HPCR Central Asia Policy Brief Issue 2, v.1 Updated 15 Oct 2001 HPCR Central Asia is produced on a regular basis by the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University for the benefit of international organizations, governments, the media and the NGO community. The Role of Islam in Shaping the For the Latest Analyses, Re- gional News Sources and Links Future of Afghanistan on Central Asia: Visit the CPI Central Asia Portal In the aftermath of the attacks against the United States on September 11 and the resulting conflict in Afghanistan, Western Inside this Issue analysts and the media have referred extensively to Islamic P. 2: a 1000 year-old notions such as shura, fatwa, tradition shari’a, madrasa, and jihad in their reports on the region. P. 4: Islam in Afghan political history Mazar-I-Sharif-Mosque Little information has been made P. 11: Observations and available, however, on the meaning of these concepts and their actual political Recommendations significance in Central Asia, more particularly in Afghanistan. As many analysts seek to distinguish the religion of Islam from the ideology behind the terror attacks, essential Islamic aspects of Afghan society and politics have been cast aside and remain misunderstood, limiting For more information on our understanding of the origins of political Islam in the region and our ability HPCR, please contact: to relate to these key aspects of contemporary Afghan society. The Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research Afghanistan is considered one of the “most Islamic” countries in the Harvard University world if one appreciates the extent to which Islam underpins many of 1033 Massachusetts Ave. the customs and tribal codes that condition numerous aspects of 4th floor political and social life in the country. Islam, therefore, has a profound Cambridge, MA 02138, USA influence on the identity and social structure of the rural Afghans who Tel.: 617.384-5901 compose an overwhelming majority of the population. With the exodus of Fax.: 617.384-5908 the intellectual elite over the past 20 years and the demise of the more secular education that was previously available to most urban communities, [email protected] Islamic education at madrasa, or religious schools, and local mosques have www.hsph.harvard.edu/hpcr become the primary sources of education within the country and in most refugee camps. HPCR Central Asia Page 1 FOCUS ON Madrasa (see also related links) Related Links Madrasa is a religious school found primarily in rural areas. Studies focus on fiqh (the science of understanding Islamic law) but include the study of Islamic religious texts, classical writings, Arabic language and grammar, For more information on and often other secular subjects such as basic mathematics. Madrasas Madrassah Schools, see: are founded by and normally, built next to mosques. Madrasas also serve as welfare institutions, providing boarding and education for the children of Jamia Binoria (Pakistan) the poor. They are run by Muslim clerics as private charitable institutions Al-Mawrid - Institute of Islamic Sciences (Pakistan) There is little doubt in this context that Islam will continue to play a key Al-Azhar University role in shaping the future of Afghanistan. For this reason, it is critically important that key Islamic concepts be better understood as a basis for New York Times – Inside Jihad informing policymakers who are developing strategies for the rehabilitation of U: The Education of a Holy Warrior, June 25, 2000 Afghan society and institutions. As history has shown, to ignore the religious aspects of Afghan society risks the establishment of illegitimate institutions, Institute of Peace and Conflict antagonizing the Afghan population and generating resilient opposition against Studies, Suba Chandran - modern reforms. Madrassas: A brief overview, January 25, 2000 The purpose of this policy brief is to offer basic information and analysis Rediff.com - Myth and reality of a Pakistani madrasa, August 21, on the present and future role of Islam in Afghanistan and provide simple 2001 axioms through which an appropriate Islamic perspective can be brought to bear in planning recovery and rehabilitation programs in Afghanistan. Qur’an Sites The aim is to outline key political and social aspects of the Islamic tradition in the country and to provide links to additional sources of information for policy Holy Qur’an Resources, Professor makers. Mohamed Elmasry - What is the Koran? A View from Within University of Michigan – The Islam in Afghanistan: a 1000-year old tradition Koran Islam101.com – What is the Islam emerged from the Arabian Peninsula over fourteen hundred years ago Quran? and through trade, commerce and conquest reached Central Asia in the 7th Click here to see map of century. Since then Islam has come to influence all aspects of life and society Central Asia in Central Asia – including law, politics, morality, art and science. Reciprocally, Central Asian peoples have also had a major influence on other Muslim For more information on societies, with Bukhara and Samarkand in Uzbekistan in acting as early centers Bukhara and Samarkand, see: of learning within the Muslim world. University of Kansas, Richard Frye - Narshaki’s The History of Most of the fundamental concepts of Islam are contained in the Qur’an, the Bukhara Islamic Holy Book. Several institutions have also been developed over Advantour – Bukhara centuries through the elaboration of various interpretative traditions throughout the Islamic world. Islam’s two main doctrinal denominations are Sunni and Advantour – Samarkand Shi’a. tashkent.org – Samarkand HPCR Central Asia Page 2 Islam has occupied an important role within Afghan culture and iden- tity since the early phases of the religion’s existence and has provided Basic Islamic Teachings the country with a sense of unity. It anchored the society’s fundamental Emory International Law Review values during the invasions by the Persians, the Turkic Ghaznavids, and the - Religious Human Rights and the Mongols (led by Genghis Khan). It remained a uniting factor throughout the Qur’an, Spring 1996 period of domination by India’s Moghul dynasty at the beginning of the 16th century. The overall majority of Afghans (84%) are Sunni Muslims, while a Islamic Gateway - The Anatomy significant minority are Shi’a (15%), principally related to the Hazara ethnic of Islam group which has traditionally inhabited the central highlands, including the Bamian Province. USC – The Religion of Islam Whyislam.org – Islam Explained FOCUS ON Islam’s two main doctrines: Sunna & Shi’a Islam’s two main doctrinal denominations are Sunni and Shi’a. Both maintain For more information on Sunni that the Qur’an and the hadiths (collections of the Prophet Muhammad’s and Shi’a, see: sayings and actions) are the principal sources for religious prescriptions. Saint Martins College – Sunni However, because of differences of opinion on the leadership of the Tradition community after Prophet Muhammad’s death, the Sunni and Shi’a developed different approaches to jurisprudence. Historically, the Sunni have relied on Islam for Today, Hussein a community of scholars (the ‘ulama) trained in scripture to determine Abdulwaheed Amin - The acceptable interpretations of Quranic law or Shari’a, while the Shi’a invest Origins of the Sunni/Shia split in religious authority in the divinely-guided leadership of a line of Imams who Islam trace their lineage to the Prophet. The Sunni constitute the vast majority of Muslims, and have developed a number of distinct but equally valid Saint Martins College – Shia interpretations of Islamic law over the centuries. The majority of Shi’a have Tradition now also come to rely on scholars for religious guidance because of their History of Afghanistan belief that the Imam is in occultation and will return to dispense perfect order and justice. CountryWatch.com – Afghanistan History Afghanistan might be characterized as one of the most conservative Islamic societies in the world. Much of the interpretations of Islam that Afghanistan Online - affect Afghan communities, especially in rural areas, derive from the Contemporary Afghanistan: The “Hanafi” school of thought. Islamic scholars argue that the Hanafi Last Sixty Years (1919-1979), 1984 school permits to some extent the incorporation of pre-Islamic local custom and tradition in deriving legal rules. The intricate connection Afghan-info.com - Political History between the Hanafi jurisprudence and local tribal codes such as of Afghanistan Pushtunwali has been a powerful source of conservatism in Afghani- Sabawoon Online – The Afghan stan. More recently, the repression of Afghan clerics under the Communist Civil War regime and their isolation from advanced Islamic teachings and scholarship has resulted in a generation of less educated and more conservative clerics For more information on Hanafi, who rely substantially on local customs rather than Islamic prescriptions to see: interpret shari’a law. At a local level, the tribal codes regulating these close- knit communities for centuries have had a great impact on defining roles of Cyber Islam, Maida Malik - The honor, community and women. However, Shari’a law and local customs have Life of Imam Abu Hanifah not been formally distinguished or differentiated and thus tend to be under- stood within a common framework of norms and judicial processes. In re- Saint Martins College – cent decades, aspects of “Wahabi” thinking, derived from a more puritanical Hanafiyyah: History school of thought originating in Saudi Arabia, have emerged, as a result of Imam Ahmed Raza Academy - The the influence of Arabs who took part alongside Afghans in the anti-Soviet Imams of the Four Schools of Fiqh resistance of the late 1970s and 1980s. HPCR Central Asia Page 3 Islam in Afghan Political History Islam in early Afghan tribal history (17th to 19th century) For more information on King Durrani, see: Until the late 19th century, Islam and Islamic clerics had an important but subsidiary role in Afghan politics.