Ustad Muhammad Akbari
استاد محمد اکبری
Ustad Akbari
Afghanistan Parliament
Personal details
Born1945 (age 78–79)
Waras, Bamyan Province, Afghanistan
CitizenshipKabul
NationalityAfghanistani
Political partyHezbe Wahdat
OccupationPolitical leader

Ustad Muhammad Akbari (Dari: استاد محمد اکبری) known as Ustad Akbari, is a former Hazara jihadist commander in Afghanistan, who has held various political affiliations during periods of conflict in Afghanistan. He was the representative of Bamyan during the fifteenth and sixteenth sessions of Afghanistan's parliament, and a member of the House of Elders from 2017 onward.[1][2][3]

Early life

Ustad Akbari was born on 1945 in Afghanistan in Waras District of Bamyan province. Ustad Akbari studied primary education in Islamic schools in Bamyan, Afghanistan from 1961 to 1971, later studying more in Iraq. In 1976 he earned the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in religious studies from a university in Iraq, later acquiring a Ph.D-level education.[2][1]

Relations with the Taliban

Prior to the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, Ustad Akbari was a senior member in Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, the primary Hazara party of Afghanistan. Due to conflicts with the leader of the party's central leadership under Abdul Ali Mazari, who he accused of a coup within the party, he struck an agreement with the Taliban and created a separate branch of the party known as the National Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, which gained the allegiance of most party members around Bamyan province.[4][5] During this period of the first Taliban government, he was considered the senior-most Shia Hazara to support the Taliban.[6]

Following the American Invasion of Afghanistan, Ustad Akbari continued to represent his home region of Bamyan, no longer being affiliated with the Taliban. He was elected to lead Bamyan in the fifteenth and sixteenth sessions of the Afghan parliament, before becoming a member of the House of Elders in 2017.[1][3]

After the Taliban offensive of 2021 brought the Islamic Emirate back to power, he issued various statements in support of working with them. He participated in Jafar Mahdavi's Shia Commission in meeting with the Taliban, and encouraged the appointment of Shias to positions of political power in the new government.[7] He later met with Minister of Information and Culture Khairullah Khairkhwa and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abdul Qahar Balkhi to discuss the situation of Afghan Shias.[8][9]

See also

Notes

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  1. 1 2 3 "Ustad Muhammad Akbari". www.wolesi.website. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Ustad Mohammad Akbari". www.afghan-bios.info. Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 "استاد محمد اکبری، سناتور شد" [Ustad Muhammad Akbari, became a senator]. Raha Press. 22 January 2021. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021.
  4. ↑ Ruttig, Thomas (1 January 2006). "Islamists, Leftists – and a Void in the Center. Afghanistan's Political Parties and where they come from (1902-2006)". Afghanistan Analysts Network - English (in Pashto). Retrieved 18 November 2022. The largest of the Shia parties, Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami, had already split into two during the Taleban era, when Ustad Muhammad Akbari struck an agreement with them and maintained control – under some Kandahari supervision - over parts of the Hazarajat, while Khalili's wing remained with the NA.
  5. ↑ Christia, Fotini (12 November 2012). Alliance Formation in Civil Wars. Cambridge University Press. pp. 90–93. ISBN 978-1-107-02302-4.
  6. ↑ Moiz, Ibrahim (14 June 2021). "Niazi No More: The Life and Legacy of a Taliban Mutineer". The Afghan Eye. Retrieved 13 April 2022. Contrary to some understandable, but inflated, claims thereafter, the Taliban had not intended to either wipe out Hazaras or Shias from the land; in fact they canvassed the support of several Hazara commanders, seniormost a former enemy called Muhammad Akbari, and even obtained the approval of some Shia clerics.
  7. ↑ Gestozzi, Antonio (13 August 2022). "طالبان، شیعه‌های افغانستان و نقش ایران" [Taliban, Afghan Shiites and the role of Iran]. BBC Persian (in Persian). Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  8. ↑ "وزیرخارجه طالبان با شورای علمای شیعه دیدار کرد" [The Taliban's foreign minister met with the Shia Ulema Council]. Khabar Online (in Persian). 7 May 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  9. ↑ "استاد اکبری: شیعیان امیدوارند در نظام افغانستان جایگاه داشته باشند- اخبار افغانستان - اخبار بین الملل تسنیم | Tasnim" [Professor Akbari: Shiites hope to have a place in the Afghan system]. Tasnim News (in Persian). 20 February 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.


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