Usman Ahmadzai
In the wake of the Soviet incursion, when the jihad in Afghanistan began and various Jihadi organizations descended into the battlefields, Muslims across the globe lauded these valiant Mujahideen with great pride. From distant lands, countless Muslims converged to lend their support, hoping that from this struggle of theirs, a government could be established that would become a bastion of justice and solace for the beleaguered ummah.
In this noble endeavor, Arab mujahideen, who had journeyed to the Afghan frontlines, not only offered their services but also laid the foundation of a group in the Peshawar region known as Al-Qaeda. Its primary goal was to lay the foundation for an Islamic system worldwide against Jewish hegemony.
In a relatively short span of time, this organization surged forward with remarkable momentum, and the West began to sense their own decline. As always, when brute military force proved ineffectual, they birthed an entity cloaked in the guise of Islam that would divide the Muslim community, and erode people’s trust in Islam.
This group came to be known as Daesh. From its inception, this group embarked on a campaign of brutal atrocities, targeting and martyring numerous esteemed mujahideen across various regions, and all its activities were aimed at discrediting Islam and fostering hatred against it.
In the Middle East, Daesh engaged in unjustified killings, sectarian conflicts, and the destruction of numerous economic sites, all while inadvertently facilitating the advance of Western imperialism.
In Iraq and Syria, Daesh fueled widespread sectarian conflicts, creating countless obstacles for the mujahideen. They laid the groundwork for Zionist colonization in the region, all under the pretense of establishing an Islamic system, thereby inflicting grievous harm upon the integrity of Islam.
Daesh made its presence felt in Afghanistan in 2014, precisely when the mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate were on the cusp of establishing an Islamic state. However, instead of fighting the Kabul administration, Daesh took up arms against the mujahideen. The Mujahideen were then forced to focus much of their energy on fighting Daesh, enabling the Kabul administration to regain strength.
A cursory examination of ISIS’s brief but turbulent history reveals a pattern of actions designed to precipitate the decline and disrepute of Islam. Time and again, the West has wielded this organization as a tool to thwart the establishment of a true Islamic order.
