Taliban Leader Emphasizes Unity and Obedience at Kandahar Clerics Meeting

Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban administration, stressed the importance of unity, obedience, and the role of clerics in strengthening the regime during a meeting with scholars from the districts of Kandahar province. He stated that people should encourage each other towards unity and said, “The regime is built with the clerics and it is destroyed by the clerics.”

The meeting was attended by Kandahar’s governor, the head of the administrative affairs department, the head of the Afghan Sra-e-Mahees charitable society, the military deputy of the Supreme Court, the head of the central Darul Ifta, the judicial deputy of the Supreme Court, and several other clerics and Taliban officials.

In his remarks, the Taliban leader urged the clerics to work towards eliminating what he called “ignorant customs,” to avoid negligence, and to refrain from pursuing worldly rank and status.

These statements come amid years of widespread domestic and international criticism of Taliban decisions in various social and educational sectors. Despite calls for the clerics’ role in societal reform, critics argue that restrictions imposed on the rights and freedoms of citizens—particularly women and girls—remain in place and require serious reconsideration and transparent accountability from Taliban officials.