Caliphate or Colonialism: The Decisive Choice of the Ummah in Afghanistan and Pakistan
(Translated)

News:

With the aim of ending the existing crisis between Afghanistan and Pakistan, following the establishment of a ceasefire in Qatar, a meeting was held in Istanbul. In this meeting, the parties, while emphasizing the continuation of the ceasefire, agreed that on November 6 a high-level meeting will be held to examine practical ways of implementing the agreement. It is planned that in this meeting a specific mechanism will be formulated for monitoring and verifying the implementation of the agreement, on the basis of which the preservation of peace will be guaranteed and the possibility of punishing the violating party will be provided.

Comment:

These efforts will lead to a lasting peace only when the Muslims of Afghanistan and Pakistan stand on a united intellectual, political, and even military front, and entrust their cause not to colonialists such as America and its agents like Qatar and Turkey, but to Islam and the will of the Islamic Ummah in the region. Meetings held within the framework of the dictates, conspiracies, and interests of foreign powers are, at best, only a temporary repetition of a ceasefire; and ultimately, a cover for the continuation of colonial competitions over land, resources, and economic routes, as well as an effort to prevent the awakening and unity of the Islamic Ummah in the region.

The importance of the issue is highlighted by the fact that South Asia has become a battleground for the interests of global colonial powers. Afghanistan, with its abundant mineral resources and vital geopolitical position, and Pakistan, with strategic corridors and ports, play a key role in the region’s geoeconomic equations. The United States—referring to the unsuccessful withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan, the widespread handover of weapons to the Taliban, and the abandonment of the Bagram base, which has a geopolitical and geostrategic position for monitoring China and Russia—is seeking to pressure the Taliban government and force it to accept its conditions.

On the other hand, China, with large-scale investments—especially within the framework of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)—is seeking to create a network of infrastructure to access global markets, a network that will bind the region to Beijing’s economy. In the face of this influence, the United States and its allies are pursuing parallel initiatives to preserve America’s economic and security dominance in the region, and at the same time are trying to keep the government of Afghanistan away from the sphere of influence of China and Russia and to prevent it from becoming a capacity for the Islamic Ummah. The rivalry between the United States and China, with the participation of India—which operates under Washington’s management—seeks to make Afghanistan hostile to Pakistan and close to India, turning the region into a field of colonial competition, where economic projects are in fact instruments of political domination and control over the Ummah’s resources.

Therefore, the short-term and long-term meetings of these governments to solve the Afghanistan–Pakistan crisis can never resolve this problem. As long as the policy of the United States in the region is based on creating tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan; as long as a particular circle within Pakistan’s army, which lobbies with the Americans under the name of “fighting terrorism” or “pressuring the Taliban,” remains in power; as long as armed groups are present in the region and resist the oppressive and secular policies of governments; as long as the imposed Durand Line remains in this geography; and as long as national governments, based on their narrow and factional interests, conduct politics against one another—this problem will never be solved.

Nevertheless, the root of the crisis is not confined to geopolitical games, but arises from the intellectual-political disease of fragmenting the Ummah into nations and artificial boundaries that are built on national identity and the ideology of nationalism. As long as the Muslims of Afghanistan and Pakistan define their identity based on nation and colonial borders and ignore the Islamic identity as a single Ummah, and do not cut off the hands of the colonialists from the region, no agreement will be lasting. The intellectual, political, and geographical unity of these two nations must be formed on the basis of allegiance to Allah, Islam, and the Muslims—not on the basis of the transient interests of the nation-state or agreements with colonialists.

The real solution lies in three fundamental pillars: first, complete severance of dependence on colonial powers and the cessation of economic, military, and intelligence cooperation with them; second, rebuilding the regional economy on the basis of managing the Ummah’s resources and developing independent infrastructure; and third, intellectual, political, and military mobilization to eradicate nationalism and revive the consciousness of the single Ummah. The elites, scholars, parties, and institutions must become the pivot of efforts to restore politics on the basis of Islam.

The only framework that can bring these pillars together is a political system based on the Sharia of Islam and the unity of the Ummah—a system that removes artificial borders and does not allow colonial projects to impose dominance over the structure of dependency among nations. The re-establishment of the Rightly Guided Caliphate (Khilafah Rashidah) upon the method of the Prophethood is the real solution for saving the region from the clutches of the colonialists and returning sovereignty to the Ummah. This path requires sacrifice, awareness, and political will; but apart from this, there is no other path to salvation.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Yosuf Arsalan
Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Afghanistan