The Issue 22 of "Khurasan Ghag [Voice of Khurasan]," the Pashtu-language magazine published by Al-Azaim Foundation, which is the media arm of the Islamic State's Khurasan Province (ISKP), has a cover article evaluating the speeches of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Hibbatullah Akhundzada for their compliance with shari'a and goes on to say that Afghan Taliban are "proxy fighters" of Western "unbeliever intelligence agencies." The issue is dated Shawwal 25, 1444, in the Hijri calendar, which corresponds with May 15, 2023.
The magazine's cover
The Pashtu-language magazine publishes religious, historical, political, literary, and news content. Issue 22 has 75 pages and a cover article titled "Shari'a Evaluation of Mullah Hibbatullah's Deceptive Words" about the speeches of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Hibbatullah Akhundzada and whether they comply with shari'a.
The issue has political, religious, and literary sections. The political section has four articles: "Achieving Honor By Destroying The Foundation Of Sufism"; "The Taliban Are Proxy Fighters Of The Unbeliever Intelligence Agencies"; "Who Are The Deobandis?"; and "There Is No Peace Without Shari'a." The magazine's religious section has two articles: "Forms Of God's Support" and "The Greatness And Importance Of The Virtues Of The Quran." The literature section has an article titled "The Strong Mother."
An article alleges Afghan Taliban's nexus with "infidel intelligence agencies"
The cover article on Mullah Hibbatullah Akhundzada's "deceptive words" describes the him as a tyrrant, adding that "the tyrants of the world are always trying to change the real face of Islam and present it to the people in the guise of democracy or polytheistic Sufism." "Many people who are ignorant of the real Islam are deceived by their claims, and they avoid the right path and pure nature and go astray," the article says.
It reminds readers: "You would have heard various claims, noises, and stories from the new mercenary Taliban militias in the name of the Islamic system. In every statement and speech, and in the media provided by America, they claim that the democracy they have ruled in the name of Islam with the help of bags of American dollars is an Islamic system." The expression "Islamic system" is frequently used by the Afghan Taliban rulers to describe their own government.
The ISKP criticizes Sufism and its followers regularly in its publications. The second article in the magazine is devoted to debunking Sufism. It accuses Sufis of agreeing with most of the beliefs of Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, and apostates. The magazine also has an article titled "Who Are The Deobandis?" It criticizes Pakistan's leading Islamic religious scholars who, like the Taliban, belong to the Deobandi school of Sunni Islam, and rejects Deobandi doctrine.
The table of contents of Issue 22
One of the lead articles is titled "The Taliban Are Proxy Fighters Of The Unbeliever Intelligence Agencies." It is the fifth in a series of articles on this subject. In this section, the article poses a key question: "Why did America take the government from the Afghan apostates and hand it over to the Taliban apostates?" It then offers an explanation: "America used to implement democracy under the republic in Afghanistan, which at that time maintained the goals and interests of America, but later the people were sensitive, and they were against the implementation of democracy."
The United States realized that the new republic, i.e., the government headed by President Ashraf Ghani, would not continue successfully, and therefore it began to bring about change in the guise of the Afghan Taliban and their "Islamic system." The goal behind this strategy was to ensure that people's minds accept that there is no difference between Islam and democracy.
Regarding the debate about Caliphate, the magazine observes: "The Taliban say in their foreign policy that we want to interact with all the unbelievers of the world; it means that 'if the unbelievers help us, we will also support them in every way.' It notes that though the Taliban have failed many times in these claims, such as the bombings by Pakistan and America, they have not and cannot react, which is an insult to deceive the people of Afghanistan."
"Many times [Afghan Taliban rulers] say, 'we want good relations with the world and there will be no danger for anyone from our land'; these are all [merely] the words that the Taliban say every day," hinting at attacks executed by the ISKP fighters that apparently show the Taliban to be incapable of fulfilling this promise.
The magazine's focus is on criticizing Mullah Hibbatullah Akhundzada
A key article in the magazine is titled: "There Is No Peace Without Shari'a." It is translated from ISIS's Arabic-language magazine Al-Naba. It says: "The hypocrites and apostates who criticize the establishment of ISIS-led caliphate based on shari'a spread the news that it was the Khilafah that led to cities, houses, and buildings being destroyed." "During the battle of Mosul and Baghuz, this deceit reached its final limit," it says, saying that destruction has continued in the world despite the Caliphate having been overthrown.
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