Darul Uloom Haqqania

Jamia Darul Uloom Haqqania
جامعہ دار العلوم حقانیہ
TypeIslamic university
(Darul uloom and Madrasa)
Established23 September 1947 (1947-09-23)
FounderAbdul Haq Akorwi
Affiliations
Religious affiliation
Sunni Islam (Hanafi Deobandi)
Chancellor
Vice-ChancellorRashid Ul Haq (2018–present)[1]
Students4,000 (2016)[2]
Location
34.00023 N, 72.12175 E
,
Akora Khattak
,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
,
Pakistan

Jamia Darul Uloom Haqqania (Urdu: جامعہ دار العلوم حقانیہ) is an Islamic seminary[a] in the town of Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwestern Pakistan.[3]

The seminary propagates the Hanafi Deobandi school of Sunni Islam. It was founded by Abdul Haq Akorwi along the lines of the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary in India, where he had taught.[3]

It has been dubbed the "University of Jihad"[4][5] due to the future occupations of its alumni.[6] A number of leading members of the Taliban, including past chief Akhtar Mansour and leader of Haqqani network, Sirajuddin Haqqani studied here.[7][8]

History

The seminary was founded on 23 September 1947 by Maulana Abdul Haq in Akora Khattak, making it one of the first Islamic seminaries established in Pakistan.[9] Haq was a graduate and former teacher of Darul Uloom Deoband in India.[10]

Abdul Haq served as the new institution's chancellor and its Shaykh al-Hadith and was recognized for his lifelong dedication to teaching the Hadith at the madrasah.[11]

He was succeeded as chancellor by his son, Sami-ul-Haq, a leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.[12] Sami-ul-Haq, often referred to as the "Father of the Taliban," [13][14] was recognized for his role in educating many Taliban leaders and commanders. He maintained close ties to Taliban founder Mullah Mohammed Omar.[15] Under his leadership, the seminary became known as the alma mater of numerous prominent Taliban members.[16] also among his notable students is Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, who later became the emir of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F).[17][18][16][19][20][21][22][15][23]

In November 2018, Sami-ul-Haq was assassinated at his residence in Bahria Town, Rawalpindi.[24] The attack occurred at approximately 7:00 p.m. PST. He died from excessive blood loss after being stabbed multiple times.[25][26][27]

Following the assassination, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government declared a National day of mourning.[28] Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the murder saying "the country has suffered a great loss".[29][28][30]

In 2018, following the assassination of Sami-ul-Haq, Islamic scholars including figures like Ahmad Ludhianvi, Abdur Razzaq Iskander and Fazal-ur-Rehman convened at Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and unanimously appointed his brother, Anwar-ul-Haq Haqqani, as the new chancellor of Darul Uloom Haqqania.[31]

His younger brother, Rashid Ul Haq Sami, was appointed to the post of vice-chancellor. He succeeded Anwar-ul-Haq, who previously held the position.[32] while position of Emir within the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S) was passed to Sami-ul-Haq's son Hamid Ul Haq.[33][34][35]

2025 bombing

On 28 February 2025, a suicide bombing occurred in the seminary. The attack took place during Friday prayers, resulting in the deaths of at least six individuals, including the prominent cleric and deputy head of the seminary, Hamid Ul Haq Haqqani.[36][37]

In 2025, following the assassination of Hamid Ul Haq, Islamic scholars appointed his son, Abdul Haq Sani, as the new emir of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S).[31]

Functioning and selection process

The seminary operates a large boarding school and high school serving thousands of students, alongside a network of 12 affiliated smaller madrassas.[38]

Its academic program offers an eight-year Master of Arts in Islamic studies, which can be followed by a PhD after two additional years. According to journalist Ahmed Rashid, it is considered the most popular madrassa in northern Pakistan.[39]

Admission is highly competitive; for example, in February 1999, only 400 new students were accepted from 15,000 applicants. The institution also reserves 400 places for Afghan students.[40]

Notable alumni

The seminary is known for producing graduates who went on to become Islamist insurgents in Afghanistan, firstly mujahideen who fought against the Soviet Union in the Soviet–Afghan War, and later members of the Taliban, including senior leaders.[41][42]

Notable graduates include the following:

Geopolitical role: Afghanistan, the Taliban, and regional diplomacy

The Soviet–Afghan War era (1979–1989)

During the Soviet–Afghan War, Darul Uloom Haqqania served as a prominent organisational and networking base for anti-Soviet Afghan fighters.[51] From 1973, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) began arming and training Afghan Islamists through Brigadier Naseerullah Babar, the then Inspector-General of the Frontier Corps, and the seminary became a hub for jihadists who used Peshawar as a base for operations.[52] The seminary was also among the institutions that Pakistani and United States intelligence agencies utilised to channel fighters for the anti-Soviet jihad.[53] Scholars Don Rassler and Vahid Brown have noted that from 1966 to 1988, a third of all Pakistani clerics of the Deobandi theological school graduated from Darul Uloom Haqqania.[54] The influx of Afghan students during this period markedly shaped the seminary's character and created alumni networks that would later form the backbone of the Taliban movement.[55]

Taliban governance in Afghanistan (1996–2001)

A substantial number of Taliban commanders and ministers who governed Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001 were alumni of Darul Uloom Haqqania. In a book authored in 2015, Chancellor Sami-ul-Haq himself wrote that approximately 90 percent of the religiously educated persons in the Taliban government had graduated from Haqqania or were wards of its graduates, describing the institution as the "nursery of Taliban".[56] Notable alumni from this period include Sirajuddin Haqqani (current acting Interior Minister of Afghanistan),[57] Noor Mohammad Saqib (acting Minister of Hajj and Awqaf),[58] and Shahabuddin Delawar (former Minister of Minerals and Petroleum).[59] Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban, though not a registered student of the seminary, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the institution — an act widely interpreted as the seminary's spiritual endorsement of Taliban leadership.[60]

Post-2001: Intermediary between Pakistan and the Taliban

After the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Darul Uloom Haqqania continued to function as an unofficial diplomatic back-channel between Pakistani authorities and the Taliban. Maulana Sami-ul-Haq's personal relationships with senior Taliban figures allowed Pakistani governments to use the institution's leadership as informal mediators.[61] Raashid Salah Uddin Siddiqui, a noted analyst on Taliban affairs, stated that "Maulana Sami-ul-Haq has long been serving as mediator between Taliban and the rest of the world."[62] In 2013, Sami-ul-Haq met Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who sought his assistance for peace and reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan.[63] In October 2018, shortly before his assassination, the Afghan government sent a delegation to the seminary formally requesting Sami-ul-Haq to mediate between the Kabul government and the Taliban; the delegation included former governor of Nangarhar province Ataullah Lodin, and earlier that year Afghan President Ashraf Gani had directly sought Sami-ul-Haq's assistance in arranging talks.[64] Senior diplomats and officials from multiple governments travelled to Akora Khattak to seek his intercession with Taliban leadership throughout this period.[65]

Post-Taliban takeover (2021–present)

Following the Taliban seizure of power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the alumni connection between the seminary and the Afghan government became even more prominent. Graduates of Darul Uloom Haqqania assumed multiple senior positions in the Taliban's interim cabinet, including Sirajuddin Haqqani as acting Interior Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi as acting Foreign Minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani as Higher Education Minister, and Noor Mohammad Saqib as acting Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs, among others.[66][67] School administrators confirmed that the justice minister, the water and energy minister, and various governors, military commanders and judges were also alumni of the institution.[68] Vice-chancellor Rashid-ul-Haq Sami stated at the time: "Being the graduation place of thousands of Taliban militants, Haqqania demands their respect."[69] This degree of alumni representation in a foreign government gave the seminary a de facto advisory and relational role in Afghanistan's post-2021 governance, making it one of the most geopolitically influential non-state religious institutions in South Asia.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ also referred to as a Darul uloom or Madrasa

References

  1. ↑ "[:en]Maulana Rashid-ul-Haq sami - Darul Uloom[:]".
  2. ↑ Ayaz Gul (4 July 2016), "In Pakistan, Funding for 'University of Jihad' Draws Fire", VOA News. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 Adamec, Ludwig W. (2017). Historical dictionary of Islam (3rd ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-4422-7724-3. OCLC 953919222.
  4. ↑ Bezhan, Frud (11 March 2018). "'University Of Jihad' Gets Public Funds Even As Pakistan Fights Extremism". Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  5. ↑ "Pakistan: Six killed in blast at mosque dubbed 'University of Jihad'". www.bbc.com. 28 February 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  6. ↑ EU snub for hardline Pakistan MP, BBC News Online, 20 April 2005.
  7. ↑ Ayaz, Dr Muhammad; Khan, Dr Janas; Abzahir, Dr; Dad, Dr Karim; Inayat, Dr Sumia; Hayat, Dr Nasim; Jan, Dr Hidayat Ullah (22 December 2022). "The Authorship Contributions Of The Selected Teachers Of Jamia Darul Uloom Haqqania Akora Khattak, KP, Pakistan". Journal of Positive School Psychology. 6 (9): 5311–5321. ISSN 2717-7564.
  8. ↑ Shah, Muntazir; Khan, Dr Muhammad; Sabirullah, Dr (25 December 2021). "Dar-ul-uloom Haqania and its religious services to community". Al-Azhār. 7 (2): 122–128. doi:10.46896/alazhr.v7i01.197 (inactive 11 July 2025). ISSN 2519-6707.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
  9. ↑ Hussain, Zahid (1 July 2008). Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231142250.
  10. ↑ Dalrymple, William. "Inside the Madrasas". The New York Review of Books. Here, straddling the noisy, truck-thundering Islamabad highway, stands the Haqqania, one of the most radical of the religious schools called madrasas. Many of the Taliban leaders, including Mullah Omar, were trained at this institution.
  11. ↑ "VOICES FROM THE WHIRLWIND: Assessing Musharraf's Predicament Sami ul-Haq: Powerful Religious Leader". PBS. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  12. ↑ William Dalrymple (28 March 2005). Inside Islam's "terror schools", New Statesman.
  13. ↑ Ali, Imtiaz (23 May 2007). "The Father of the Taliban: An Interview with Maulana Sami ul-Haq". Spotlight on Terror. The Jamestown Foundation website. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  14. ↑ Ali, Imtiaz (27 January 2009). "Maulana Sami ul-Haq: Father of the Taliban" (audio). Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  15. 1 2 "Pakistani 'Father of Taliban' keeps watch over loyal disciples". Maria Golovnina and Sheree Sardar. Reuters News Agency website. 15 September 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2018. ... Haq said, alternating between Pakistan's official Urdu and his native Pashto language. Haq, who speaks fluent Arabic, ...
  16. 1 2 "Taliban Training the Pakistan". Deutsche Welle. 23 May 2015.
  17. ↑ "Five DPC parties plan new electoral alliance". Dawn. 6 December 2012. Maulana Sami was also among the founders of a six-party religious alliance, Muttahida Majlis Amal ahead of 2002 polls that later ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan under Musharraf regime.
  18. ↑ "Maulana Sami-ul-Haq". www.senate.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  19. ↑ Westhead, Rick (13 May 2009). "Inside Pakistan's Jihad U". The Toronto Star. In 1997, Sami ul-Haq received a phone call from Omar, the Taliban leader. The Taliban had been defeated in an attempt to capture Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan and Omar needed reinforcements. "Mullah Omar personally rang me to request that I let these students go to Afghanistan on leave since they are needed there," ul-Haq was quoted as saying in Pakistan journalist Ahmed Rashid's book, Taliban. Ul-Haq agreed to help Omar and briefly shut down his school to help his students arrange passage through the Khyber Pass to Afghanistan.
  20. ↑ "VOICES FROM THE WHIRLWIND: Assessing Musharraf's Predicament Sami ul-Haq: Powerful Religious Leader". PBS. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "Maulana Samiul Haq". www.senate.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 9 December 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  22. ↑ "Muttahida Deeni Mahaz–another Political Alliance Formed". jamhuriat.pk. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "Afghan govt approaches Samiul Haq to mediate in peace talks with Taliban". The Express Tribune. 1 October 2018.
  24. ↑ "JUI-S chief Maulana Samiul Haq assassinated in Rawalpindi". Geo News. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  25. ↑ Ahmed, Jibran; Shahzad, Asif (2 November 2018). "'Father of Taliban' Mullah Sami ul-Haq killed in Pakistan: deputy". Reuters. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  26. ↑ "Maulana Samiul Haq assassinated at Rawalpindi residence". Dawn.
  27. ↑ "Slain Maulana Samiul Haq laid to rest in Darul Uloom Haqqania". The News International. 3 November 2018.
  28. 1 2 Farooq, Umer (3 November 2018). "Maulana Samiul Haq laid to rest". The Express Tribune.
  29. ↑ "Politicians condemn brutal murder of JUI-S chief Maulana Samiul Haq". Dawn. 2 November 2018.
  30. ↑ Naseer, Tahir (3 November 2018). "Maulana Samiul Haq laid to rest, domestic staff interrogated in connection with his murder". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  31. 1 2 "Maulana Anwarul Haq named as new head of Darul Uloom Haqqania". tnn.com.pk. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  32. ↑ "[:en]Maulana Salman-ul-Haq Haqqani - Darul Uloom[:]".
  33. ↑ "Nazim-e-Aala of Haqqani seminary passes away". The News International. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  34. ↑ "Pakistan: Six killed in blast at mosque dubbed 'University of Jihad'". BBC News. 28 February 2025. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
  35. ↑ "JUI-S chief among four martyred in blast at Darul Uloom Haqqania, Nowshera". The Express Tribune. 28 February 2025.
  36. ↑ "Pakistan: Top cleric, 4 others killed after bomb blast during Friday prayer at madrassa in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa". The Times of India. 28 February 2025. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  37. ↑ "5 Killed, 20 Injured In Blast At Mosque During Friday Prayers In Pakistan". www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  38. ↑ Siddiqui, Taha (11 February 2012). "Tahreek-e-Labbaiyak Pakistan Part 1/2: Jihadis itch for resurgence". The Express Tribune (newspaper). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  39. ↑ Wasim, Amir (20 April 2013). "Few election alliances this time". Dawn. The Muttahida Deeni Mahaz (MDM), a group of five small religious parties and groups headed by Maulana Samiul Haq of the Jamiat-Ulema-i-Islam-Sami (JUI-S), is the only electoral alliance that is fielding its candidates in the May 11 elections.
  40. ↑ Rashid, Ahmed (2010). Taliban: The Power of Militant Islam in Afghanistan and Beyond. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 90–91.
  41. ↑ Imtiaz Ali, The Father of the Taliban: An Interview with Maulana Sami ul-Haq , Spotlight on Terror, The Jamestown Foundation, Volume 4, Issue 2, 23 May 2007.
  42. ↑ Haroon Rashid (2 October 2003). The 'university of holy war', BBC Online.
  43. ↑ Abubakar Siddique, The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Hurst, 2014, p. 154
  44. ↑ Green, Matthew (13 November 2011). "'Father of Taliban' urges US concessions". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  45. ↑ "Al Qaeda's shadowy new 'emir' in South Asia handed tough job". Reuters. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  46. ↑ "Profile: Mullah Akhtar Mansoor". Telegraph.co.uk. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  47. ↑ Brown, Vahid; Rassler, Don (2013). Fountainhead of Jihad: The Haqqani Nexus, 1973-2012. Oxford University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-19-932798-0.
  48. ↑ Rashid, Ahmed (2012). Pakistan in the Brink. Allen Lane. pp. 18, 52–53, 131, 133–134, 154, 180, 187. ISBN 9781846145858.
  49. ↑ Mark Magnier (30 May 2009). Pakistan religious schools get scrutiny, Los Angeles Times.
  50. ↑ "آفتابِ شریعت و طریقت کا مولانا عزیز الرحمن ہزاروی" [An overview of Hazārvi's life]. Daily Pakistan (in Urdu). 10 July 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  51. ↑ "Soviet–Afghan War". Wikipedia. Retrieved 10 June 2025. Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province became a base for the Afghan resistance fighters and the Deobandi ulama of that province played a significant role in the Afghan 'jihad', with Darul Uloom Haqqania becoming a prominent organisational and networking base for the anti-Soviet Afghan fighters.
  52. ↑ Kazim, Hasnain (7 March 2025). "Darul Uloom bombing shows the jihadist war is eating its own". The Print. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  53. ↑ "Pakistan's 'University of Jihad' Is Getting Millions of Dollars from the Government". The Washington Post. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  54. ↑ Kazim, Hasnain (7 March 2025). "Darul Uloom bombing shows the jihadist war is eating its own". The Print. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  55. ↑ "Darul Uloom Haqqania and the new cabinet of the Taliban in Afghanistan". Global Village Space. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  56. ↑ "Sami-ul-Haq: Not shy of his close ties with Taliban". Arab News. 3 November 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  57. ↑ "Sirajuddin Haqqani". Wikipedia. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  58. ↑ "Noor Mohammad Saqib". Wikipedia. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  59. ↑ "Shahabuddin Delawar". Wikipedia. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  60. ↑ "Pakistan's 'Father of Taliban' Maulana Samiul Haq Killed in Rawalpindi". The Wire. 3 November 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  61. ↑ "After murder of Pakistan's Sami ul-Haq, who can build bridges with the Taliban?". Al Arabiya English. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  62. ↑ "After murder of Pakistan's Sami ul-Haq, who can build bridges with the Taliban?". Al Arabiya English. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  63. ↑ "Taliban leaders willing for peace talks". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  64. ↑ "Kabul asks cleric to help in talks with Taliban". Gulf News. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  65. ↑ Kazim, Hasnain (7 March 2025). "Darul Uloom bombing shows the jihadist war is eating its own". The Print. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  66. ↑ "Darul Uloom Haqqania and the new cabinet of the Taliban in Afghanistan". Global Village Space. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  67. ↑ Abbas, Hassan (2023). "Appendix II: Graduates of Darul Uloom Haqqania Holding Senior Official Positions in Afghanistan". The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan after the Americans Left. Yale University Press.
  68. ↑ "Darul Uloom Haqqania and the new cabinet of the Taliban in Afghanistan". Global Village Space. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  69. ↑ "Darul Uloom Haqqania and the new cabinet of the Taliban in Afghanistan". Global Village Space. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2025.

molana Rashid Ul haq sami (vice chancellor)

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