Al-Qaeda likens Taliban’s victory over US to Muhammad’s conquest of Mecca

“The unbelievers of the world Jews and Christians cannot be pleased with us unless we follow them [i.e., in their religion].”

That’s from the Qur’an: “And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion.” (2:120)

“Article In Al-Qaeda Magazine Compares Afghan Taliban’s Victory Over America With Muhammad’s Victory Of Mecca, Says: ‘The Unbelievers Of The World Jews And Christians Cannot Be Pleased With Us,'” MEMRI, October 21, 2021:

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Celebrating the Afghan Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, and defeat of America, an Al-Qaeda forum released an article titled “Clear Victory And Our Responsibility,” excerpted from the August 2021 issue of the Urdu-language jihadi magazine Nawa-i-Ghazwa-e-Hind (“The Voice of the Battle of India”). The article is written by Maulana Dr. Obaid-ur-Rehman Al-Marabit. Nawa-i-Ghazwa-e-Hind, a jihadi magazine formerly known as Nawa-i-Afghan Jihad (“The Voice of Afghan Jihad”), was taken over by Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

The writer of the article, Dr. Al-Marabit, compares the 2021 victory of the Afghan Taliban against American forces in Afghanistan with the Victory of Mecca in 630 CE by Islam’s founder Muhammad, which is described as Fath-e-Mubeen, meaning clear or decisive victory. Although Al-Qaeda and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Afghan Taliban organization) are different organizations, all Al-Qaeda affiliates owe an oath of allegiance to the emir of the Afghan Taliban.

In the article, the writer lays out a five-point appeal to the Muslim ummah and notes that “the Islamic Emirate’s victory is the victory for the whole Muslim ummah as the Islamic Emirate and Afghan people along with countless Muslim youths of Arab and Ajam [i.e., non-Arab] gave great sacrifices for the Kalima [i.e., ‘There is no deity worth worshiping except Allah’].” His points of appeal for Muslims notes the following areas for help: Muslims must defend the Islamic Emirate; the Islamic Emirate is a shari’a-based government; the Islamic Emirate is also experienced in worldly politics; the Islamic Emirate needs economic assistance; there is need for skills and expertise in the Islamic Emirate.”

“Because A Phase In The Battle Of Truth And Falsehood Has Ended, Then Another Has Begun But The War Has Not Ended”

Dr. Abdur Rahman Al-Marabit writes: “There was a time when the armies of unbelievers went against the Taliban in the battlefield. Apparently, it looked and it was the claim of the unbelievers that the system of the Taliban had ended and a new regime had begun [i.e., in Afghanistan following the U.S. invasion in 2001]. This period of the unbelievers was not only the period of bloodshed but also full of deceit, lies, bribery, and immorality. The army of the Satan used all its tools to wipe out the Kalima of oneness but they had no idea that this Kalima cannot be erased.”

The article says that the Taliban’s victory is “a legacy of the martyrs” and since it is the victory for whole Muslim Ummah, it is the duty of the whole Ummah to safeguard this legacy. Among the first of the points stressed for Muslims, Dr. Al-Marabit says the first and foremost thing is to defend the Islamic Emirate on an ideological level in media and other platforms. He says: “The foremost responsibility is to defend the Emirate. I’m not talking about defending the land, though one should be prepared for that also, but by the Grace of Allah when the Islamic Emirate can defeat the greatest power of the world then it can fight with any one…, I mean defending it ideologically on media.”

“Because a phase in the battle of truth and falsehood has ended, then another has begun but the war has not ended. The unbelievers of the world Jews and Christians cannot be pleased with us unless we follow them [i.e., in their religion]. Although they have left Afghanistan, they want to thrust their ideology on Afghanistan as they have thrust it upon other Muslim countries. They are fully trying to hinder the implementation of pure Islamic shari’a. Therefore, this war will continue till the power of world unbelief breaks at a global level,” he adds.

About the Afghan Taliban’s failure thus far to have their government recognized internationally, the writer rues the importance of the United Nations in global politics: “The unbeliever world, which controls the world in modern times, has made recognition by the U.N. mandatory for the sustenance of any government. Now that the unbelievers have seen that they cannot defeat the Islamic Emirate, they are trying to control it with these measures.”

He criticizes the conditions proposed by the U.N. to be implemented in Afghanistan by the Afghan Taliban for it to get recognition, including: the formation of a government that includes women and religious minorities; protection of human rights, especially women’s rights; and for the territory of Afghanistan not to be used against other countries. The Islamic Emirate forcibly stopped a small rally of women in Kabul demanding rights for women, which, according to the author, became a pretext for saying that “the Islamic Emirate does not protect women’s rights.” He adds: “It has been the ideological stance of the Islamic Emirate that we are giving women their rights as defined by Islam and steps are being taken toward [applying this] practically. It means the world of the unbelievers has its own explanation of rights and wants to impose it on others by force.”

“It Is The Duty Of Muslim Ummah To Defend The Emirate [Of Afghan Taliban]”; “The Propaganda Of The Unbelievers Is So Widespread And Powerful That The Religious People Of The Muslim Ummah Get Mislead”

“The global media is expert in venting out such venoms; and they present good steps of the Emirate in negative terms. Therefore, it is the duty of Muslim Ummah to defend the Emirate in this regard,” Al-Marabit writes and explains how to defend the Islamic Emirate at length. As a first step, he calls upon Muslims “to decide if it is rightful, if it is an Islamic government in accordance with shari’a” and adds: “The propaganda of the unbelievers is so widespread and powerful that the religious people of the Muslim Ummah get misled.”

“Those who have suspicion in their hearts [about the validity of the Islamic Emirate government in terms of shari’a] should think whether the history of 20 years of sacrifice of the Islamic Emirate for shari’a does not testify that Emirate takes no step against shari’a? Whether after the victory they are not trying to achieve that very goal with their words and deeds? His highness Emir-ul-Momineen Shaikh Haibatullah Akhundzada had announced at the formation of the interim government in [the Islamic month of] Safar that there were two major goals of the Emirate: first to get the country free by driving away the usurper attackers, and second to implement shari’a.”

The writer says that after the first goal has been achieved, all attention must be turned toward the second goal and for that, “[Haibatullah] Akhundzada has asked all the institutions for the implementation of shari’a.” Al-Marabit argues that one cannot defend the Islamic Emirate unless one believes that it is their emirate and that it will surely follow the shari’a. “Suspicion and doubt will lessen the support of the emirate,” he says.

Al-Marabit argues that the “Ummah should know and believe that Islamic Emirate is also capable of dealing with worldly affairs.” He says: “In Islam, the objective of a government is the politics of the nation and people, but it should be based on shari’a. And implementing shari’a on Earth means running worldly affairs in accordance with shari’a. Otherwise, where will shari’a be implemented? Furthermore, shari’a has come to be implemented as a way of life so it includes all facets of life including internal and external politics, economics, education, and health.”

“It is impossible that shari’a is implemented and there is no development,” he writes, adding that anything contrary to this is propaganda that the ummah must reject. “Our first responsibility is to believe in ourselves that this is the right type of government [in Afghanistan] and it is our obligation to support it. This is our own Emirate. We have to counter the propaganda against it. It is our honor. We will give a suitable response to those who try to malign our honor, so that an antidote is possible against the venom the enemies are spitting out and that is being repeated by our gullible people, including the hypocrites,” he adds….