Taliban Leader Secures Religious Allegiance at Kandahar Jurisprudence Conference

In a two-day seminar held in Kandahar province, attended by numerous officials and religious scholars affiliated with the Taliban administration, the group’s leader delivered a speech urging full alignment of religious centers and figures with his policies.

The conference, organized at the invitation of the Taliban administration, brought together leading figures from the administration’s official religious institutions, particularly from the jurisprudence councils, the central fatwa office, and jihadist madrasas. The Taliban leader attended the gathering, emphasizing the crucial role of pro-Taliban scholars in strengthening the Islamic system he envisions, and expressed appreciation and support for their efforts.

In his remarks, he described Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) as the highest form of religious knowledge and called Taliban-affiliated scholars “God’s chosen ones.” He stressed that these scholars must play a more active role in promoting and consolidating Taliban directives among the population.

He portrayed participation in jurisprudence councils as a form of jihad in the path of God, stating that the current duty of the clergy is to align the public with the Taliban administration’s interpretation of Sharia. He asked scholars not to oppose other viewpoints directly, but instead to actively promote the rulings endorsed by the Taliban and encourage public adherence to their decrees.

The meeting concluded with a collective pledge of allegiance to the Taliban leader by the attending scholars and officials. They reaffirmed their loyalty and committed to reinforcing the administration’s envisioned system.

This seminar comes amid ongoing concerns over the Taliban’s weakening of independent religious institutions across the country. Many religious councils under its control have increasingly become political platforms rather than autonomous centers of theological thought.

The event ended with a closing prayer led by the Taliban leader — a gesture that symbolized not only the conclusion of the gathering but also the group’s continuing effort to fully merge religious authority with political power in Afghanistan.