Abdul Ali Deobandi

Abdul Ali Deobandi (Pashto/; 1938 – 2 November 2009) was a pro-Taliban Afghan cleric who served as Mullah Omar's advisor. He earned the title of Sheikh al-Hadith and Mufassir.

Life Abdul Ali was born in Lakukhil in 1938 to Mawlana Sher Muhammad, a cleric. He received basic religious education from his father. Later, he went to Kandahar to pursue higher education at Muhammadiyah School. Subsequently, he studied sharia at Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak in 1964.

Upon finishing his Sharia studies, Abdul Ali went back to Afghanistan and taught Islam in several areas in Kandahar. During the first Taliban government, Abdul Ali taught hadith in Kandahar and worked as a radio host on Voice of Sharia, answering Islamic questions about worship, beliefs, transactions, politics, Islamic economics, and personal status. He died on 2 November 2009 from natural causes. Abdul Ali forbade women from using mobile phones since they utilized them to "form relationships and turn to immorality and vices."

Answering a question from a listener on the Mausoleum of Imam Ali, Abdul Ali stipulated that there was no Ali's grave in the shrine, and the tomb was built on a former Zoroastrian fire temple. He also stated that the ceremonies held there were Bid'ah.

Abdul Ali has issued around 700 fatwas and authored six published books in Pashto and Farsi:

Farsi Nasr al-Ahbaab Ala Raghm al-Murtab Nasb al-Khiyam Fi Rad al-Awham

Pashto Nasir al-Islam Fi Akhbar Sayyid al-Anam Bulugh al-Maram Fi Ta'lim al-Islam Nasrat al-Islam Irshad al-Masail Bayn al-Haq wa al-Batil