Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai ( ), also known as Abdul Hakim Haqqani ( ) and Abdul Hakim Sharie ( ; also spelt Sharai or Sharia), is an Afghan Islamic scholar, writer and the current Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

of the

Islamic Emirate of 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 ...

since 2021 and

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

. 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.

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 Darul Uloom Haqqania or Jamia Dar al-Ulum Haqqania ( ur, ) is an Islamic Seminary (darul uloom or madrasa) in the town of Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwestern Pakistan. The seminary propagates the Hanafi Deobandi school ...

, 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 Darul Ifta. Following the appointment of

Hibatullah Akhundzada Hibatullah Akhundzada, also spelled Haibatullah Akhunzada, is an Afghan Islamic scholar, cleric, and jurist who is the supreme leader of Afghanistan. He has led the Taliban since 2016, and came to power with its victory over Western-backe ...

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.

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, he 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 Darul Uloom Haqqania faculty Supreme Court Justices of Afghanistan