Hayat Omar
In the intellectual system of Islam, security and political stability are not a secondary value; they are considered the very foundation for the realization and implementation of all divine commands. The Holy Quran holds the protection of society’s security to be so important that in Surah al-Anfal it says:
«وَأَعِدُّوا لَهُم مَّا اسْتَطَعْتُم مِّن قُوَّةٍ»
“And prepare against them whatever you are able of power…”
That is why rebellion, or armed uprising against a legitimate amir and Islamic ruler, has been counted among the greatest threats to the security and unity of the Muslim Ummah.
The Islamic system of Afghanistan, recognized as a Sharia-based authority, treats every kind of armed movement against it, whatever name or title it may carry, as falling under the category of rebellion, with serious consequences both in this world and the Hereafter. A central point in the fiqhi definition of rebellion is that specific conditions are required for this designation to apply. The jurists of Ahl al-Sunnah hold that rebels must possess three characteristics: First, their number must be large enough that controlling them would be impossible without mobilizing an army and fighting them.
Second, they must break away from the reach and authority of the ruler and gather together in a separate area. Third, they must be caught up in some kind of misconception or doubt that leads them to rise against the ruler. This definition clearly encompasses the situation of those groups that today, in various regions of Afghanistan, raise their heads against the Islamic system with weapons and an organized network. Through baseless claims and doubts, they consider themselves to be upon truth and the ruler to be in the wrong; but in practice, through armed uprising, they trample the sharia and legal framework underfoot.
The Holy Quran has set out the clearest and plainest ruling on rebellion in the ninth verse of Surah al-Hujurat. Allah (SWT) says:
«وَإِن طَائِفَتَانِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِینَ اقْتَتَلُوا فَأَصْلِحُوا بَیْنَهُمَا فَإِن بَغَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا عَلَى الْأُخْرَى فَقَاتِلُوا الَّتِی تَبْغِی حَتَّی تَفِیءَ إِلَى أَمْرِ اللَّهِ»
“And if two factions among the believers should fight, then make settlement between the two. But if one of them oppresses the other, then fight against the one that oppresses until it returns to the ordinance of Allah.”
The great scholars of the Quran have interpreted “baghy” in this verse to mean wrongful oppression and aggression, and departure from obedience to Allah (SWT). This verse does not merely state the ruling on fighting rebels; it clearly also considers departure from obedience to a legitimate ruler to be transgression and rebellion. Today, every group that raises arms against Afghanistan’s Islamic system and security forces, under a different name and a different banner, falls among the clear instances covered by this verse, and fighting them is a sharia duty resting upon the government.
The Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) also firmly prohibits rebellion and revolt against the ruler, and has set out grave consequences for it. In reliable hadith sources, it is narrated from the Prophet (PBUH):
«مَنْ خَرَجَ مِنَ السُّلْطَانِ شِبْرًا مَاتَ مِیتَةً جَاهِلِیَّةً»
(Whoever withdraws from obedience to the ruler even by a handspan dies the death of jahiliyyah.)
This warning shows that armed revolt, even if driven by doubt or by the motive of reform, carries with it extremely dangerous consequences.
Imam Nawawi, a jurist and hadith scholar, holds the view that even if the ruler is oppressive, armed revolt generally leads to even greater corruption, and preserving the blood of Muslims takes precedence over rebellion. In Afghanistan’s present Islamic system, whose fundamental structures of government rest upon the principles of sharia, any armed action against it is, without doubt, considered rebellion.
The jurists state plainly that rebellion is a crime against the political security and authority of the Islamic system, and the purpose of prohibiting this crime is to preserve the stability and survival of Islamic society. For this reason, the Islamic government is obligated to deal decisively with those who carry out armed uprising against the system, and to use all its legitimate means to eliminate this fitna.
Any silence or leniency toward this phenomenon is not only wrong from a sharia standpoint, but also conflicts with reason and the collective good. Rebellion is a fitna that, if not stopped at its outset, can lead society toward bloodshed, disorder, and collapse, and pave the way for foreign enemies to interfere. For this reason, a firm and decisive stance against rebels is not only a defensive measure, but also a sharia and national duty placed upon the Islamic ruler.
