Taliban vs Al-Qaeda
Recent vents in the world, especially those that were man-made catastrophic, the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda, were the two “organizations” that were termed terrorists and were given the limelight. Both the Taliban and the Al Qaeda have Islamic origins, and are confused with one another, however, they are not the same and neither are their thoughts. The Taliban, an Arabic word which is translated to “student”, are the followers of Mullah Mohammed Omar and consists of religious students with a conservative mindset. They follow the Islamic laws known as “Shariah” and have held ground of Afghanistan until 2001. The Al Qaeda, which means “base” in Arabic, follow the instructions of Osama bin Laden who dictates the most stringent form of Islam. Al Qaeda’s basis to exist is to form Islamic leadership throughout the world.
Taliban
The Taliban has roots in Afghanistan which comprises of people who were raised in refugee camps or attended religious schools in Pakistan during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban has focused their power on a territorial withhold and not the whole world. The origin of Taliban is described as that being one of rage and vengeance. the story entails that when Mullah Mohammad Omar and his students decided to take action against the incident of rape of boys and girls of a family traveling to Afghanistan. There are political origins to the formation of Taliban as well.
Al Qaeda
The Al Qaeda is traced back to the writings of an Islamic thinker who maintained that any kind of governance present in the world should be eradicated and replaced with the rules of Islam. The Al Qaeda consists of people with very conservative thoughts, those that may have been altered to be strict than what Islam entails. The agenda for Al Qaeda is to go global and instill a fear in people, especially the United States, which is a big power in the world.
Difference between Taliban and Al Qaeda
The major difference between the Taliban and Al Qaeda is in their origins. Where Taliban started their movement in 1996 from Afghanistan, the Al Qaeda only grew stronger after Osama bin Laden became the leader, but their scripture and guidelines have been present for a large umber of years. Mullah Mohammad Omar is the leader of Taliban whereas Osama bin Laden leads the AL Qaeda. The Al Qaeda also consists of people following the Sunni sect of Islam, however, those that only follow Wahabiism, the Taliban has the locals of Afghanistan as its main followers, not necessarily a particular sect of Islam. Taliban also serve to just have control of a particular territory, especially Afghanistan, the Al Qaeda however, want a stronger control, especially that of the United States and therefore the whole world.
Conclusion
Though both Taliban and Al Qaeda are powers to be feared because of their stringent rules and treatments, both have been successful in creating a fear in the world. The sad part remains that both Taliban and Al Qaeda give a picture of Islam which is not a true one.