Is this time for the Taliban to return Brotherhood's favors?
Some Muslim Brotherhood leaders and members are reportedly leaving Qatar and Turkey for Afghanistan.
This is coming in the wake of the
takeover of the country by the Taliban and the withdrawal of US and NATO troops
from the country.
Relations between the Taliban and
the Muslim Brotherhood date a long time back.
The Brotherhood used to provide the
Afghan group with material support, especially during the occupation of
Afghanistan by the former Soviet Union.
Now, it is apparently time for the
Afghan movement to return favors to the Muslim Brotherhood by hosting
Brotherhood members and leaders scattered in different countries.
There appears to be consultations
between the two groups at present for this matter to happen.
Nonetheless, the Brotherhood's
support to former Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, continues to leave a bitter
taste in the Taliban's mouth.
At a certain point, this support
forced the Taliban to change its attitude towards the Muslim Brotherhood.
However, during their lengthy
negotiations with the US in Qatar, Taliban leaders got close to some of the
Muslim Brotherhood leaders living in the Gulf state, especially Brotherhood
scholar, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi.
In her study, 'The Taliban and the
Brotherhood: Relations' History, Reality and Determinants of Future Paths', researcher
Mustafa Zahran, a specialist in Islamist movements, refers to a shift in ties between
the group and the Taliban.
This shift, she says, is manifest in
the welcome Islah Association, which is affiliated with the Afghan Brotherhood,
made to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
The association issued a statement
in this regard, following the Taliban's capture of Kabul, the capital of the
country.
The association also welcomed the
formation of the new Taliban government.
Zahran reveals in her book that the
Taliban and the Muslim Brotherhood share the same ideological orientation, even
as the two movements adopt different mechanisms.
The International Union of Muslim
Scholars, which is led by Sheikh Qaradawi, also offered its blessings to the
Taliban's takeover of the rule of Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, the union called on
the Afghan movement to involve other political forces in Afghanistan in the
country's rule.
The Sudanese People's Congress
Party, another branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, also announced direct support
for the Taliban.
It described the Taliban's takeover
of Afghanistan's rule as a 'historic victory', according to Zahran.
