Abdul Rasul Sayyaf
Abdulrab Rasul Sayyaf[2][3][4][5] (/ɑːbˈduːl rəˈsuːl saɪˈjɑːf/ ahb-DOOL ra-b rə-SOOL sy-YAHF; Pashto: عبدالرب رسول سیف; born 1946) is an exiled Afghan politician and former mujahideen commander. He took part in the war against the Marxist–Leninist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) government in the 1980s, leading the Afghan mujahideen faction Ittehad-al-Islami (Islamic Union).
Abdulrab Rasul Sayyaf
عبدالرب رسول سیف
عبدالرب رسول سیف
Compared to other Afghan mujahideen leaders, Sayyaf was closely tied with international mujahideen from the Arab world.[6] During the Soviet-Afghan War he had close relations with Saudi Arabia and helped mobilize Arab jihadist volunteers for the mujahideen forces.[7]
Internally, Sayyaf was allied with the Rabbani government in the 1990s until the rise of the Taliban militia; this led to him joining the Northern Alliance in opposition of the Taliban,[8] despite his close relationship with Saudi Arabia that supported the Taliban. In 2005 after the creation of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Sayyaf's Islamic Union was converted into a political party and he was elected as a member of the Afghan Parliament, where he maintained political influence.[9] Following the Taliban capture of Kabul in 2021, Sayyaf fled to exile in New Delhi, India.[10]
Early life[edit]
Sayyaf was born in 1946 in Paghman, Kabul Province to a Pashtun family of Ghilzai tribe.[11][12]
Sayyaf (سياف) is an Arabic word that means "swordsman." He is fluent in Arabic language and holds a degree in religion from Kabul University and a masters from the illustrious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. He has been described as "a big, beefy man with fair skin and a thick gray beard." Sayyaf is reported to be approximately 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) in height and weigh 250 lb (110 kg). "He usually wears a white skullcap or a large turban, and a traditional Afghan partug kameez, a tunic with loose pants."[13] He was also noted for his photographic memory; Abdullah Anas, one of the leading Afghan Arabs, recalls in his memoirs that "once when the hugely influential Abu'l Hassan al-Nadawi, known as the Syed Qutb of India, was delivering a lecture at Kabul University, Sayyaf translated the whole lecture into Persian word for word without mistakes after the former had finished delivering the entire lecture."[14]
Sayyaf was a member of the Afghan-based Ikhwan al-Muslimin, founded in 1969 by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Dr. Burhanuddin Rabbani and having strong links to the original and much larger Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Sayyaf was a professor at the Shariat (Islamic law) faculty of Kabul University until 1973, when he plotted with his group to overthrow President Mohammed Daoud Khan. The uprising attempt in July 1975, in Panjshir Valley, failed significantly and he was forced to flee to Pakistan[2] but was arrested when he returned. However another account claims Sayyaf was not part of the plot but was merely arrested by the government for his ideology.[15]
Since 2001[edit]
2003 Constitutional Loya Jirga[edit]
In 2003, Sayyaf was elected as one of the 502 representatives at the Constitutional Loya Jirga in Kabul, chairing one of the working groups. Originally wanted Loya Jirga intended to divide the 502 delegates randomly among 10 working groups, but Sayyaf objected, suggesting delegates be divided among the groups to ensure equal distribution of professional expertise, provincial origin, gender and other criteria. "Those who know the constitution, the ulema [Islamic scholars], and the lawyers should be split into different groups so that the results of the discussion and debate will be positive, and closer to each other," said Sayyaf.
Abdul Sayyaf's influence in the convention was felt further when his ally Fazal Hadi Shinwari was appointed by Hamid Karzai as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, in violation of the constitution, as Fazal was over the age limit and trained only in religious, not secular, law. Shinwari packed the Supreme Court with sympathetic mullahs, called for Taliban-style punishments and renewed the Taliban-era Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which was renamed the Ministry of Haj and Religious Affairs.
Member of parliament[edit]
He launched his newly converted Islamic Dawah Organisation of Afghanistan party in 2005 and was elected as a member of parliament that same year in parliamentary elections.[26] Later in 2005 he was running for Speaker of the Lower House, where he surprisingly gained the support of Muhammad Mohaqiq, an ethnic Hazara and former member of the Hazara militia that fought against Sayyaf's militia in west Kabul in the 1990s.[27] Although Sayyaf lost the Speaker election to Yunus Qanuni, Mohaqiq's support helped to fix the relationship between Sayyaf and Hazaras.[28][29]
During his years as MP and in the 2010s, Sayyaf has become an influential elderly lawmaker, presenting himself as a "voice of wisdom".[30] He was noted as being having the "greatest authority" to speak on religious matters.[31] Sayyaf was a loyal supporter of the incumbent president, Hamid Karzai.[32] However he controversially supported a bill granting amnesty for former mujahideen warlords accused of crimes in the past.[1][33][34]
On the first anniversary of Burhanuddin Rabbani's assassination, Sayyaf spoke at a gathering saying that the actions of suicide bombers are against Islam and unforgivable by God.[35]
Sayyaf announced himself as a candidate for the President of Afghanistan in the 2014 election, campaigning in fighting against corruption and in favor of women's rights.[36] He received 7.04% of the vote in the first round,[37] as the candidate for the aforementioned Islamic Dawah Organisation of Afghanistan, and winning Kandahar Province.
In 2015, Sayyaf strongly criticized the Taliban in a speech, calling their actions "un-Islamic" and called the group "slaves of Pakistan" – his remarks were widely hailed by different Afghan social segments.[38] On proposed peace talks with the Taliban in 2018, Sayyaf commented that peace is the "order of Allah".[39]
In April 2019, Sayyaf was chosen by President Ghani to chair the four-day loya jirga for peace efforts, attended by 3,200 representatives in Kabul. He called for unity in his opening remarks.[40] In his main speech, Sayyaf stressed the importance of women's rights, saying "The Prophet of Islam is also a descendant of a woman", and called defending women a "religious principle".[41][42] This countered reports from the western press that he is a hardliner opposed to women's rights.[43][44]
2021 exile in India[edit]
After the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, Sayyaf refused to pledge allegiance and was rumored to have fled to India. In October, there were unconfirmed reports that he is part of a planned government in exile in Tajikistan alongside other exiled politicians.[45] This resistance movement was declared a few days later, alongside Atta Muhammad Nur.[46] It was later revealed that Sayyaf had been based in New Delhi, India, after fleeing the Taliban's take over of Afghanistan.[10]
