Afghan Biographies

Molavi Habibollah Hesam


Name Molavi Habibollah Hesam
Ethnic backgr. Pashtun
Date of birth
Function/Grade Head of ‘Afghanistan Islamic Brotherhood’
History and Biodata

Head of ‘Afghanistan Islamic Brotherhood’ Schuraye Achwat Islami Afghanistan:
Molavi Habibollah Hesam Molavi Habibollah-e Hesam Mawlawi Habibullah Hesam Maulavi Habibullah Hisam (20090104, 20120823, 20160724, 20170907)

Background:

Thousands of members of over 20 political parties (most of them former mujahedin factions and religious organisations) gathered on 23 August 2013 in a public demonstration in Kabul and chanted, “Mursi, Mursi”, in support of Egypt’s president who was toppled by the military on 3 July 2013. This was the first time that such a large number of different groups had gathered in reaction to developments in another Muslim country. Prior to that, these groups had held at least three other events in Kabul, but the final rally was the most dramatic one, with a symbolic funeral prayer for the protestors killed during the Egyptian military’s crackdown. Earlier, the Taleban and the Hezb-e Islami faction led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (usually known by the acronym HIG) had issued statements condemning Egypt’s generals and secular forces as well as their “tacit supporters” in the West.
After the symbolic prayer rituals, around 2,500 participants stayed on at the vast open grounds of the Eidgah Mosque, opposite the national stadium, brandishing colourful banners and poster-sized photos of the ousted Egyptian president with Dari, Pashto and Arabic captions reading “champion of freedom”. They listened for two hours to fiery speeches. One of the organisers on the podium then asked the participants to raise four fingers – a sign used across the Middle East in solidarity with the Mursi supporters – and to stand “well-disciplined in front of the cameras that will carry your message into the world”.

Apart from Massud’s Jamiat and Ahmadzai’s Hezb-e Eqtedar-e Islami, the most notable parties participating in the 23 August 2013 event were Dawat-e Islami led by Abdul Rabb Rasul Sayyaf (Ahmadzai had once been its deputy leader), the officially registered wing of Hezb-e Islami (a large group split from HIG and led by Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal, the minister of economy), another HIG splinter group led by presidential advisor, Wahidullah Sabawun, and Jamiat-e Islah, an emerging youth movement with an ideology close to that of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, whose aims are to inculcate Islamic values in the society and islamise the government through a bottom-up approach. Hezb-e Islami and Jamiat-e Islah contributed the larger numbers of the younger participants. From among the party leaders, Arghandiwal, Sabawun and Ahmadzai were personally present as was Enayatullah Baligh, an advisor to President Karzai on religious affairs who is also a key member of the Ulema Council.

2. Previous Functions Mawlawi Habibullah Hesam:
Chief Mullah for the Friday prayers of Milad Al Nabi mosque Kabul Milad ul-Nabi mosque (20120823)
Head of ‘Afghanistan Islamic Brotherhood’

3. Biodata:
Mawlawi Habibullah Hisam

Last Modified 2017-09-07
Established 2017-09-07