PAKISTAN: FATWA IN TRIBAL PAKISTAN DECLARES TALIBAN “OUT OF ISLAM”

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FATWA IN TRIBAL PAKISTAN DECLARES TALIBAN “OUT OF ISLAM”

Jamestown

A new fatwa (religious ruling) issued in the Pashtun Darra Adam Khel
region of Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province declares the Taliban
to be “out of Islam” as a result of their violence, failure to follow
Islamic teachings and takfiri ideology (the latter referring to the
Salafist-jihadi practice of declaring fellow Muslims “infidels” if
they oppose jihadist dogma). According to the fatwa’s author, Mufti
Zainul Abidin, “The Taleban leaders consider themselves and their
directives as superior to true Islamic principles and directives as
ordained by Almighty Allah” (The Nation [Islamabad], March 23). The
Mufti invites other members of the ulama (scholars of Shari’a law) to
denounce the “inhuman and immoral” acts of the Taliban.

The fatwa singled out the pronouncements of Mufti Khalid Shah, a
Taliban religious leader of dubious credentials who has attacked
established Islamic scholars in a series of Taliban-issued CDs. Khalid
Shah issued a statement in December 2006 urging attacks on local NGOs
“promoting the agenda of the Jews and Christians” (Dawn [Karachi],
December 23, 2006). This was followed by an Urdu language fatwa pasted
at night on the walls of Darra Adam Khel declaring a jihad against the
Pakistan government (Daily Times [Lahore], May 3, 2007). Darra Adam
Khel is notorious for its thriving arms bazaar and was the scene of
heavy fighting between Taliban militants and the Pakistan military
earlier this year (see Terrorism Focus, February 13).

Islamic scholars in the region have been reluctant to oppose the
Taliban publicly since the still unsolved assassination of Maulana
Hassan Jan in 2007 after he declared the practice of suicide-bombing
“un-Islamic” (The News [Karachi], September 16, 2007; PakTribune,
September 15, 2007).