The Difference Between the Taliban, al-Qaida and the Mujahideen

Every day we hear news reports about the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Sometimes it’s hard to differentiate between the various fighting factions. It can get confusing to distinguish between the Taliban, al-Qaida and the Mujahideen.

The Taliban came into existence following the Afghanistan Civil War which occurred after the Soviet troop withdrawal in February of 1989.  The decade long war with the Soviets left Afghanistan devastated.  Thousands of youths were left orphaned.  These young people grew up at a time when there was nothing but war and fighting. They took refuge in Pakistan where they were educated in Pakistan’s religious schools called mandrassas. These schools were designed to develop military minded Islamists. Hundreds of thousands of youths were indoctrinated in these schools.

The raging Afghan Civil War left the people desperate for a stabilizing force. Warlords fought each other to gain political control. The Taliban was formed by students at the mandrassas.  They chose Mohammad Omar as their leader.  Omar had fought against the Soviets and was wounded four times.  The Taliban’s original goals were to restore peace, enforce Sharia and disarm the population. The Taliban wanted to restore the integrity of Islam in Afghanistan. The Taliban follow their own strict interpretation of Sharia law.

Al-Qaida is an international terrorist organization formed by Osama bin Laden sometime around 1988. Al-Qaida recruited and trained thousands of fighters to resist the Soviets.  The objectives of al-Qaida are to establish the rule of God and purify Islam of depravity.

They believe in becoming martyrs for the cause.  They engage in terrorism through bombings, assassinations, kidnappings and suicide attacks. These types of methods are chosen to wage their “jihad” or holy war. Al- Qaida members are fundamental Sunni Muslims. 

Mujahideen is plural of the Arabic mujahidin.  Mujahidin means “effort or sacrifice.” The word first came into use in English in 1958 to describe someone who fights in a jihad.  Today the name “mujahideen” is used to describe various groups of armed fighters that follow militant Islamic ideologies. The mujahideen were loosely associated group of fighters that fought against the Soviets in the 1980’s. The seven main mujahideen groups joined together to form the Islamic Unity of Islam Mujahideen.

The three groups all trace their origins back to the resistance of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.