Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund: The UN-Sanctioned Theologian Leading the Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund: The UN-Sanctioned Theologian Leading the Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund is the new Prime Minister of Afghanistan in the Taliban’s interim government formed in September (Dawn, September 7). The Taliban captured Kabul on August 15, but delayed the announcement of the interim government twice. Its ministers were ultimately unveiled after three weeks on September 7. The reasons for these delays were the discord and infighting, mainly between the “Doha faction,” led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, and the Haqqani Network, a militant group within the Taliban movement that controls eastern Afghanistan (One India, September 7).
Mullah Akhund’s appointment by the Taliban as head of the interim government not only tells a story of internal divisions among Taliban factions, but also of the Taliban’s consensus-driven governing style and compromise of a candidate who is respected by all factions. He was further backed by the Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah. Hence, Mullah Akhund’s appointment represented both division and unity among Taliban factions.
Akhund’s Early Life and Education
Mullah Akhund is believed to have been born in the late 1940s or early 1950s in Pashmul village in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province and he belongs to the Kakar tribe of the Pashtuns (UN, November 29, 2011). His Pashtun lineage descends from Ahmad Shah Durani, the founder of the Durani Empire in 1747. He has written many books on Islam and received education from various religious seminaries in Afghanistan (Right Pakistan, September 8; Express Tribune, September 8). Although the Taliban is the successor of the Afghan mujahideen, who fought against Soviet forces during the 1980s, Akhund was not among them. Nevertheless, he could not complete his education because of the fighting (Express Tribune, September 8).
Akhund is a strict follower of the Islamic Deobandi school of thought and is a religious leader, rather than an inherently political figure. Nevertheless, his nomination as Prime Minister in the Taliban’s interim government means he has been assigned a political role. His influence and control over the Taliban’s Rehbari Shura, or “leadership council,” also provides him a strong role in military affairs (DNAindia, September 8).
Coming from Kandahar, the birthplace and spiritual heartland of the Taliban movement, Akhund was among the founders of the Taliban (Express Tribune, September 8). He was also a teenage friend,close associate and political adviser to Mullah Umar, the founder of the Taliban, during its first period of rule in Afghanistan in the late 1990s. In December 2009, he became a member of the Taliban’s supreme council (UN, November 29, 2011).
Under the first Taliban administration from 1996 to 2001, Mullah Akhund held key positions, including the governor of Kandahar province, foreign minister, and deputy Prime Minister, in addition to being a close aide to Mullah Omar. Akhund was accordingly on the UN sanctions list (The News, September 8). Since the late 1990s, Mullah Akhund has not lost his prominent position on the Rehbari Shura and has remained a close aide to different Taliban leaders, including Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who succeeded Mullah Umar after his death. Mansoor himself was killed in a US drone strike in 2016 (Dawn, May 22, 2016). He was then succeeded by Maulvi Haibatullah Akhundzada, the current Taliban leader, whose close aide was Mullah Akhund himself. (Express Tribune, September 8).
Mullah Akhund’s Conservative Approach to Interpreting Islamic Law
Under the first Taliban government, Mullah Akhund implemented his theocratic and conservative approach to interpreting Islam in his precepts and practice. The Taliban in 2001, for example, destroyed the tenth century giant statues of Buddha in the Bamiyan province after the Taliban’s Rehbari Shura ordered the movement to do so. Mullah Akhund had strongly supported the destruction of the statues and declared it the religious duty of Muslims (NDTV, September 7). It was because of his role in the destruction of the statues in March 2001 that he was placed on the UN terrorist list (India Today, September 7).
Moreover, Mullah Akhund has supported Taliban’s anti-women policies, such as the bans restricting outside movement without a male relative, girls’ education and women working in offices. Today, there is more semblance of his conservatism reflected in certain initiatives his government has taken since August. The government led by Mullah Akhund has abolished the women’s ministry in Afghanistan, and replaced it with one of virtue and vice. The present Taliban government has not allowed women to work in government ministries with men. In the absence of a women’s ministry, there is a large question mark about the empowerment, progress and rights of Afghan women under the Taliban government (Dawn, September 17).
A Conciliatory Head of the Afghan Government?
Mullah Akhund’s conciliatory language to deal with the Taliban’s opponents and enemies reflects an apparent departure from the policy Taliban pursued under their previous administration more than 20 years ago. As the new head of the interim Afghan government, Mullah Akhund reiterated his commitment to an amnesty for Afghan people who were part of the now toppled Afghan government and worked to support U.S interests. He also pledged security for diplomats, embassies and humanitarian relief organizations in Afghanistan and announced the end of the Afghan war and the desire for good relations with other countries in the region and internationally (Radio Pakistan, September 9).
Putting Mullah Akhund’s hardline views aside, he appears to be an astute politician struggling for international recognition of the Taliban government in Kabul. He appealed to the international community to provide aid to Afghanistan and for global institutions to release frozen funds after the Taliban took control of Kabul. He also demanded the lifting of sanctions on Taliban leaders. During a meeting with a WHO delegation, led by Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Kabul, he stated “Pressure will not resolve the problems, they can be solved through dialogue. Those sanctions which are still in place should be removed” (Express Tribune, September 21).
Conclusion
In all respects, Mullah Akhund has been an influential figure in the Taliban movement since its beginning in the 1990s. He is also the unifying and integrating force among different Taliban factions. Mullah Abdul Ghani Bradar was earlier projected as the head of the government, but some factions, particularly the Haqqani Network, opposed his appointment (Economic Times, September 6).
Mullah Akhund emerged as an acceptable candidate to all factions in the Taliban movement. Despite the Taliban’s conciliatory face this time, Afghanistan is likely to witness the repetition of the same conservatism and theocratic approach to interpreting Islam that took place from 1996-2001. What the world is likely to witness in a Mullah Akhund-led Afghanistan is the ‘old wine in new bottle.’ However, it is yet to be seen how much Mullah Akhund will make compromises on his hardline views vis-a-vis women and empowering Afghans’ civil rights to fulfil his commitments to the international community. Beyond this, it also remains to be seen to what extent the Taliban government remains committed to its promise of not allowing Afghanistan to become a launchpad for global terror attacks.
