KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has said that the words of the group’s clerics are binding and must be enforced, even through coercion.
Speaking at a seminar for Hajj instructors in Kandahar, Akhundzada told religious leaders that their rulings now carry the weight of law.
“In the past, we issued fatwas. People could choose to accept or reject them,” he said in an audio message released by Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat. “Now your word is a ruling. It must be accepted. And if someone refuses, we will force them.”
Akhundzada said Taliban clerics are no longer just religious figures. They are judges and rulers. Their decisions, he said, are laazim-ul-amal (mandatory in practice.)
He added that if a cleric deems something permissible (ja’iz), it becomes obligatory (wajib). If they forbid something allowed, it becomes prohibited (haram).
The Taliban leader has frequently described obedience to clerics as essential to maintaining the regime. He emphasized “piety,” “consultation with scholars,” and submission to religious authority as key to preserving their rule.
He urged Hajj teachers to promote the Taliban during the pilgrimage. “Defend this Islamic system,” he said. “Build a mindset so that every pilgrim returns as a mujahid.”
Akhundzada, a hardline cleric from the Noorzai tribe, remains the group’s most powerful figure. Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, he has consolidated control over all branches of the Taliban—political, judicial, and military—from his base in Kandahar.
He rarely appears in public or meets foreign officials, yet his directives shape the regime’s most hardline policies.
In his speech, Akhundzada also defended public executions.
“Yesterday we carried out qisas ,” he said. “And the world objected. They call it inhumane. They say we spread fear. But to us, it is divine law — we must enforce hudud and punishments.”
His remarks followed the public execution of four men accused of murder on Friday in Badghis, Farah, and Nimroz provinces.
The Taliban’s Supreme Court said the men were sentenced under its three-tier judicial system. The executions were approved by Akhundzada and carried out after victims’ families refused forgiveness.
The United Nations, Amnesty International, and other human rights groups have condemned the executions and called for an immediate halt.
Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban have publicly executed at least ten people. Rights groups say the practice violates international law and heightens fear across the country.
