Crime Justice

Religious scholars denounce al-Qaeda's betrayal of Islamic principles

By Emran

Afghan women sit outside a mosque in Kandahar on December 29, 2024. [Sanaullah Seiam/AFP]

Afghan women sit outside a mosque in Kandahar on December 29, 2024. [Sanaullah Seiam/AFP]

HERAT -- With its campaign of extortion and violence and the criminal networks and smuggling operations it runs, al-Qaeda continues to flout the law and betray Islamic principles, analysts and religious scholars in Herat and Nimroz said.

Al-Qaeda has established criminal enterprises across the country, creating smuggling corridors and forging alliances with criminal groups in the region, Herat-based political analyst Abdul Qadir Kamil told Salaam Times.

Last year, al-Qaeda set up nine new terrorist camps in Afghanistan, which are being used as training and recruitment centers, Foreign Policy magazine reported August 30.

The group is now operating training camps in 10 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Long War Journal.

"Everything al-Qaeda gains comes through force or illegal smuggling routes," Kamil said, noting that its income streams "are as unlawful as its actions and goals."

The group's criminal operations strip communities of security and resources, he said, while the funds it extorts flow to other terrorist groups operating in the region, such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Al-Qaeda's brutal tactics -- which include the forcible collection of funds under the guise of ushr (Islamic tax) and zakat (charitable giving) -- have steadily eroded its support base, with many former sympathizers turning against it.

"No one surrenders money to al-Qaeda willingly; it's all collected under duress," Nimroz-based analyst Abdul Saboor Nikmal told Salaam Times.

"All of al-Qaeda's revenues come from illegitimate sources, which are considered forbidden in Islam."

"Given its un-Islamic and inhumane actions, no one trusts this terrorist network," Nikmal added.

'Betraying Islam'

Religious scholars denounce al-Qaeda's violation of Islamic teachings.

"All of al-Qaeda's activities revolve around suicide attacks, bombings and indiscriminate killing -- none of which Islam endorses," Nimroz-based religious scholar Mawulwi Abdul Basir Seerat said.

"The group's violence targets both Muslims and non-Muslims alike."

"Al-Qaeda has exploited the name of Islam to commit un-Islamic and inhumane acts," Seerat added. "Nowhere in Islam is the killing of innocent people permissible."

Al-Qaeda's actions have no connection to Islam, Herat-based religious scholar Qari Safiullah Karimi told Salaam Times.

"In Islam, taking one innocent life equals destroying all of humanity," he said. "Yet al-Qaeda has killed thousands by misusing Islam."

"All al-Qaeda leaders are guilty of betraying Islam and killing thousands of innocent people," Karimi said.

"Since its inception, al-Qaeda has done nothing but kill people and destroy infrastructure," he added. "This organization is neither Islamic nor humane, but a terrorist entity that revels in bloodshed."

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Reaction of the religious schlars can inform the people.

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I recall encountering Arabs in Afghanistan only two or three times in my entire life. The assertion that they have camps here and there appears to be propaganda. What is evident, however, is that Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies have supported various armed groups in Afghanistan for years and may have presented them to outsiders as Arabs. Regardless of their origins — whether Arabs, Punjabis, or Iranians — all foreign elements should leave Afghanistan. Our people are weary of conflict and need a normal life.

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