Abdul Hakim Haqqani ( ), also known as Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai ( ) and Abdul Hakim Sharie ( ; also spelt Sharai or Sharia), is an Afghan Islamic scholar, writer who has served as the chief justice of Afghanistan and minister of justice since 2021. He has also served as chief justice of the Supreme Court in the 1996–2001 Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. He was the chairman of the negotiation team in the Qatar office. He is one of the founding members of the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

and was a close associate of the late leader Mullah

Mohammed Omar Muhammad Omar ( ar, محمد عمر, link=no), and other spellings such as Mohamed Omer, may refer to the following people: Sportspeople * Muhammad Umar (wrestler) (born 1975), Pakistani wrestler * Mohammad Omar (footballer, born 1976), Emirati ...

Early life

He was born to Mawlawi Khudaidad in 1967 in the

Panjwayi District Panjwayi ( ps, پنجوايي; also spelled Panjwaye, Panjwaii, Panjway, Panjawyi, Panjwa'i, or Panjwai) is a district in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It is located about west of Kandahar. The district borders Helmand Province to the southwes ...

Kandahar Province Kandahār ( ps, ; Kandahār, prs, ; ''Qandahār'') is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southern part of the country, sharing a border with Pakistan, to the south. It is surrounded by Helmand in the west, Uruzgan ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. He graduated from Darul Uloom Haqqania, a

Deobandi Deobandi is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam, adhering to the Hanafi school of law, formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the name derives, by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, R ...

Islamic seminary (

darul uloom Darul uloom (), also spelled ''dar-ul-ulum'', is an Arabic term that literally means "house of knowledge". The term generally means an Islamic seminary or educational institution – similar to or often the same as a madrassa or Islamic school � ...

), in Pakistan, and taught there.

Career

Teaching

Apart from teaching at the Darul Uloom Haqqania, until recently he also ran his own Islamic seminary or

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

in the Ishaqabad area of

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

, in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

’s

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

province.

Judiciary

During the rule of the first

Islamic Emirate An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalen ...

, in addition to teaching, he also served in the

Appellate Court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

and at the Central Dar ul-Ifta. Following the appointment of Hibatullah Akhundzada as Supreme Leader, Ishaqzai was appointed Chief Justice.

Diplomacy

In September 2020, he was appointed the Taliban's chief negotiator for peace talks in Qatar with the government of Afghanistan, replacing

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai ( ; born 1963) is a senior member of the Afghan Taliban and the country's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs since 7 September 2021. He was an officer in the Afghan National Army after training at an army academy in ...

, who became his deputy in the 21-member negotiating team.

Controversies

International sanctions due to alleged violation of women's rights

On 20 July 2023, Hakim Haqqani was sanctioned by the EU due to his instrumental role as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in implementing policies and spreading ideological teachings aimed at creating and justifying gender-based repressions against women in Afghanistan.

Books

Specializing in

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...

, especially its justice system, Hakim Haqqani has books on various subjects which have been translated into many languages, including

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

References

{{Taliban Living people 1967 births Taliban leaders People from Kandahar Province Taliban founders Sharia judges Afghan judges Darul Uloom Haqqania alumni Academic staff of Darul Uloom Haqqania Supreme Court Justices of Afghanistan