Five years ago, on 15 August 2021, a republic collapsed that had not been built upon the creed and values of the Muslim people of Afghanistan. Rather, it had taken shape under the shadow of occupation and, over the course of twenty years, had paved the way for Western political and intellectual influence, widespread corruption, and the dominance of alien values. The fall of this system was the result of years of struggle, sacrifice, and steadfastness by the Muslim and mujahid people of Afghanistan against the occupation and the system that arose from it.

The Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Afghanistan congratulates the Muslim people of Afghanistan, the mujahideen, the da‘wah carriers, and all those who stood against the occupation and the occupied republic on the fifth anniversary of this historic transformation.

Now, after five years, it is time to ask seriously: did the fall of the occupied republic lead to a fundamental change, or did a large part of the intellectual and political framework of the previous system remain intact?

It is true that Islam has been implemented in some areas. Yet the bitter reality is that though we brought down the republic, we have still not been able, to bring down its intellectual and political legacy. The framework of the nation-state, the political and administrative structure, the political mindset, the centrality of “national interests,” the economy-centered view of success, colonial borders, and many of the concepts that shaped the political and social atmosphere of the past two decades still cast their shadow over thinking and policymaking.

The fall of the occupied republic occurred at a time when the world had entered a phase of major transformations. The international order became more deeply marked by rivalry and conflict, and the weaknesses and fractures that had for years remained hidden behind the awe of the great powers became more visible. America shifted the main focus of its foreign policy towards China; the war in Ukraine exposed Russia’s weakness; and the wars in Gaza and Iran revealed the illusion of America’s invincibility. Such an environment could have been a historic opportunity for the mujahid people of Afghanistan to transform Afghanistan from a geography confined within the framework of the nation-state into the starting point of a great transformation in the Islamic world: the establishment of the Second Rightly Guided Caliphate (Khilafah Rashidah). Regrettably, this opportunity was not used.

Yes, preparation and capability are among the conditions for implementing and carrying Islam; for a land that lacks heavy industry and machine-building remains trapped in economic dependence. Yet over these five years, not only was no serious step taken towards military preparation and industrial independence, but sufficient attention was also not given to strengthening educational, higher-education, and research institutions, which form the foundation for the production of knowledge and the cultivation of elites.

The greatest opportunity that stood before the new authority after the fall of the occupied republic was not merely the reconstruction of the economy, the collection of revenues, the building of roads, or the provision of security. Rather, it was the achievement of intellectual independence - an independence that is the foundation of all other forms of independence. However, this opportunity was not used.

After twenty years of occupation, Afghanistan could have created a new political and social identity based on the Islamic creed: an identity that would make Islamic thought the foundation of the state, politics, and the political thinking of the rulers, and would revive once again the great concept of the Ummah. In such an atmosphere, Muslims would gather not around ethnicity, language, nationalism, or material interest, but around the Islamic creed. The authority would derive its legitimacy from the Ummah through a valid Sharia bay‘ah [pledge of allegiance]. The people would advise and hold the rulers accountable on the basis of Islam, and the state itself would be the guardian and carrier of this Islamic identity.

But instead of moving decisively in this direction, patriotic and ethnic sentiments, along with national concepts, were strengthened. Rather than opening wider the doors of advice, enjoining good and forbidding evil, and political accountability, the atmosphere of pressure and censorship increased. Such an approach widened the distance between the state and the people, while a society facing identity problems, poverty, and unemployment can easily become ready to leave this land.

It must therefore be understood that authority and power are neither personal privileges nor the property of any tribe, organization, or particular circle. Rather, they are a Sharia trust, for which those in responsibility will be questioned before Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He.

They will be asked whether they used this power to guide the people on the basis of Islam, or to preserve the existing frameworks. Did they direct the people towards the identity of the Ummah, or did they leave ethnic, linguistic, and patriotic identities untouched? Did they prepare society for the great mission of Islam, or not? Does society define friend and enemy on the basis of the Islamic creed, or on the basis of patriotic interests? Did the people define success within the limits of security, trade, development projects, and acceptance within the international order, or did they measure success according to their Islamic mission?

If the fall of the occupied republic did not, on the very first day, lead to the establishment of the Caliphate and the fundamental transformation of society, then at the very least the past five years should have been turned into a clear, purposeful, and well-defined transitional stage towards the establishment of the Rightly Guided Caliphate upon the methodology of the Prophethood. Yet even so, we believe that opportunities still remain; and that goodness, hope, and sincerity still exist among some of the leaders of the ruling system - provided these opportunities are viewed through the eyes of lesson and possibility. Otherwise, those who struggled and possess Islamic sentiment will drift further away, day by day, from their Islamic mission, and corruption will take the place of that mission. The result will be that they are replaced by others, so that those others may be tested on this path.

[وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْا يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَكُونُوا أَمْثَالَكُمْ]

“And if you turn away, He will replace you with another people; then they will not be like you.” [TMQ Muhammad: 38]