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In a Pashtu-language booklet, the Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP) accuses Afghan Taliban leader Mawlawi Hibbatullah Akhundzada of deceiving Taliban members and Afghans by claiming that he is implementing Islam and shari'a but failing to do so.
The booklet is titled, "Repeated Promises of Colonel Hibbat" referring to Mullah Hibbatullah Akhundzada as a colonel of the Pakistani army. The publication points out that he acts like a military officer of Pakistan's army and intelligence, and not as the Commander of the Faithful.
The 16-page booklet was published by The Al-Azaim Media Foundation, a media outlet linked to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which defines itself as a supporting entity for the Islamic State (ISIS). A PDF copy of the booklet was released via the Telegram channel of Al-Azaim Media Foundation.
The booklet's cover
The unidentified author of the booklet says that Hibbatullah Akhundzada continues to promise that he will implement shari'a, but has failed to do so. The author refers to the last published speech of the Taliban leader, who said that they could fight against unbelief for another 20 years, and that they do not listen to anyone's orders in implementing shari'a punishments, and they will apply Islamic criminal punishments, including stoning adulterers to death. Whenever the Taliban have delivered shari'a punishments in recent years, the ISKP has argued in its literature that those punishments were incorrect according to shari'a.
According to the author, the speeches of Hibbatullah Akhundzada appear because some junior Taliban members are demanding the implementation of the complete shari'a system, and the Taliban leader is deceiving them with such speeches. Asserting that the current Taliban administration is not Islamic, the booklet says that when the morale of Taliban's fighters falls in the war against the ISIS, then Hibbatullah Akhundzada and other Taliban leaders offer up such statements to raise their morale.
The author of the booklet accuses the Afghan Taliban of staging a drama, and points out that this most recent speech of Hibbatullah Akhundzada is a section of a recorded speech from two years ago. The Taliban published it now, the author says, to try to control the fighters and to hide those policies that are against Islam and shari'a, which the Taliban follow to please the unbelievers, especially America.
As evidence of the Taliban seeking consent of non-Muslim countries for their policies, the author provides screenshots of Taliban supporters' and officials' posts on social media. The author mentions the money the United States has sent to Afghanistan as proof of the relationship between the West and the Taliban, pointing out that the U.S. also sends bombs to Israel that kill children in Gaza.
The writer concludes that "the Taliban's system is not 100 percent Islamic; the Taliban have no reason to delay the implementation of shari'a. They have relations with polytheists and unbelievers; interest is still being paid in banks. They have not made all their operations Islamic. They are just making noise to deceive people, that is all."
Source: Telegram, March 28, 2024.
