In Pakistan’s long struggle against militancy, the most dangerous weapon terrorists wield is not the gun or the bomb, but the deliberate distortion of religion. The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has repeatedly attempted to cloak its campaign of violence in the language of jihad. That claim now stands not merely challenged, but conclusively rejected by Islamic jurisprudence, religious consensus, and the group’s own declared chain of allegiance.
The latest reminder comes from Bannu, where a constable of the Pakistan Police was martyred in the jurisdiction of Mandan Police Station. He was not killed on a battlefield against a foreign invader. He was targeted while serving the state, protecting citizens, and performing a duty that Islamic law itself recognizes as legitimate and obligatory.
His name was Rashid Khan.
Two weeks after his murder, his son, Hafiz Umar Farooq, spoke not as a politician or a commentator, but as a grieving Muslim, a Hafiz-e-Quran, and a child stripped of his father in the name of a so-called jihad.
His questions cut through every manufactured narrative.
Was my father not a Muslim?
Was defending the homeland not his duty under Shariah?
Am I, his son and a memorizer of the Quran, not a Muslim?
On what basis was my father taken from us?
These are not emotional slogans. These are theological questions. And theology has already answered them.
The Verdict of the Ulema
Through Paigham-e-Pakistan, scholars from every recognized school of thought in Pakistan reached a unanimous conclusion. Armed rebellion against the Pakistani state, attacks on its security forces, and violence against civilians are haram, un-Islamic, and an act of fasad, not jihad.
This was not a political declaration. It was an ijma, a binding scholarly consensus.
In Islamic jurisprudence, rejecting ijma is not a minor disagreement. Classical jurists are clear that open defiance of consensus places one’s religious standing in grave doubt and categorizes such violence as criminal corruption on earth.
The TTP rejected this verdict.
But the contradiction does not end there.
Allegiance and Betrayal
The banned TTP openly claims allegiance to Sheikh Hibatullah Akhunzada, the supreme leader of the Afghan Taliban, recognized by his followers as Ameer-ul-Momineen. His decree explicitly forbids militant operations outside Afghanistan and prohibits war against neighboring countries, including Pakistan.
This makes the TTP’s campaign not only illegal under Pakistani law and illegitimate under Islamic consensus, but also an act of defiance against the very authority they claim to obey.
Islamic jurisprudence is unambiguous on this point as well. Defying the lawful command of an Ameer to whom allegiance has been pledged constitutes rebellion. Muftis have long held that such conduct amounts to fisq o fujur and strips militant violence of any religious legitimacy.
The TTP, therefore, stands in rebellion against Pakistan, against the collective Ulema of the Muslim world, and against its own declared leader.
What Jihad Is Not
Jihad is not declared by clandestine groups.
Jihad is not fought against Muslim states founded in the name of Islam.
Jihad does not target policemen guarding neighborhoods, nor soldiers defending borders.
Jihad does not orphan children and then seek refuge in scripture.
Jihad is bound by justice. When justice is absent, what remains is chaos.
Constable Rashid Khan’s son has memorized eleven paras of the Holy Quran. He studies in eighth grade. He and his sister are now orphans. Their father was the family’s sole provider. No verse, no hadith, no school of thought permits such destruction to be branded as divine struggle.
If injustice becomes the method, the cause is already false.
The question has been asked, and it has been answered, not by journalists or politicians, but by Islamic law itself.
By rejecting Paigham-e-Pakistan, defying the ijma of Ulema, violating the decree of the Ameer they claim to follow, and shedding Muslim blood in Bannu and beyond, the banned TTP has forfeited every religious claim it makes.
This is not jihad.
This is fasad.
