According to Iraf, the treatise places emphatic stress on complete obedience to the Taliban leader and calls into question the right to question his commands — meaning that, according to this treatise, no one holds the right to question the Taliban leader.
The Taliban has announced that the treatise was prepared for “the general public” and for the group’s fighters, in order to instruct them in obedience to the leader and to discourage them from questioning the orders and commands of Hibatullah.
The work states that certain commands may contain a “wisdom” or “expediency” that the Taliban leader may not wish the public to be made aware of.
The treatise further describes obedience to Hibatullah Akhundzada as equivalent in rank to obedience to God and the Prophet and identifies it as the foundation for consolidating the “Islamic system.”
The authors also claim that the fall of the Umayyad, Abbasid, and Ottoman caliphates occurred not as a result of enemy attacks, but due to the people’s opposition to their rulers.
In another section, the Taliban’s Dar al-Ifta warns members that should they fail to obey their “Emir,” the Taliban government will itself face the danger of defeat and collapse.
Hibatullah Akhundzada, who authored the preface to the work, describes obedience as one of the most fundamental needs of society and claims that without obedience, nothing in life can proceed correctly.
The treatise also states that any individual who dies without having pledged allegiance dies “the death of ignorance” — a pre-Islamic state of perdition.
The Taliban’s Dar al-Ifta further emphasizes that members of the group must “bow their heads” before Hibatullah for as long as they do not witness a “manifest error” on his part, since in this institution’s view, the success and survival of the Taliban government rest precisely on this principle.
The Taliban-affiliated body also explicitly states that within the “Islamic system,” all social authority rests in the hands of the Emir, and no one has the right to act in social affairs without his consultation and approval.
