Mohammad Hasan Akhund (born or ) is an Afghan

mullah Mullah (; ) is an honorific title for Shia and Sunni Muslim clergy or a Muslim mosque leader. The term is also sometimes used for a person who has higher education in Islamic theology and sharia law. The title has also been used in some Miz ...

, politician and

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 ...

leader who is currently the acting

prime minister of Afghanistan The prime minister of Afghanistan ( ps, د افغانستان لومړی وزیر; prs, رئیس‌الوزرای افغانستان) is the head of government of Afghanistan. The position was created in 1927 as an official appointed by the Kin ...

. Akhund is one of the founding members of the Taliban and has been a senior leading member of the movement. In the first Taliban government (1996–2001), he served as the deputy

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Early life and education

Akhund is from southern Afghanistan. According to

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

data, he was born in Pashmul, which at the time of his birth was in

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

, but is now in

Zhari District Zhari ( ps, ژړۍ, fa, ولسوالی ژری) is a district in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Alternative spellings include Zheley (due to transliteration from Pashto), Zharey, Zharay, Zheri, or Zheray. The district was created in 2004 from l ...

, in

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 ...

of the

Kingdom of Afghanistan The Kingdom of Afghanistan ( ps, , Dǝ Afġānistān wākmanān; prs, پادشاهی افغانستان, Pādešāhī-ye Afġānistān) was a constitutional monarchy in Central Asia established in 1926 as a successor state to the Emirate of Af ...

. The UN has two estimates for his year of birth, being approximately 1945–1950 and approximately 1955–1958. He studied in various

Islamic seminaries 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 Afghanistan, but not in the ones in Pakistan. Unlike many Taliban leaders, Akhund did not participate in the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

Political career

Akhund is one of the oldest members of the Taliban, and was a close associate of Mohammed Omar, the first leader of the movement. During the Taliban rule (1996–2001), he served as the foreign minister of Afghanistan from 1998 to 27 October 1999, and was also the

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

during their rule. Like many other senior Taliban, he is subject to United Nations sanctions related to the sheltering of terrorist groups. During the period of insurgency (2001–2021), Akhund was intermittently a member of the Quetta Shura. In 2013, he was the chief of the Taliban's commissions and the head of the recruitment commission. Following the Taliban's return to power in 2021, Akhund was appointed interim Prime Minister. His appointment was seen as a compromise between the Taliban's moderate and hardline figures. He took office on 7 September 2021.

Additional information

Akhund is the author of several works on

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. According to ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

'', he is more influential on the religious side of the Taliban, as opposed to the military side. A United States Institute for Peace analyst argued that he was more of a political person.

Notes

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Akhund, Hasan 21st-century heads of state of Afghanistan Afghan Muslims Afghan Sunni Muslims Prime Ministers of Afghanistan Afghan Islamists Taliban government ministers of Afghanistan Pashtun people People from Kandahar Province Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century births Afghan writers Muslim writers

Early life and education

Political career

Additional information

See also

Notes

References