40 Facts About Hibatullah Akhundzada

Hibatullah Akhundzada, spelled Haibatullah Akhunzada, is an Afghan Deobandi Islamic scholar, cleric, and jurist who is the supreme leader of Afghanistan.

Hibatullah Akhundzada was chosen to lead the Taliban's shadow court system at the start of the Taliban insurgency, and remained in that post until being elected supreme leader of the Taliban in May 2016.

In 2019, Hibatullah Akhundzada appointed Abdul Ghani Baradar to lead peace talks with the US, which led to the 2020 signing of the Doha Agreement that cleared the way for the full withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan.

Hibatullah Akhundzada's government has been criticized for sweeping infringements on human rights, including the rights of women and girls to work and education.

In July 2022, while attending a religious gathering in Kabul, Hibatullah Akhundzada lashed out at the demands of the international community on his government, ruling out any talks or compromise on his "Islamic system" of governance.

Hibatullah Akhundzada's father, Muhammad Akhund, was a religious scholar and imam at the Malook mosque in Safid Rawan village.

Hibatullah Akhundzada studied at one of the madrassas in Pakistan and earned the title "Sheikh al-Hadith".

Hibatullah Akhundzada used to teach and lead prayers at the mosque and seminary that was attacked.

Hibatullah Akhundzada added that Akhundzada communicates to Taliban officials via letters.

Hibatullah Akhundzada reportedly has two wives and has had eleven children, though there has been no official denial or acknowledgement of this.

Hibatullah Akhundzada joined the Taliban in 1994, and became one of its early members.

Hibatullah Akhundzada was later appointed as Chief Justice of the Sharia Courts of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and became an advisor to Mohammed Omar.

Hibatullah Akhundzada was a senior member of the Taliban's Quetta Shura.

Hibatullah Akhundzada was appointed as one of two deputy leaders of the Taliban under Mansour in 2015.

Hibatullah Akhundzada was the most visible face of the Taliban's top leadership, as Mansour mostly stayed out of public view and did not openly attend meetings for security reasons, and the other deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, was mostly involved in military affairs.

Hibatullah Akhundzada put in place a system under which a commission would be formed under the shadow governor in every province that could investigate abusive commanders or fighters, according to Abdul Bari, a commander in Helmand Province.

Hibatullah Akhundzada was reportedly living in the Ghaus Abad area of Quetta in 2016 and leading up to ten madrassas in Balochistan.

Hibatullah Akhundzada was appointed as Taliban Supreme Leader on 25 May 2016, succeeding Mansour, who had been killed in a US drone strike.

Taliban officials said that Hibatullah Akhundzada was aware of his son's intention and approved of it.

In 2019, under the leadership of Hibatullah Akhundzada, Taliban won the Battle of Darzab by defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's Khorasan branch.

Mullah Ibrahim, a student of Hibatullah Akhundzada, told The New York Times that "Taliban rushed to tackle" and restrain the attacker, before he could clear the jam; Hibatullah Akhundzada reportedly did not move during the incident, or the chaos that followed.

In May 2021, Hibatullah Akhundzada called the Afghan people to unite for the development of an Islamic state once the United States forces withdraw.

On 3 December 2021, Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree that stipulated the rights of women under Sharia.

On 8 December 2021, Hibatullah Akhundzada issued instructions to provincial governors to convince individuals not to leave the country and try to address their grievances while increasing security measures.

On 14 March 2022, Hibatullah Akhundzada issued directives consisting of 14 points to the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan concerning the conduct of its personnel.

On 23 March 2022, Hibatullah Akhundzada reportedly vetoed a plan for girls in grades 7 to 12 to return to school.

Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered a ban on foreign broadcasts from being issued in Afghanistan, and instructed the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice to enforce gender segregation of public parks, prevent women from boarding aircraft if unaccompanied by a male chaperone, to bar male civil servants from going to work if they are not wearing a turban or sporting a full beard, and ban the use of mobile phones in universities.

Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree with instructions on the same day to the security forces, ordering them to avoid hiring and deploying minors.

On 29 April 2022, Hibatullah Akhundzada urged the world to recognise the Taliban government in a message ahead of the Eid holidays.

On 7 May 2022, the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice published a decree personally approved by Hibatullah Akhundzada, requiring all women in Afghanistan to cover their entire bodies except for their eyes when in public, with the burqa being the recommended covering.

On 21 July 2022, Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree banning criticism or dissension against the Islamic Emirate among the public.

In September 2021, it was revealed that Hibatullah Akhundzada had not been seen in public since the Taliban seized control of Kabul the previous month, giving rise to speculation that he might be dead, and that his decrees were being drafted by a committee.

On 30 October 2021, Taliban officials said Hibatullah Akhundzada made a public appearance at the Darul Uloom Hakimah madrassa in Kandahar.

The madrassa's head of security, Massum Shakrullah, told Agence France-Presse that when Hibatullah Akhundzada visited, he was "armed" and accompanied by three security guards.

Mohammad Musa, 13, who watched from afar, said Hibatullah Akhundzada looked "exactly the same" as in his only released photograph.

On 30 April 2022, Hibatullah Akhundzada made a rare appearance at the Eidgah mosque in Kandahar on the last day of Ramadan and delivered a brief sermon, while keeping his back turned to the crowd.

The voice said to be Hibatullah Akhundzada's came from the front rows of worshippers.

Hibatullah Akhundzada is seen as a religiously ultraconservative figure and ideologue within the Taliban.

Hibatullah Akhundzada oversaw the implementation of tighter media restrictions, banning the use of mobile phones in post-secondary education and foreign language broadcasts.

Hibatullah Akhundzada is said to be part of an ultraconservative clerical faction, which maintains outsized influence on the movement's decision making.