This report includes two translations. One is a translation of a Dari-language media report published on Afintl.com about Afghan Taliban cleric Mullah Sultan Muhammad Saqib, who is the head of Afghan Taliban's jihadi madrassa in Nangarhar province and has followers among the Taliban fighters. He tells his followers that the unbelievers are occupying Jerusalem and jihad has become obligatory on Muslims.
The other is translation of a Pashtu-language speech that Saqib reportedly delivered rejecting the Afghan Taliban government's official position that if the Taliban members go to fight in Palestine or elsewhere abroad, it will be called war, not jihad. An audio recording of the speech was reportedly recently sent to Afghanistan International news outlet.
In Islamic tradition, a cleric issues a fatwa in response to a question. It appears that Saqib's speech is in fact a fatwa. He goes on to say that Pakistani religious leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman was slightly better for approving jihad in Afghanistan, even though he later would not support jihad in Pakistan, which is his homeland.
Following is a translation of the Afintl.com report:
Pakistani Scholar "Mullah Fazlur Rahman Is Better Than The Afghan Taliban Officials Because He Considered Jihad In Afghanistan Legitimate, But Now The Taliban Consider Neither Jihad Inside Nor Outside Afghanistan Legitimate"
"The Head Of The Taliban Religious Madrassa In Nangarhar Province Defended The 'Jihad' Of Members Of This Group Outside Afghanistan
"Mullah Sultan Muhammad Saqib, head of the Taliban jihadi madrassa in Nangarhar province, says that jihad is 'obligatory' for Muslims all over the world. Saqib allusively called Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob's statements about the illegitimacy of jihad outside Afghanistan 'completely false.'
"In the audio file that reached Afghanistan International, this religious scholar of the Taliban is heard asking the members of this group to make themselves 'Allah worshipers' and not 'patriots.' These statements show that a number of influential figures in Taliban religious schools encourage members of this group to expand their activities beyond national borders.
"The sender of this audio file said on Saturday that he recorded this speech a week ago in a Taliban religious school in Jalalabad city, Nangarhar province. Mullah Sultan Mohammad Saqib, who is in charge of the Taliban religious madrassa in Jalalabad city, says that [Pakistani religious scholar] Mullah Fazlur Rahman is better than the Afghan Taliban officials because he considered jihad in Afghanistan legitimate, but now the Taliban consider neither jihad inside nor outside Afghanistan legitimate.
"This religious figure, who has influence among Taliban fighters, has defended the continuation of the war of members of this group outside this country. To encourage Taliban fighters to fight outside of Afghanistan, Saqib says, 'Bait Al-Maqdis [i.e., Jerusalem] has been taken by unbelievers and [look at] what is happening to Muslims in Palestine.'
"Taliban Mullahs Challenge The Narrative Of Kabul-Based Authorities?
"These statements were made while Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob announced last year that if someone goes outside of Afghanistan with the intention of jihad, his struggle is not called jihad [but war]. Mullah Yaqoob emphasized that 'when the emir stops the mujahideen from fighting and they still go to fight, this war is not called jihad.'"
"Afghanistan's National Television, Under The Control Of The Taliban, Published An Audio Recording Of [Defense Minister] Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob's Speech To The Taliban Commanders, In Which He Forbade The Fighters Of This Group From Going Outside Afghanistan For Jihad"
"Afghanistan's national television, under the control of the Taliban, published an audio recording of Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob's speech to the Taliban commanders, in which he forbade the fighters of this group from going outside Afghanistan for jihad and encouraging the Taliban to support the regime inside the country.
"He said that advanced scholars and authoritative books have commented that when 'the emir prevents the mujahideen from going to war, their work is not called jihad. He emphasized that the Taliban members should not commit an act that would damage the group's 20-year achievements.
"Role Of Taliban Fighters In Pakistan's Attacks
"Simultaneously with the publication of the speech of the official of Taliban madrassa in Nangarhar, Pakistani security officials said that at least two Afghan Taliban fighters were involved in the attack last Monday [July 15] in the Bannu region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
"The Pakistani army said that the fighters of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, one of the commanders of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, attacked a military base in Bennu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday [July 15]. As a result of this attack, eight Pakistani soldiers were killed.
"Pakistani security sources told Afghanistan International that two Afghan Taliban fighters were also involved in this attack. According to Pakistani sources, one of these fighters was named Fazl Omar and he was from Charkh district of [Afghanistan's] Logar province, and the other fighter was named Osmanullah Kamran and he was a member of the Afghan Taliban.
"The Afghan Taliban have not officially commented on the involvement of their fighters in the attack on the Pakistani army base in Bannu, but they have previously denied the involvement of their fighters in attacks inside Pakistan."
Following is a translation of Mawlawi Sultan Mohammad Saqib's Pashtu-language speech:
Mullah Sultan Muhammad Saqib: "When There Was Jihad In Afghanistan, We Used To Say That Jihad Is Obligatory On Every Muslim In The World, Why Are They Not Coming For Our Help?"
"A friend has asked that if jihad is obligatory on Afghans now or not?
"Friends, we should turn ourselves into worshipers of Allah. We are not going to turn ourselves into patriots. When there was jihad in Afghanistan, we used to say that jihad is obligatory on every Muslim in the world, why are they not coming for our help? Now that Allah has given us victory in Afghanistan, now we do not accept jihad in the whole world; if there is no jihad in Afghanistan, there is no jihad in the whole world.
"These are wrong words and false. jihad is obligatory on all Muslims. Unbelievers have come to Jerusalem, what is the situation of the Muslims there? Look at other countries in the region, they started [committing] atrocities.
"Friends should be very careful in these matters; so, it does not happen to be like Maulana Fazlur Rahman. He was better, he accepted jihad only in Afghanistan, not in other places like Pakistan; we [under the Taliban] are worse than him."
Source: Afintl.com, July 20, 2024.
