Biography of the Ministry leadership
The biography of the acting minister of Ministry of Promoting Virtue, Preventing Evil, Summoning and Hearing Complaints of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Shaikh al-Hadith Mohammad Khalid Hanafi
Both education and jihad are the main paths of progress and development of “Islamic Sharia Law”, but some people focus only on education, while some see jihad as the main way to spread the religion, and a few of them carry out both science and jihad according to the Sahabah’s approach and sometimes train students like the Sahabah Sufha, and sometimes they are the guide and fighters in the stronghold of jihad and such people can be good guides and leaders for the society.
The minister of the Ministry of Promoting Virtue, Preventing Evil, Summoning and Hearing Complaints of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Shaikh al-Hadith Mohammad Khalid Hanafi is one of those who has followed this path (the pathway of Sahabah Safa) from a madrassa student to a teacher.
Introduction:
Venerated Shaikh al-Hadith Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the son of Malik Commander Habibullah, was born in the village of Kolam Shaheed in Doabi district of Nuristan province of Afghanistan in 1350 in a jihadist and pious family.
Education:
He completed his primary education from his grandfather, and simultaneously, he continued acquiring modern education and attended school until twelfth class. Moreover, he completed his secondary education in different provinces of the country in various madrassas. Besides, he has studied theology, knowledge of meaning, jurisprudence, knowledge of the principles jurisprudence, the morphology, the science of logic, mathematics and science of heritage in different areas, especially in the famous scholarly areas of Martung and Chakisar.
Owing to his passion for hadith and jurisprudence, he completed two short periods of religious studies, once at the famous Darul Uloom Haqqani madrassa and the second in Chak Dara with Maulvi Mohammad Siddique Deobandi.
He completed his last course in Hadith in the year 1997 after much research and study in the Madrassa called Imdad-ul-Uloom with the famous Shaikh al-Hadith Maolana Hassan Jan Shaheed.
Being unable to quench his thirst for knowledge, he resorted to Shah Mansoor for exegesis (Tafseer), where he learned the exegesis of the Holy Quran from the famous scholar of exegesis Shah Mansoor Babaji.
After his graduation, he started teaching and emerged as a well-known and distinguished scholar. He started teaching, in which he taught various books in different places.
Since he was an accomplished student and after graduation he turned to the dissemination of knowledge as a distinguished scholar, so for ten years he taught all the books in different madrassas, including Darul Uloom Safia, and Darul Uloom Arabia ; afterwards, he spent thirteen years in the services of Hadiths and taught both small and large courses in various madrassas, namely Darul Uloom Arabia, Darul Uloom al Ahya and Jamia Farooqia. Moreover, he taught exegesis (Tafseer) for 22 years and is he well-versed in exegesis (Tafseer).
Jihad and the Struggle:
In addition to studying and teaching, Mr. Hanafi was engaged in jihad. He joined the ranks of Mujahedeen during the first period of the Emirate rule, along with his brother Maulvi Rustam, who was the then Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Works.
In the process, he formed a jihadi movement in Nimroz and Delaram districts, where he was wounded during the jihadi process and was fortunate enough to have a sign of liberation on the Day of Resurrection. Despite all the hardships, he did not turn his back on jihad and remained a friend of the jihadi ranks till the end.
His respected family has a jihadist background not only in the current revolution but also in the jihad against the Russians. His father, Malik Habibullah, who was very popular among the people, was a well-known jihadi leader and local ruler.
He (Malik Habibullah) was appointed commander of the Nuristan province by Maulvi Abdul Raziq, the commander-in-chief of the Harakat party during the jihad against Russia. He was a well-known mujahid who led and liberated the first district in the country at that time, Doabi from the Russian occupation, soon after that under his command he conquered the Norgram district, during the fight one of his brothers and nephews were also martyred. Also, under the leadership of Malik Habibullah, headquarters of Mango area in Laghman province was captured and conquered. Moreover, an area called Kafir Qala was later renamed Islam Qala by Malik Habibullah, which was in Gosh area where Amir Habibullah Khan was killed.
Shaikh al-Hadith Mohammad Khalid Hanafi also suffered heavy casualties and gave many sacrifices during the jihad era and his village was bombed three times by the Western forces, during which four of his cousins were martyred. Besides, he has eighteen orphans in his family that he looks after currently.
Responsibilities:
In the last 20 years of jihadi struggle, Shaikh al-Hadith Mohammad Khalid Hanafi has been responsible for three districts in Nuristan province: Norgram, Doab and Mandol. In addition, he has also been in charge of the provinces of Laghman and Nuristan, after which he has been in charge of the military training camps in the eastern zone, serving in the Civilian Casualties Commission, and then in charge of inviting, guiding, and attracting commission in the eastern zone.
During his tenure as the head of invitation and guidance commission, he made many efforts to bring peace and security in the country; he even invited Ismailia party and provided them peace. Moreover, he held discussions with senior officials of the previous administration on the welfare and reconstruction of Afghanistan and assured them of security and he also assured the security of students, engineers, journalists and other educated people of the country and advised them not to leave the country as they are safe and secure.
From time to time Shaikh al-Hadith Mohammad Khalid Hanafi also met various groups, most of whom pledged allegiance and support for the Islamic Emirate, such as the Saifyan, Salafyan and the Hazara of Yousuf valley, and others to unite and work for the betterment of the country.
He called for the security and unity of the country in those difficult days when there was a constant fear of drones and danger to life, but he did not turn around and visited Nangarhar, Logar, Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Kabul and other areas. He tried his level best to get his deceived countrymen back from the occupiers and unite them with the freedom fighters so that they work together for the development of the country.
The Joyful and Sad Memories in the life of Shaikh al-Hadith Mohammad Khalid Hanafi:
He says the joyful memory of his life is the independence of the country, but he will be the happiest when he finishes the lessons of Hadiths. Moreover, he adds that he feels relaxed when he does some good deeds and he is sure that it is acceptable. But from the saddest memories, he says that he was in great pain when he was sitting with the local people in an area of Sherzad district of Nangarhar. Soon after his departure the area was bombed and eight people were martyred, which made him sad and narrates it as the saddest memory of his life. Shaikh said that he was very sad when the martyrs asked to leave for the martyrdom operation and he knew that they would not come back.
Last but not the least, Shaikh al-Hadith Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, who is currently serving as the caretaker Minister of the Ministry of Promoting Virtue, Preventing Evil, Summoning and Hearing Complaints of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, has been working tirelessly for the betterment of religion and the country, and he advises his colleagues in his work environment to keep their intentions and Allah’s will in mind in their work at any time.