Islam In The Afghan Resistance

The Afghan resistance sees its struggle more in terms of a "holy war" (jihad) than as a war of national liberation. In a country in which reference to the "nation" is avery recent phenomenon, where the State is perceived as exterior to society and where allegiance belongs to the local community, Islam remains the sole point of reference for all Afghans. It is only in the southern Pushtun tribal zones and among emigres that ideologies of a secular nature (nationalism and liberalism) play a role. This is understandable in that these tribes are the originators of the Afghan State which remains tribal and Pushtun; the tribal leaders (khan and malek) remain unattached to the religious institutions and their power derives from the tribal code (Pushtunwali) which is quite different from the Muslim law (Sharia). Moreover, the molla (Muslim priests) have little standing in the tribal zones whereas, for the other ethnic groups (Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek) and for the more or less detribalised Pushtuns of the Kabul and Nangarhar regions, Islam provides the political ideology of the resistance. However, great differences are apparent in the manner in which the religion is being reinterpreted in terms of political ideology, leadership aQ.d the organisation of society. These differences, combined with the ethnic patchwork which characterises Mghanistan, explain the multiplicity of political parties in the resistance. Let us briefly review the nine principal parties before examining in detail the evolution of the religious structures during the war period and the reference being made by the civil population to Islam as it organises itself to face the communist regime. There are six large Sunni* and three Shi'i* parties (leaving aside small· splinter groups). They can pe divided into two tendencies: traditionalist and Islamist. (The latter are often described as "fundamentalist" , but, as we shall explain later, this term appears inadequate.) Within the Islamist tendency, a distinction must be made between moderates and radicals. The Sunni traditionalists are: Sayyed Ahmad Gailani's National Islamic Front (Mahaz-e Melli-ye Islami), a product of a branch of the sufi*