Mujib Rahman Ansari

Mujib-ur-Rahman Ansari (

Ansari was assassinated in a suicide bombing on 2 September 2022. Though no group claimed responsibility, the Taliban government alleged that the Islamic State – Khorasan Province was responsible for the attack.

Biography

Mujib-ur-Rahman Ansari was born in 1982 in the city of

After his return to Afghanistan, Ansari first became well-known in the mid-2000s, following his criticism of Sayyid Muhammad Khairkhwah [fa], the governor of Herat Province. However, his influence increased drastically after an incident in the early 2010s in which Ansari and his followers prevented a music concert from occurring in Herat by occupying the stadium venue.^[4] Ansari continued to build a following using his position as the imam of the Gozargah Mosque in northern Herat, and he also became one of the trustees of the Shrine of Khwaja Abd Allah.^[3] The several thousand parishioners who attended Ansari's mosque services had to undergo extensive body searches, and the compound was heavily guarded by security personnel armed with assault rifles and wearing white robes emblazoned with two crossed swords. However, Ansari stated that these enforcers were not a militia, but instead were just bodyguards. Ansari became very influential due to the dissemination of his sermons on Facebook, Instagram, and his personal radio station. Ansari used his influence to become a hardline critic of the Afghan republican government, saying that it was corrupt, un-Islamic, and an American puppet state.^[1]

In December 2019, Ansari and his followers seized control of the Gozargah district of Herat, preventing the police from entering and imposing

Ansari was assassinated on 2 September 2022 following a suicide bombing just outside of his mosque.^[6] Ansari had been returning to his mosque from a meeting with deputy prime minister Abdul Ghani Baradar when the bomber approached Ansari, kissed his hand, and then detonated, killing Ansari and several nearby people.^[7][8] The Taliban government officially stated that 18 people were killed in the attack, though Al Jazeera reported 28 fatalities and a local newspaper reported 48 fatalities.^[9][10] Those killed included Ansari's brother, as well as several parishioners and bodyguards.^[11][12] Though no group officially claimed responsibility for the attack, the Taliban government said that the Islamic State – Khorasan Province perpetrated the attack. Ansari was the fourth Taliban-aligned cleric to have been killed in the span of two months; another prominent cleric, Rahimullah Haqqani, had been killed a few weeks prior.^[13]

Ansari's assassination was heavily condemned by the Afghan government, with Taliban spokesman

Ansari became well-known for his outspoken misogyny. Ansari was opposed to the "presence of women outside the house under any pretext", and he barred women from attending his press conferences.^[3][18] In one speech, Ansari stated that "most women go to hell", and in another, he stated his belief that most women are from hell.^[3][16] Ansari stated that any man whose wife does not fully cover herself is a coward, stating that "a woman's bad hijab is due to a man's lack of zeal".^[19] However, despite these beliefs, Ansari was a supporter of women and girls receiving education at schools and universities, though segregated from male students.^[1]

An ally of the Taliban, Ansari was described as a "thorn in the side of the pro-western government in Afghanistan".^[7] Ansari was a prominent hardline critic of the Afghan republican government, stating that it was corrupt and merely a puppet regime of the Americans forces, and he was a staunch opponent of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan.^[12] In February 2021, Ansari stated that anyone who supported the government of Afghanistan was committing sin, and that "those who support the government are worse than Jews".^[20] Ansari frequently called the Ghani-led government corrupt and rebellious, and encouraged his followers to not support the "Afghan regime".^[21] Though a staunch critic of the government, Ansari was not opposed to the republican system itself; instead of directly attacking the government, Ansari opposed its officials and indirectly called the government "un-Islamic".^[3] For example, in one speech, Ansari stated that the government had "no smell of Islam".^[4] Ansari justified this by stating, "Emirate or caliphate, we want an Islamic system. It is under any name. It is a republic, an emirate or a caliphate. We want an Islamic system... The system of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan adheres to Islamic principles. We are its servants".^[18] He also criticized the Taliban for conducting suicide attacks.^[1] Ansari was also a critic of the government of Tajikistan due to their creation of "religious restrictions".^[22]

Despite his infamy, Ansari was very influential in Herat, with newspaper 8am.af writing:

Ansari has become a pole of local power in Herat. Among all those who run for the

Ulema Council of Western Afghanistan, to ask for permission to pray or to recite a narration before taking up their duties.^[4]