Hibatullah Akhundzada
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Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada هبت الله اخونزاده |
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An undated photograph of Akhundzada
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| Supreme leader of the Taliban | |
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Assumed office 25 May 2016 |
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| Preceded by | Akhtar Mansour |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1961 (age 55–56) Panjwayi, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan |
| Religion | Deobandi Sunni Islam |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | |
| Years of service | 1996–present |
| Rank | Supreme commander |
Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada (Pashto: هبت الله اخونزاده; Arabic: هيبة الله أخوند زاده Haibatullāh Aḫūnd Zādah; born 1961) is the Emir (leader) of the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan.
He is a religious scholar, reportedly the issuer of the majority of the Taliban's fatwas, and was the head of the Taliban's Islamic courts. Unlike many Taliban leaders, Akhundzada is believed to have remained in the country during the War in Afghanistan. He became the leader of the militant group in May 2016 following the death of the previous leader Akhtar Mansour in a drone strike. The Taliban also bestowed upon Akhundzada the title Emir-al-Momineen (Commander of the Faithful) that his two predecessors had carried.
Akhundzada was born in 1961 in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar Province in the Kingdom of Afghanistan. A Pashtun, he belongs to the Noorzai clan or tribe. His first name, Hibatullah—which is more commonly used as a girl's name—means "gift from Allah" in Arabic. His father was a village imam. Not owning any land or orchards of their own, the family depended on what the congregation paid the imam in cash or a portion of their crops. He studied under his father. The family migrated to Quetta after the Soviet invasion and Hibatullah continued his education at one of the first seminaries established in the Sarnan neighborhood.
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