penance and never do such a thing again.

In October 2019, he was severely beaten unconscious by protesting Iraqis in Baghdad's Tahrir Square.

In 2020, he was infected with COVID-19 and suffered lung damage.

Public image
Abu Azrael fought against ISIS, although he has also fought against other militant groups. By the spring of 2015, he had made front-page appearances on international news websites in England, France and the United States.

He has received a medal of honor from the Representative of the Supreme Religious Authority Sayyid Ahmad al-Safi.

In 2016, he was spotted on the battlefield in the Battle of Mosul against ISIL.

During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Abu Azrael claimed to have been near the Israel-Lebanon border, waiting for "any opportunity" to enter Israel.