Ustaz Ahmad Farooq’s Lasting Legacy in the South Asian Jihadist Ecosystem
Ustaz Ahmad Farooq’s Lasting Legacy in the South Asian Jihadist Ecosystem
In March, al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS)’s prominent Hitteen magazine published a 455-page book. It covered the life of former AQIS top ideologue Ustad Ahmad Farooq and was written by current AQIS deputy leader Atif Yahya Ghouri—an individual on the US Department of Treasury’s list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (Twitter/TheKhorasanDiary, December 2, 2022). Published in July 2020, the book’s purpose is not only to narrate the trajectory of Farooq, but also to use a widely known and prolific jihadist scholar and leader’s life story to expand the organization’s own narrative. [1]
Structured into fourteen chapters, the book stresses how Farooq demonstrated a natural inclination towards people, and was able to discuss with them different religious issues and convince them of his own ideas. Beyond being just a jihadist commander, Farooq’s goal was to create a united jihadist front in the region. Notably, Farooq’s main role was linking several militant outfits in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In particular, he devoted his work into training and coordinating “mujahideen” from the tribal areas, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) after its inception in 2007.
For instance, when militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) clashed with Ahmadzai Wazir tribesmen in Wana in 2007, Farooq was sent there to mediate (Dawn News, April 5, 2007). He then started a broad process of harmonization of all jihadist factions in Pakistan, which culminated in his assisting the TTP—especially the Mehsud tribe, which included TTP leaders Baitullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud. Likewise, he cemented the relations between Pashtun tribesmen and Punjabi militants; he also became responsible for setting up and managing al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Bangladesh, Ansar Bangla (OutlookIndia, May 29).
Ahmad Farooq quickly rose to prominence through al-Qaeda’s ranks thanks to his ability as an ideologue and strategist. Before becoming a top leader of al-Qaeda in Pakistan, he managed the organization’s Urdu language media arm, As-Sahab Media Urdu, which helped him spread his narrative. When al-Qaeda in Pakistan was founded after the tragic incident of the Lal Masjid in 2007, Farooq was appointed deputy to its leader Dr. Arshad Waheed, despite his young age (Dawn News, July 14, 2007). When Waheed was killed in 2008, Farooq was appointed—temporary at first, and then officially—head of al-Qaeda in Pakistan. Shortly afterward, in 2010, Farooq became part of al-Qaeda’s Central Shura (a sort of ruling council), maintaining regular contact with Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri. In the eight years since al-Zawahiri’s death in 2015, the delicate situation for militant organizations in the Af-Pak region has left organizations like al-Qaeda and AQIS in a precarious position. These shifting sands have proven fertile ground for Ahmad Farooq’s ideology, which has become instrumental as a token of unity among al-Qaeda-linked jihadist entities in the region.
Farooq as an Ideological Unifier for Jihadist Movements
Considering the key roles that Farooq occupied as an ideologue in al-Qaeda in Pakistan and in AQIS—as well as AQIS’s relationship with the TTP—AQIS sees him as one of the main sources of jihadist political and religious discourse. This made him ideologically attractive for jihadists. From October 2021 to September 2022, AQIS published a seven-part series in its official magazine Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind featuring speeches from Farooq on various topics. While some of these issues related to purely religious subjects, others delved into Pakistan’s political and militant landscape. Farooq criticized Pakistan’s political parties at length for acting as nationalists advocating for secular ideologies and/or ethno-linguistic identities (Blitz, September 5, 2022). [2] Prior to this, Farooq had extensively written about the political situation in Pakistan in two of his books, “Why Jihad in Pakistan” and “Jihad in Pakistan Must Continue,” which address religious struggle in the country from different perspectives. Both can still be found on the TTP’s official website, as they contribute substantial arguments to the group’s overall narrative. Similarly, the TTP’s emphasis on socio-economic issues in the country follows Farooq’s approach, as found in his video “Pakistan’s Problems and Solutions,” which was published by As-Sahab Media Urdu.
Additionally, AQIS relied on Farooq’s writings to address relations with other jihadist groups, to include rivals and allies. In January 2022, AQIS shared a Farooq-authored article on relations between the TTP and AQIS, which stressed the need for unity of action between the two in order to avoid competition and possible supremacy of one organization over the other. The text was published in mid-2020, when the TTP and AQIS relations were tense due to the strategic posture of the former towards its conflict in Pakistan and the choice of the group’s leader, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, to publicly distance his organization from the notion of global jihad (The Khorasan Diary, January 27). [3]
Farooq vis-à-vis ISKP and the Afghan Taliban
More recently, AQIS also published an article originally written by Farooq in July 2014 on Islamic State (IS) and Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP)’s war against the Afghan Taliban, with the aim of discrediting rival jihadist organizations. [4] Farooq was among the first top jihadist ideologues in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region to publicly support the Afghan Taliban, and his arguments remain central in the AQIS’s rejection of IS and ISKP. Prior to this article, Farooq had written a treatise in Arabic in 2013, which analytically dismantled IS ideology vis-à-vis al-Qaeda; the book allegedly became very popular in Syria, and was distributed among al-Qaeda affiliates in the region. [5] Similarly, another of Farooq’s articles (this one published in 2014) exposed IS’s crimes against Taliban founder Mullah Muhammad Omar. [6]
Beyond just AQIS, al-Qaeda too has recently started to rely on Farooq as a tool to boost its own propaganda. In August 2022, al-Qaeda Central published issue 7 of its Arabic magazine One Ummah, which featured a eulogy of Farooq written by his childhood friend and close aid Ibrahim Ghouri in 2015. The text highlights connections between al-Qaeda Central and al-Qaeda in Pakistan by disclosing pictures of Farooq with al-Qaeda senior leaders and mentors (Twitter/TheKhorasanDiary, August 26, 2022). Similarly, in December 2022, al-Qaeda published the first episode of the archived video series by late al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called “Martyrs of Waziristan,” which was dedicated to late AQIS leaders Qari Imran, Ahmad Farooq, and Dr. Abu Khaled. (Twitter/NihadJariri, December 23, 2022). While only the episode of Qari Imran has been released, the second episode is expected to be dedicated to Farooq, as the latter was killed shortly after the former and both had been eulogized by late AQIS emir Asim Umar in early 2015.
Conclusion
AQIS, like al-Qaeda, is often dependent on the instructions given by the Afghan Taliban. In a letter exchange between AQIS emir Usama Mahmood and the TTP leadership in 2020, AQIS revealed its full support for the Afghan Taliban, while asking the TTP to lay down its weapons against Pakistan and not to damage relations between the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani government. In the letter, AQIS disclosed its strategy of using Afghanistan as a platform for attacking targets and regions of Western allies, such as Kashmir, India, and Bangladesh. (The Khorasan Diary, February 8).
In a context where AQIS has limited room for maneuver, the organization has to keep a low profile while relying on figures from the past to remain relevant. Ahmad Farooq is still a key figure who provided a unifying message for all the disparate jihadist organizations in Pakistan; Farooq remains a figure of admiration for groups that currently try to distance themselves from al-Qaeda for political reasons, such as the TTP. Although al-Qaeda confirmed Farooq’s killing in 2015, his writings and ideology are still inspiring jihadist militants today (Dawn, April 13, 2015).
A senior TTP leader who had been very close to Farooq revealed that he was a very visionary. He met Farooq in 2006, and until his last days he remained in contact with him. He also stated that Farooq’s ideas and thoughts are still relevant, even as the tactics of jihadism evolve. [7] Overall, the impact of the legacy of Farooq’s ideology rests in its anti-state narratives, which are commonly shared among militants across the jihadist spectrum. This is particularly true among former students of Farooq, many of whom are now in senior positions within AQIS and other regional jihadist organizations, in primis, the TTP.
Notes:
[1] Hafiz Suhaib Ghouri [Atif Yahya Ghouri], Aise Hoti Hain Islam Ke Rahnuma, Hitteen, 2020 [2] Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind, page 18, November-December 2021 issue. [3] Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind, page 19, January 2022 issue. [4] Nawa-e-Ghazwa-e-Hind, page 64, December 2022 issue. [5] Ahmad Farooq, Be Like the Bee (original in Arabic), 2013. [6] Ahmad Farooq, Mujahideen Ko Dar Pesh Ek Aham Fitna, 2014. [7] Remote interview conducted with the authors on May 2, 2023.
