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Rabat – Ahmad Raissouni, the president of the international association of Oulemas (IUMO), has congratulated the Taliban for their power seizure in Afghanistan.
As “we are all watching the developpements from the Afghan state, we at the association are closely following with the upcoming new government,” the Moroccan cleric said in a video message to the Afghan people and Taliban movement on August 16.
He added that IUMO is “hopeful, optimistic and delighted with the news from Afghanistan.”
The 65-year-old Moroccan Islamic scholar succeeded Egypt’s Youssef al-Qaradawi as head of the influential IUMO in 2018.
In Morocco, the name of Raissouni is mostly associated with that of the Unity and Reform Movement (MUR) – the ideological matrix of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which has been in power since 2011 and which he co-founded and led from 1996 to 2003.
In his video message, Al-Raissouni congratulated “the Afghan people and its leadership, represented in the Taliban movement,” saying that the Taliban’s return to power marks a significant turning point in the history of Afghanistan.
The cleric reiterated UIMO’s constant interest in the developments of the Afghan political scene, adding that “the association has been in contact with negotiating envoys in Doha.” The blood spilled and the many lives lost during the Afghani conflict has remained a constant issue for the association, he argued.
Raissouni stated that the association has previously congratulated the Taliban movement, notably following the ratification of an agreement that ensured the withdrawal of “foreign forces” from the country.
He described the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan as “the first, biggest, most essential victory, that of kicking out the foreigners, and American and European colonizing forces.”
Raissouni explained, “We have congratulated, and continue to congratulate the Taliban for this grand achievement, that resulted from deadly constant struggle and much sacrifice.”
With the ousting of Afghanistan’s pro-Western government, the Moroccan cleric appeared to suggest, the Taliban should now direct their efforts towards political reconstruction. “We are hoping for the pacifist resolution of the remaining challenges and problems facing the Afghan state and people,” he asserted.
According to Raissouni, the events that unfolded in the past week are “strongly indicating that the Taliban is on the right path.”
This is not the first time that Raissouni has spoken approvingly of the Taliban’s agenda. However, the Moroccan cleric has also long suggested that the Taliban should consider making peace once they achieve their goal of forcing foreign forces out of their country.
Commenting on the Afghan crisis back in october 2020, he said that the killing of Muslims is a “great sin” and that carrying out suicide attacks against Muslims is “prohibited, from the Islamic perspective.”
He said, “I told some of my Taliban brothers that there is no justification and Sharia-based (Islamic) reason for the ongoing war in Afghanistan. Even the killing of a single person in the current war is against the Islamic law.”
Raissouni also encouraged the Afghanistan armed forces and the Taliban to engage in further discussions and reach a peaceful settlement. “The war has no Islamic justification, even the killing of one person is prohibited.
“In the first stage, there is a need to end the war, and the negotiations should progress so a new government is formed that will reflect a vibrant and an Islamic Afghanistan, an Afghanistan which could play a role in international affairs,” said Al-Raissouni.
Of the 30 to 40 civilians killed daily in Afghanistan, Al-Raissouni said: “Killing a single person is among the great sins before Allah–after infidelity–so taking a single life takes us into a very challenging situation before God.”
But the Moroccan cleric’s recent congratulatory message has left observers perplexed about the apparently contradictory discourse emanating from the highly regarded scholar.
News coming out of Afghanistan in the past few days have left most of the world shocked and outraged.
There were scenes of panic at Kabul airport on Monday as desperate residents tried to flee following the Taliban’s seizure of the Afghan capital.
The US army said soldiers shot two armed men, while three people were reported to have died after falling from the underside of a plane they were clinging to shortly after take-off.
A military operation cleared the runways earlier, and the airport was closed as a result.
US military planes are now landing, including one carrying US marines, who are being flown in to help the evacuation efforts .
The US and other countries are rushing to remove their troops and citizens from Afghanistan.
A German evacuation plane also landed at Kabul airport on Monday, Reuters reported.
The evacuation of US military personnel from Kabul was suspended, but order has since been given to resume, according to reports.
Of the many heart-wrenching footage and pictures pouring out of Afghanistan in the past few days, one touching picture from Sunday appears to show 640 Afghans packed onboard a US military cargo plane leaving Kabul for Qatar.
The image was obtained by the US defence analysis website, Defense One.
Panicked civilians had scrambled up the loading ramp, the website quoted US officials as saying, but the crew decided it was best to take off rather than force the Afghans off.
