Sufi Muhammad Explained

Sufi Muhammad
Birth Date:1933
Birth Place:Maidan, Dir, British India
Death Date:[1]
Death Place: Pakistan
Children:At least one daughter
Religion:Islam
Denomination:Sunni
Jurisprudence:Ḥanbalī
Creed:Atharī[2]
Movement:Salafīyyah[3]
Wahhābiyyah[4]
Office1:Founder and 1st Emir of
Term Start1:1992
Term End1:2002
Predecessor1:Position created
Successor1:Maulana Fazlullah
Module:
Embed:yes
Serviceyears:1980s–2002
Rank:Emir (TNSM)
Battles:Malakand Division Revolt
US invasion of Afghanistan
Waziristan War

Sufi Muhammad bin Alhazrat Hassan (Urdu: ; born 1933 – 11 July 2019) was a Pakistani Sunni Islamist cleric and militant, and the founder of Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), a militant group (declared a terrorist outfit and banned in 2002) vying for implementation of Sharia in Pakistan.[5] [6] [7] [8] It operated mainly in the Dir, Swat, and Malakand districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[7]

Sufi Muhammad was jailed for sending thousands of volunteers to Afghanistan to fight the U.S. intervention in 2001.[9] However, he was freed in 2008 after he renounced violence.[10] [11]

He was the father-in-law of Mullah Fazlullah, who assumed the leadership of TNSM during Sufi's imprisonment.[12]

He was described by BBC as a "follower" of Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi Salafist Islamic school of thought,[13] and by the Jamestown Foundation as one of the "active leaders" of Jamaat-e-Islami in the 1980s.

Early life

Sufi Muhammad, born in 1933 in Maidan, Lower Dir District, and received religious education at Panjpir, Swabi.[14]

His son, Matiul Haq, would become an influential ideologue of the Tehreek-e-Taliban, which would at one time be led by his son-in-law Mullah Fazlullah.[15]

Career

Early activities

See main article: Malakand insurrection (1994-1995). During the 1980s, Sufi Muhammad actively participated in Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist political party of Pakistan. In 1992 he split from the group to form TNSM.[16] From its stronghold of Malakand Division districts in northwestern Pakistan, Sufi Muhammad and his group engaged in violent agitation for the enforcement of Sharia law.

After 9/11

In October 2001, following the September 11 attacks, Sufi Muhammad crossed into Afghanistan with thousands of his followers to help the Taliban fight the US-led forces.[13] In 2001 he issued an edict, or fatwa, for holy war against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. After the Taliban was ousted from power in 2001, he returned to Pakistan, and was arrested.[7] [9] [13] [16]

Sufi Muhammad remained in prison until 2008, when he agreed in talks with the Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to use his influence to work towards peace in the region.[10] [11]

Ceasefire

Maulana Sufi Muhammad took part in negotiations with the government that led to the announcement of a temporary ceasefire in the Malakand region on 16 February 2009. The Pakistani government agreed to allow the implementation of Sharia in the region once violence had stopped.[8] [12] [17] He agreed to travel to Swat to discuss peace with Fazlullah and his followers. He told reporters, "We will soon open dialogue with the Taliban. We will ask them to lay down their weapons. We are hopeful that they will not let us down. We will stay here in the [Swat] valley until peace is restored."[18]

In early April 2009, Sufi Muhammad ended support for peace negotiations stating that the government was stalling the implementation of sharia courts in the Swat valley. President Asif Ali Zardari refused to sign any agreement until peace had been restored in the valley but failed to elaborate on how those conditions would be achieved.[19]

However, the president signed the Nizam-e-Adl-Regulation law for Swat, after it was hurriedly pushed through the national Parliament a few hours earlier on 13 April 2009.[20]

On 19 April 2009, Sufi Muhammad declared that "democracy was un-Islamic" and that decisions made in the qazi courts could not be appealed in Pakistan's central judicial system. According to the cleric, Western-style democracy had led to divides among Pakistanis and the judicial system had contributed to the factionalism. He ordered the central government to withdraw all judges from Malakand within four days and to set up a Darul Qaza, an Islamic supreme court, to hear appeals from local Sharia courts.[21] [22]

Arrest

On 3 June 2009, while engaging in Operation Black Thunderstorm against the Taliban, the Pakistani Army arrested senior aides to Sufi Muhammad in the Amandara region in Lower Dir. Among those aides arrested were Muhammad's deputy, Mohammad Alam, and his spokesperson, Ameer Izzat Khan.[23] [24] [25] Initial reports indicated that Sufi Muhammad himself and possibly two of his sons had also been detained, though government sources would not confirm and would only say they knew of his whereabouts.[23] [26] TNSM sources confirmed that Sufi Muhammad and his sons were missing, but suggested that he had gone into hiding.[24] [26]

On 26 July 2009, the government announced the arrest of the cleric for encouraging violence and terrorism.[27] [28] On 2 August 2009, police announced that he had been charged with sedition, aiding terrorism and conspiracy.[29] [30]

In January 2011, Sufi Muhammad denied to an anti-terrorism court that he had any links to the anti-state Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and that he only sought enforcement of sharia in Malakand.[31] He was indicted on sedition charges by an anti-terrorism court on 7 February 2015.[32] He was released on bail on medical grounds in January 2018 by the Peshawar High Court.

Death

Muhammad bin Hassan died from kidney failure and diabetes on 11 July 2019 at the age of 86.[33]

Writings

Some of his writings include:[34]

Urdu

Haakimiyat Allah Taala Shariat-e Muhammadi kay Aayaynah mayn, 1998.

Pashto

Wajuhat-e-Arbaa Ashrah li Marifat-e Haqiqat-e al-Shariat-e al-Muhammadiah; Yani Swaarlas Wajuhaat da Pijandalu da Shariat-e-Muhammadi, 2008.

Notes and References

  1. News: Controversial cleric Sufi Muhammad passes away . Express Tribune . 11 July 2019.
  2. Book: Halverson, Jeffry R.. 2010. Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism . Palgrave Macmillan . 9781137473578 . limited . 48.
  3. Book: Brown, Jonathan A.C. . Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World . 2009 . Oneworld Publications (Kindle edition) . 245.
  4. Armstrong . Karen . Karen Armstrong . 27 November 2014 . Wahhabism to ISIS: how Saudi Arabia exported the main source of global terrorism . https://web.archive.org/web/20141127132619/http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2014/11/wahhabism-isis-how-saudi-arabia-exported-main-source-global-terrorism . London . . 27 November 2014 . 8 September 2020.
  5. News: Lakshman . Kanchan . 2003-07-09 . Deep roots to Pakistan's sectarian terror . Asia Times . dead . 2009-02-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040416073056/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EG09Df09.html . 2004-04-16.
  6. The educated militants of Pakistan: implications for Pakistan's domestic security . Fair . C. Christine . Contemporary South Asia . 16 . 1 . 99–100 . 2007-03-01 . 2009-02-18 . 10.1080/09584930701800446 . 143810428.
  7. Web site: Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws) . South Asia Terrorism Portal . 2009-02-18.
  8. News: Jan . Delawar . 2009-02-17 . Nizam-e-Adl Regulation for Malakand, Kohistan announced . . dead . 2009-04-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090616085917/http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=20372 . 16 June 2009.
  9. News: Khan . Riaz . 2007-10-27 . Inside rebel Pakistan cleric's domain . . 2009-02-15.
  10. News: 2008-04-21 . Top Pakistani militant released . . 2023-10-14.
  11. News: Toosi . Nahal . Taliban to cease fire in Pakistan's Swat Valley . Yahoo News . 2009-02-15 . 2009-02-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090216212653/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090215/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan . 16 February 2009.
  12. News: 2009-02-16 . Pakistan agrees Sharia law deal . en-GB . . 2023-10-14.
  13. Web site: 13 January 2002 . Pakistan's militant Islamic groups . 16 November 2014 . BBC News.
  14. Book: An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban-Al Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan. 2012. Oxford University Press. 492. 9780199927319.
  15. Book: Sheikh, Mona Kanwal . Guardians of God: Inside the Religious Mind of the Pakistani Taliban . OUP India . 2016 . 75.
  16. http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news=740&tx_ttnews[backPid]=239&no_cache=1 Religious Organization TNSM Re-Emerges in Pakistan ]. Nasir . Sohail Abdul . Terrorism Focus . 3 . 19 . . 2006-05-17 . 2009-02-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140903120850/http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=497&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=180&no_cache=1 . 3 September 2014 . dmy-all.
  17. News: Ali . Zulfiqar . Laura King . 2009-02-17 . Pakistan officials allow Sharia in volatile region . . 2009-02-17.
  18. News: 2009-02-17 . Pakistan Blasted for Creating Taliban Safe Haven With Islamic Law Deal . . 2009-02-18.
  19. News: Sufi Mohammed calls off Swat peace deal . Dawn . 2009-04-09 . 2009-04-09.
  20. Web site: Asghar . Raja . 2009-04-14 . Sharia for Malakand as Zardari signs law . https://web.archive.org/web/20220603235033/https://www.dawn.com/news/457187/sharia-for-malakand-as-zardari-signs-law-2 . 2022-06-03 . Dawn.
  21. Web site: 2009-04-23 . Deadline to set up Darul Qaza in Malakand by Sufi Muhammad ends today . 2023-10-14 . . en-US.
  22. News: Shah . Saeed . 2009-04-20 . Militants demand Islamic courts in troubled Pakistani region . . 2009-04-20.
  23. News: 2009-06-05 . Pakistan Swat leader aides arrested . . 2009-06-05.
  24. News: 2009-06-05 . Pakistan arrests senior Islamists . . 2009-06-05.
  25. News: 2009-06-05 . Men with links to Taliban arrested . . 2009-06-05.
  26. News: Three senior TNSM leaders arrested in Amandara . Dawn Media Group . 2009-06-05 . 2009-06-05.
  27. News: 2009-07-26 . Pakistan holds pro-Taliban cleric . . 2009-07-26.
  28. Web site: 2009-07-27 . Sufi Muhammad, two sons held in Peshawar . 2023-10-14 . . en.
  29. News: 2009-08-02 . Pakistan pro-Taliban cleric charged . . 2009-08-02.
  30. News: Swat deal broker cleric 'charged' . BBC News . 2009-08-02 . 2009-08-02.
  31. Web site: 2011-01-04 . No link with TTP, Sufi tells court . 2023-10-14 . . en.
  32. Web site: Sherazi . Zahir Shah . 2015-02-07 . ATC indicts Sufi Mohammad in sedition case . 2023-10-14 . . en.
  33. Web site: 2019-07-11 . Controversial cleric Sufi Muhammad passes away . 2023-10-14 . . en.
  34. "Tahrik Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi and Democracy: TNSM's Critique of Democracy." Sultan-i-Rome. Pakistan Vision; Lahore Vol. 13, Iss. 2, (2012): 142-143