Sibghatullah Mojaddedi
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Sibghatullah Mojaddedi (; 27 September 1926 – 11 February 2019) was an Afghan politician, who served as Acting
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
after the fall of
Mohammad Najibullah Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996) was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as the second president of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after the Afghan mujahideen' ...
's government in April 1992. He was the first leader to call for armed resistance against the Soviet-backed regime in 1979 and founded the Afghan National Liberation Front at the time; later becoming a respected figure among the various
Afghan mujahideen The Afghan ''mujahideen'' (; ; ) were Islamist militant groups that fought against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War and the subsequent Afghan Civil War (1989–1992), First Afghan Ci ...
. He served as the chairman of the 2003 loya jirga that approved Afghanistan's new constitution. In 2005, he was appointed chairman of the Meshrano Jirga, upper house of the National Assembly of Afghanistan, and was reappointed as a member in 2011. He also served on the Afghan High Peace Council. Mojaddedi is considered to have been a moderate leader.


Early years

Mojaddedi was born on 27 September 1926 in
Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. His family, the Mojaddedis, are a well-known Pashtun family of religious scholars from Kabul who trace their ancestry to Mujaddid Ahmad Sirhindi, a prominent 16th-century Islamic scholar and
Naqshbandi Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...
Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
. Mojaddedi studied Islamic Law and Jurisprudence at
al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...
in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, Egypt. In 1952 he returned to Afghanistan to teach in high schools and at Kabul University, where he became known as an advocate of Afghan political independence. In 1959 Mojaddedi was accused of conspiring against then Soviet Prime Minister
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...
and was imprisoned without trial until 1964. It is believed his leftist brother, Rahmatullah Mojaddedi, passed information to Babrak Karmal and in turn to the Daoud government that Sibghatullah planned to blow up a bridge in Kabul targeting the Soviet delegation's motorcade in a visit. After release, he was forced into exile for his outspoken comments regarding Soviet influence in Afghanistan. His period in exile was spent in several countries such as Denmark and Pakistan before his entry into Afghan politics.


Afghan resistance

Following the
Saur Revolution The Saur Revolution (; ), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was a violent coup d'état and uprising staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which overthrew President of Afghan ...
in 1978, the new communist
Khalq Khalq (Dari/, ) was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical ''de facto'' leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) It was also the name of the leftist newspaper produced by ...
government killed Mojaddedi's brother and several of his relatives. During exile in
Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...
, Mojaddedi founded the Jebh-e-Nejat-e Melli (National Liberation Front) group. He was the first person to call for a nationwide ''
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 ...
'' against the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, later known as the Republic of Afghanistan, was the Afghan state between History of Afghanistan (1978–1992), 1978 and 1992. It was bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, by Iran to the west, by the ...
, on March 13, 1979. Throughout the Soviet-Afghan War he made many contributions for the
Afghan mujahideen The Afghan ''mujahideen'' (; ; ) were Islamist militant groups that fought against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War and the subsequent Afghan Civil War (1989–1992), First Afghan Ci ...
cause. His militia was most prominent in Kunar Province. Mojaddedi's vision was an Islamic republic, possibly with a restored
monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...
. He was opposed to Islamic fundamentalism and harbored friendly feelings towards the West. In 1988, he was elected head of the Afghan Interim Government, based in Peshawar.


Presidency (1992)

In April 1992, he was elected the chair of the Islamic Jihad Council that was set up to establish a post-Soviet Afghan government. He entered Kabul on 28 April amid a large crowd and assumed the new Islamic republic, and offered a general amnesty to all Afghans except the deposed President,
Mohammad Najibullah Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996) was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as the second president of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after the Afghan mujahideen' ...
, whose fate would be decided by "the public". His election was supported by all mujahideen guerilla factions except the Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin, whose forces started firing rockets at the capital; violent clashes took place between them and soldiers of the new coalition near the Interior Ministry building. Mojadeddi pleaded with
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, and former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so called after Mohammad Yunus Khalis spl ...
to lay down their arms, and commented "Mr. Hekmatyar was our brother. We were not expecting such an action. It is not allowed to him according to religion, according to Afghan tradition, to do this." During the period that Mojaddedi was President of Afghanistan, the Ariana plane carrying him to Kabul was hit by an RPG as it was landing at Kabul International Airport. The plane landed safely, with no fatalities. This position lasted for three months, although some sources say that he stayed in power for only two months. In May 1992,
Burhanuddin Rabbani Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistan, Afghan politician and teacher who served as the sixth president of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, and again from November to December 2001 (in exile from 199 ...
established a new leadership council, which undermined Mojaddedi's leadership, resulting in his resignation and handing over power to a new council.


Later political career

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Mojaddedi returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan and became chairman of the 2003 loya jirga, the assembly which approved Afghanistan's new constitution. He caused controversy there by publicly calling Malalai Joya a "communist" and "infidel" after her speech, for which he later apologized.
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
said that Mojaddedi and the jirga's leadership curtrailed
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
at the assembly, including refusing to launch a vote on changing "Islamic Republic of Afghanistan" to "Republic of Afghanistan" despite getting enough signatures, publicly calling the delegates who signed it "unbelievers" and "apostates". In 2005 he became chairman of the Meshrano Jirga, Afghanistan's upper house of the National Assembly of Afghanistan, and he was reappointed as member in 2011. He also served on the Afghan High Peace Council. On 26 August 2015, Mojaddedi launched a new political coalition, the Council of Jihad and National Political Parties.


Later life and death


2006 Assassination Attempt

Two suicide bombers carried out an attack in Kabul on 12 March 2006 against Mojaddedi, while he was a member of the upper house and head of a reconciliation committee aimed at engaging former Taliban members. The attackers blew up a vehicle filled with explosives next to his car as he was being driven through the streets. Four pedestrians were killed and Mojaddedi was slightly injured, with burns to his face and hands.


Death

Mojaddedi was falsely reported to have died on 9 February 2016. He was subsequently reported to have been present at a ceremony commemorating the 27th anniversary of the
Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan Pursuant to the Geneva Accords of 14 April 1988, the Soviet Union conducted a total military withdrawal from Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Afghanistan between 15 May 1988 and 15 February 1989. Headed by the Soviet military officer Boris ...
on 15 February 2016. It was reported on 12 February 2019 that Mojaddedi had died. He was 92.


References


Bibliography

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External links


Biography of Sibghatullah Mojaddedi

Afghanistan National Independent Peace and Reconciliation Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mojaddedi, Sibghatullah 1926 births 2019 deaths 20th-century heads of state of Afghanistan 21st-century Afghan politicians Presidents of Afghanistan Presidents of the House of Elders (Afghanistan) Afghan anti-communists Afghan Sunni Muslims Afghan Sufis Al-Azhar University alumni Academic staff of Kabul University Pashtun people Afghan expatriates in Pakistan 1990s in Afghanistan