Editing Jihadism (section)

====Consistency of the ideology====
The Taliban's ideology was not static. Before the fall of Kabul, the Taliban talked about stepping down from power if a government of "good Muslims" came to power and restored law and order to Afghanistan. The decision making process of the Taliban in Kandahar was modelled off of the traditional Pashtun tribal councils (jirga), which the Taliban believed to be an early Islamic model as well. Discussion was followed by a building of a consensus by the believers.

As the Taliban's power grew, Mullah Omar started disregarding the jirga. He only visited Kabul twice during his 6 year long rule. Taliban spokesmen Mullah Wakil explained: "Decisions are based on the advice of the Amir-ul Momineen. For us consultation is not necessary. We believe that this is in line with the Sharia. We abide by the Amir's view even if he alone takes this view. There will not be a head of state. Instead there will be an Amir al-Mu'minin. Mullah Omar will be the highest authority and the government will not be able to implement any decision to which he does not agree. General elections are incompatible with Sharia and therefore we reject them."

Another evolution of the Taliban ideology was in 1999, Mullah Omar ordered the Bamiyan Buddhas to be protected, but, in 2001, he ordered them to be destroyed.