Abdul Rauf Mohammad (born 1959) is an

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

former acting

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

government minister. He lived in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

from 2000 until being deported in 2014. ''

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' reported, in December 2016, that Abdul Rauf applied for political asylum in Germany.

Taliban Minister

Mohammad first moved from Afghanistan to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in 1978, where he took education in law with a focus on

Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

. He claims to have joined the

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...

in 1985 after the

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

, and to have served until 1991. He was reportedly present at the grand meeting in 1996 that elected

Mullah Omar Muhammad Umar Mujahid (196023 April 2013), commonly known as Mullah Omar or Muhammad Omar, was an Afghan militant leader and founder and the first leader of the Taliban from 1994 until his death in 2013. During the Third Afghan Civil War, the T ...

leader of the Taliban, after which he himself joined the movement. Mohammad thereafter served as acting Minister of Health intermittently between 1996 and 1999, and claims to have met

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

several times during Taliban government meetings.

Asylum in Norway

Mohammad was granted asylum in Norway with his wife and children in 2000 after claiming his life was in danger to the

UNHCR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and Humanitarian protection, protect refugees, Internally displaced person, forcibly displaced communities, and Statelessness, s ...

in Pakistan, and he subsequently became a valued informant to the intelligence services. In 2001 he had four additional extended family members, including a brother and sister granted

family reunification Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries because of the presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the divided family or only specific members of the family to ...

in Norway after pressure from the

Norwegian Police Security Service The Norwegian Police Security Service (, ) is the police security agency of Norway. The agency was previously known as ''POT'' (' or Police Surveillance Agency), the name change was decided by the Parliament of Norway on 2 June 2001. History an ...

(PST), despite neither of them fulfilling the criteria for family reunification. He has eight children. Based in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

, Mohammad founded a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, while he had a job as a bus driver. In 2009 after growing concerns, PST went to action against 25 young Islamists who were part of a circle thought to have planned terror against Norway, and of which Mohammad was thought to have been the

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

and mentor. Some of the Islamists were later involved in Profetens Ummah. Mohammad reportedly called for

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

in videos on the internet, and has stated that he is proud to be called an Islamist. The previous year, in 2008 he was sentenced to 120 days in jail for violence and death threats against his own daughter. Mohammad was formally expelled from Norway in 2011 with reference to "fundamental national interests", and he was secretly arrested and deported from Norway in July 2014.

Plaintiff in trial in which supreme court upheld deportation

In 2015 Mohammad sued the Norwegian state, demanding to be allowed back in Norway, but lost the case in the

Oslo District Court Oslo District Court () is a district court located in Oslo, Norway. This court is based at the Oslo Courthouse in the city of Oslo. The court serves the entire city of Oslo and the court is subordinate to the Borgarting Court of Appeal. As the ...

. His family remains in Norway. In 2016 the

Supreme Court of Norway The Supreme Court of Norway ( Norwegian Bokmål: ; Norwegian Nynorsk: ; lit. 'Highest Court') is the highest court in the Norwegian judiciary. It was established in 1815 on the basis of section 88 in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, ...

upheld previous decisions of deporting Mohammad.

Attempt to live in Germany

''Der Spiegel'' reported, on December 16, 2016, that, several weeks earlier, Abdul Rauf, and his family, had been intercepted by German border officials, for travelling on forged documents. He then applied for asylum, a request turned down due to his 2014 deportation from Norway. He was then deported to Afghanistan, via

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammed, Abdul Rauf Living people Mujahideen members of the Soviet–Afghan War Taliban government ministers of Afghanistan Afghan refugees Afghan Muslims Afghan people imprisoned abroad Refugees in Norway Prisoners and detainees of Norway People deported from Norway Islamic terrorism and Norway Bus drivers Afghan expatriates in Pakistan 1959 births