The great corruption and the extreme tribulations which were undoing Afghānistān as a result of the clashes over authority between the previous Jihādi parties, made Mullā ‘Umar begin to think of fighting the corruption and destroying the Munkarāt (abominations) that spread in that area and most of Afghānistān.
He gathered with him the students of the religious schools and (study) circles, for this purpose, in the summer of 1994, and they started the work by helping some of the businessmen and field leaders. He, along with a small group of students of the Shari’ah sciences and Afghān Mawlawees in Qandahār, began pursuing some thieves that stole a convoy from some travelers and abducted some women near Qandahār. Then the students, and at their head was Mullā Muhammad ‘Umar, captured the thieves’ weapons and found some of the women killed. Then the thieves fled from them away from Qandahār. Then the people of that area removed its governor, who was a follower of Rabbānī — the ruler of Kābul at that time — due to his inability to hold the thieves accountable, and they appointed Mullā Muhammad ‘Umar as an Amīr over them. He then announced the implementation of the Sharī’ah in Qandahār, which was pleased with him and with his followers from the students of Shar’i science.
And this is the story of the beginning which Amīr Al-Mu’minin narrated and which came from his tongue in a recording which was broadcast by the radio (station) “The Voice of the Sharī’ah” in Qandahār, which was the official radio station of the Islāmic Emirate. He — May Allāh protect him— said:
I used to study in a school in the city of “Sanj Sār” in Qandahār with about 20 other of my fellow students. Then corruption took over the land, murder, looting and robbery reached alarming proportions, and control was in the hands of the corrupt and wicked ones, and no one imagined that it was possible to change this condition and rectify this situation. And if I too thought that and said to myself:
لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا
Allaah burdens not a person beyond his scope (Surah Al-Baqarah — 286)
Then this verse would have sufficed me, and I would have left the matter, because nothing was in my capability. But I trusted upon Allāh (with) the pure trust, and whoever trusts upon Allāh with this type of trust, his hope will never be let down. People may be wondering: When did the movement begin? Who was behind it? Who finances it? And who directs it and manages it?
And I say: The beginning of the movement was that I folded my books in the school in (Sanj Sār), and I took another individual with me and we walked by foot to the area of Zanjāwāt. And from there I borrowed a motorcycle from a person named Surūr, then we went to Talūkān. This was the beginning of the movement, and remove any other thoughts from your minds.
We began visiting the students in the schools and the study circles in the morning of that day, and we went to a study circle in which approximately 14 individuals were studying, then I gathered them in a circle around me and said to them, ‘The Religion of Allāh is being stepped on, the people are openly displaying evil, the People of Religion are hiding their Religion, and the evil ones have taken control of the whole area; they steal the people’s money, they attack their honour on the main street, they kill people and put them against the rocks on the side of the road, and the cars pass by and see the dead body on the side of the road, and no one dares to bury him in the earth.’
I said to them, ‘It is not possible to continue studying in these situations, and those problems will not be solved by slogans that are not backed up. We, the students, want to stand up against this corruption. If you want to truly work for the Religion of Allāh, then we must leave the studies. And I will be honest with you, no one has promised to help us even with one Rūpī, so that you will not assume that we will provide food for you, rather we will request food and help from the people.’
I said, ‘This is not the work of a day, nor a week, nor a month, nor a year, rather it will take a long time. Are you able to perform that or not?’
And I used to encourage them and say to them, ‘This evil one who is sitting in his centre like a black cauldron due to the extreme heat — and those days in the summer season were very hot — is openly waging war against the Religion of Allāh, and we claim that we are from the People of the Religion of Allāh, and we are not able to perform any action to support to His Shara’.’
I said to them, ‘If we conquer an area, we will defend it, then do not complain that there is no studying or a lack of money and weapons, so are you able to perform this action or not?’
Then no one from those fourteen accepted to perform this action, and they said, ‘We might be able to perform some of the duties on Fridays.’ So I said to them, ‘Who will perform them the rest of the days?’
I make Allāh as my witness that this is the truth, and that I will testify to that in front of Allāh, Azza Wa Jall, on the Day of the Gathering.
This movement was the result of a pure trust (in Allāh) because if I had gauged the rest of the schools and (study) circles according to this (study) circle, I would have returned to my school. But I fulfilled the oath I had taken upon myself for (the sake of) Allāh, Ta’ālā, and he treated me with what you have seen. Then I went on to another study circle in which there was about seven students, so I presented the matter to them just like I presented it to the students of the first study circle, then all of them got ready for action.
All of those ones were one nation, there were no differences between them from being young men and old men, or children and young men, or male and female, but this work was based upon Wisdom from Allāh, Ta’ālā, so he placed me in a test since the beginning of it. Then we traveled on this motorcycle to the schools and study groups until ‘Asr prayer, until fifty-three People of the True Trust (in Allāh) were ready. Then I returned to my school and said to them, ‘Come tomorrow morning.’, but they arrived at one in the night to Sanj Sār, so this was the beginning.
The work started before (even) twenty-four hours had passed on the idea. And one of my friends lead the people in prayer, so when he lead them in the Fajr prayer, one of the followers said, ‘This night while I was sleeping, I saw the Angels entering Sanj Sār, and their hands were soft, so I asked them to wipe me with their hands for blessings.’
And the next morning at ten o’clock, we asked for two cars from “Al-Hāj Bishr”, one of the businessmen of the area, so he gave us two cars; a small car, and a large cargo truck, then we moved those students to the area of “Kashk Nukhūd”, and others joined us. And when the numbers became many, we borrowed weapons from the people, so this was the beginning of this movement, until it continued.” — The end of his talk
Note: The reader should be aware that this article was written in 2005 at a time when Amir al-Muminun Mullah Umar (rahimahullah) was not dead. So the writer uses the words “”May Allah ptotect him” and we published it without changing the original text.
