Sufi Muhammad

2022-01-01T21:13:20Z

2603:7000:303:B299:F0AA:7041:6D84:2C39:

{{Short description|Pakistani cleric and leader of the Islamist TNSM (1933–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = '''Sufi Muhammad''' {{lang|ur|{{Nastaliq|صوفی محمد}}}}
|image = Sufi Muhammad.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = 1933
|birth_place = [[Maidan, Lower Dir District|Maidan]], [[Dir (princely state)|Dir]], [[British Raj|British India]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|2019|7|11|1933|df=yes}}<ref>[https://tribune.com.pk/story/2010820/1-controversial-cleric-sufi-muhammad-passes-away/ Controversial cleric Sufi Muhammad passes away]</ref>
|death_place = [[Swat District|Swat]], [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Pakistan]]
|children = At least one daughter
| office= Founder and 1st Emir of [[Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi]]
| term_start= 1992
| term_end= 2002
| predecessor= Position created
| successor= [[Fazlullah (militant leader)|Maulana Fazlullah]]
|module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
|allegiance = [[File:Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Flag.svg|25px]] [[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan]] (1980s–1992) [[File:Tnsm-flag.svg|25px]] [[Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi]] (1992–2002)
|branch =
|serviceyears = 1980s–2002
|rank = [[Emir]] of [[Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi]]
|battles = *[[1994 Malakand Division Revolt]]
*[[United States invasion of Afghanistan]]
*[[War in North-West Pakistan]]
}}
}}
'''Sufi Muhammad bin Alhazrat Hassan''' (1933 – 11 July 2019) was a Pakistani cleric and Islamist militant, the founder of [[Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi]] (TNSM), a militant organisation (declared a terrorist outfit and banned in 2002) vying for implementation of [[Sharia]] in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news
| last = Lakshman
| first = Kanchan
| title = Deep roots to Pakistan's sectarian terror
| publisher = Asia Times
| date = 2003-07-09
| url = http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EG09Df09.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040416073056/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EG09Df09.html
| url-status = unfit
| archive-date = 2004-04-16
| access-date = 2009-02-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal
| last = Fair
| first = C. Christine
| title = The educated militants of Pakistan: implications for Pakistan's domestic security
| journal = Contemporary South Asia
| volume = 16
| issue = 1
| pages = 99–100
| date = 2007-03-01
| url = http://home.comcast.net/~christine_fair/pubs/Fair_CSA_2008.pdf
| access-date = 2009-02-18
| doi=10.1080/09584930701800446| s2cid = 143810428
}}</ref><ref name=satp>{{cite web
| title = Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws)
| publisher = South Asia Terrorism Portal
| url = http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/terroristoutfits/TNSM.htm
| access-date = 2009-02-18}}</ref><ref name=jand>{{cite news|last=Jan |first=Delawar |title=Nizam-e-Adl Regulation for Malakand, Kohistan announced |publisher=The News International |date=2009-02-17 |url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=20372 |access-date=2009-04-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616085917/http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=20372 |archive-date=16 June 2009 }}</ref>
It operates mainly in the [[Dir region]], [[Swat, Pakistan|Swat]], and [[Malakand District|Malakand]] districts of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa]].<ref name=satp/> Sufi Muhammad was jailed for sending thousands of volunteers to Afghanistan to fight the U.S. intervention in 2001.<ref name=rk1>{{cite news
|last=Khan
|first=Riaz
|title= Inside rebel Pakistan cleric's domain
|publisher=USA Today
|date=2007-10-27
|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-10-27-1647230362_x.htm
|access-date=2009-02-15}}</ref>
However, he was freed in 2008 after he renounced violence.<ref name=bbc2008421>{{cite news
| title = Top Pakistani militant released
| publisher = BBC News
| date = 2008-04-21
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7359523.stm
}}</ref><ref name=toosin>{{cite news|last=Toosi |first=Nahal |title=Taliban to cease fire in Pakistan's Swat Valley |publisher=Yahoo News |date=2009-02-15 |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090215/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan |access-date=2009-02-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216212653/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090215/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan |archive-date=16 February 2009 }}</ref> He was the father-in-law of [[Maulana Fazlullah]], who assumed the leadership of TNSM during Sufi's imprisonment.<ref name=satp/><ref name=rk1/><ref name=bbcshariadeal>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7891955.stm BBC News - Pakistan agrees Sharia law deal]</ref> He was described by BBC as a "follower" of [[Saudi Arabia]]'s [[Wahhabi]] Islamic school of thought,<ref name=bbc-2002>{{cite web|title=Pakistan's militant Islamic groups|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1758534.stm|website=BBC News|access-date=16 November 2014|date=13 January 2002}}</ref> and by the [[Jamestown Foundation]] as one of the "active leaders" of [[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan|Jamaat-e-Islami]] in the 1980s.<ref name=nasirsa/>

== Background ==
Sufi Muhammad, born in [[Maidan, Lower Dir District|Maidan]], [[Lower Dir District]], received religious education at Panj Pir, Swabi.<ref>{{cite book|title=An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban-Al Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=492|isbn=9780199927319|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xyh_DBV1bMC&q=sufi+muhammad+born+1933&pg=PA492}}</ref>

==Career==
During the 1980s, Sufi Muhammad actively participated in [[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan|Jamaat-e-Islami]], an [[Islamist]] political party of Pakistan. In 1992 he split from the group to form TNSM.<ref name=satp/><ref name=nasirsa>{{cite journal
|last = Nasir
|first = Sohail Abdul
|title = Religious Organization TNSM Re-Emerges in Pakistan
|journal = Terrorism Focus
|volume = 3
|issue = 19
|publisher = [[The Jamestown Foundation]]
|date = 2006-05-17
|url = http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=740&tx_ttnews[backPid]=239&no_cache=1
|access-date = 2009-02-09
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140903120850/http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=497&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=180&no_cache=1
|archive-date = 3 September 2014
|df = dmy-all
}}</ref> From its stronghold of [[Malakand Division]] Districts in [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|northwestern]] Pakistan, Sufi Muhammad and his group engaged in violent agitation for the enforcement of [[Sharia]] law.<ref name=bbc-2002/>

In October 2001, following the [[9/11 attacks]], Sufi Mohammad crossed into Afghanistan with thousands of his followers to help the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Taliban fight]] the US-led forces.<ref name=bbc-2002/> In 2001 he issued an edict, or fatwa, for holy war against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. After the [[Taliban]] was ousted from power in 2001, he returned to Pakistan, he was arrested.<ref name=satp/><ref name=rk1/><ref name=bbc-2002/><ref name=nasirsa/>

Sufi Muhammad remained in prison until 2008 when he agreed in talks with the Government of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to use his influence to work towards peace in the region.<ref name=bbc2008421/><ref name=toosin/>

==Ceasefire==
Maulana Sufi Muhammad took part in negotiations with the government that led to the announcement of a temporary ceasefire in the Malakand region on 16 February 2009. The Pakistani government agreed to allow the implementation of Sharia in the region once violence had stopped.<ref name=jand/><ref name=bbcshariadeal/><ref>{{cite news
| last = Ali
| first = Zulfiqar
|author2=Laura King
| title = Pakistan officials allow Sharia in volatile region
| work = Los Angeles Times
| date = 2009-02-17
| url = http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan-pact17-2009feb17,0,6631935.story
| access-date = 2009-02-17}}</ref> Muhammad agreed to travel to [[Swat valley|Swat]] to discuss peace with Fazlullah and his followers. He told reporters, "We will soon open dialogue with the Taliban. We will ask them to lay down their weapons. We are hopeful that they will not let us down. We will stay here in the [Swat] valley until peace is restored."<ref>{{cite news
| title = Pakistan Blasted for Creating Taliban Safe Haven With Islamic Law Deal
| publisher = Fox News
| date = 2009-02-17
| url = http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,494446,00.html
| access-date = 2009-02-18}}</ref>

In early April 2009 Sufi Muhammad ended support for peace negotiations stating that the government was stalling the implementation of sharia courts in the Swat valley. President [[Asif Ali Zardari]] refused to sign any agreement until peace had been restored in the valley but failed to elaborate on how those conditions would be achieved.<ref name=dawn200949>{{cite news
| title = Sufi Mohammed calls off Swat peace deal
| publisher = Dawn
| date = 2009-04-09
| url = http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/sufi+mohammed+calls+off+swat+peace+deal
| access-date = 2009-04-09}}</ref>

However, the president signed the [[Nizam-e-Adl-Regulation]] law for Swat, after it was hurriedly pushed through the national parliament a few hours earlier on 13 April 2009.<ref name=dailytimes2009414>{{cite news
| title = President signs Nizam-e-Adl after NA nod
| publisher = Daily Times
| date = 2009-04-14
| url = http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\04\14\story_14-4-2009_pg1_1
| access-date = 2009-04-19}}</ref>

On 19 April 2009 Sufi Muhammad declared that "democracy was un-Islamic" and that decisions made in the [[qazi]] courts could not be appealed in Pakistan's central judicial system. According to the cleric Western-style democracy had led to divides among Pakistanis and the judicial system had contributed to the [[Political faction|factionalism]]. He ordered the central government to withdraw all judges from Malakand within four days and to set up a ''Darul Qaza'', an Islamic supreme court, to hear appeals from local Sharia courts.<ref name=dailytimes2009420>{{cite news
| title = TNSM chief sets 4-day deadline for establishing Darul Qaza
| publisher = Daily Times
| date = 2009-04-20
| url = http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\04\20\story_20-4-2009_pg1_1
| access-date = 2009-04-20}}</ref><ref name=telgraph20090420>{{cite news
| last = Shah
| first = Saeed
| title = Militants demand Islamic courts in troubled Pakistani region
| publisher = The Telegraph
| date = 2009-04-20
| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/5189140/Militants-demand-Islamic-courts-in-troubled-Pakistani-region.html
| access-date = 2009-04-20}}</ref>

==Arrest==

On 3 June 2009, while engaging in [[Operation Black Thunderstorm]] against the Taliban, the Pakistani Army arrested senior aides to Sufi Muhammad in the Amandara region in [[Lower Dir District|Lower Dir]]. Among those aides arrested were Muhammad's deputy, Mohammad Alam, and his spokesperson, Ameer Izzat Khan.<ref name=aljazeera2009-06-05>{{cite news
| title = Pakistan Swat leader aides arrested
| publisher = Al Jazeera
| date = 2009-06-05
| url = http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/06/2009650038989984.html
| access-date = 2009-06-05}}</ref><ref name=bbc20090605>{{cite news
| title = Pakistan arrests senior Islamists
| publisher = BBC News
| date = 2009-06-05
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8084430.stm
| access-date = 2009-06-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
| title = Men with links to Taliban arrested
| publisher = CNN
| date = 2009-06-05
| url = http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/06/05/pakistan.swat/
| access-date = 2009-06-05}}</ref> Initial reports indicated that Sufi Muhammad himself and possibly two of his sons had also been detained, though government sources would not confirm and would only say they knew of his whereabouts.<ref name=aljazeera2009-06-05/><ref name=dawn20090605>{{cite news
| title = Three senior TNSM leaders arrested in Amandara
| publisher = Dawn Media Group
| date = 2009-06-05
| url = http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/11-top-tnsm-leadership-including-sufi-mohammed-arrested--sources--il--04
| access-date = 2009-06-05}}</ref> TNSM sources confirmed that Sufi Muhammad and his sons were missing, but suggested that he had gone into hiding.<ref name=bbc20090605/><ref name=dawn20090605/>

On 26 July 2009, the government announced the arrest of the cleric for encouraging violence and terrorism.<ref>{{cite news
| title = Pakistan holds pro-Taliban cleric
| publisher = BBC News
| date = 2009-07-26
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8169385.stm
| access-date = 2009-07-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
| title = Sufi Mohammad arrested: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister
| publisher = Dawn Media Group
| date = 2009-07-26
| url = http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/04-outlawed-tnsm-chief-sufi-mohammad-arrested-qs-17
| access-date = 2009-07-26}}</ref> On 2 August 2009, police announced that he had been charged with [[sedition]], aiding terrorism and conspiracy.<ref>{{cite news | title=Pakistan pro-Taliban cleric charged | publisher=Al Jazeera | date = 2009-08-02 | url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/08/200982142425605701.html | access-date=2009-08-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Swat deal broker cleric 'charged' |publisher= BBC News | date= 2009-08-02 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8180607.stm | access-date = 2009-08-02}}</ref>

In January 2011, Sufi Muhammad denied to an anti-terrorism court that he had any links to the anti-state [[Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan]] (TTP) and that he only sought enforcement of sharia in [[Malakand District|Malakand]].<ref>{{cite news | title = No link with TTP, Sufi tells court | date = 2011-01-03 | publisher = Dawn Media Group | url = http://www.dawn.com/2011/01/04/no-link-with-ttp-sufi-tells-court.html | work = Dawn.com | access-date = 2011-02-18}}</ref>

==Death==

Sufi Muhammad died from kidney failure and diabetes on 11 July 2019 at the age of 86. <ref>[https://tribune.com.pk/story/2010820/1-controversial-cleric-sufi-muhammad-passes-away/ Controversial cleric Sufi Muhammad passes away]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad, Sufi}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:Pashtun people]]
[[Category:People from Lower Dir District]]
[[Category:Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan members]]
[[Category:Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan]]
[[Category:Pakistani Islamists]]
[[Category:Pakistani Wahhabists]]

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Sufi Muhammad