Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Islam

Islam

The Kot-e Sangi Bazaar in Kabul during the run-up up to Eid. Photo: Ali Sina Sorush, 20 May 2020.

AAN wishes a peaceful and healthy Eid al-Fitr to all our readers

AAN Team •

After a Ramadan that has been difficult for many in Afghanistan, there is finally some better news: the Taleban have announced a three-day ceasefire to mark Eid ul-Fitr and the Afghan government has reciprocated. Acknowledging that the many people who have lost dear ones in the brutal violence this spring or are afflicted by coronavirus […]

Context and Culture Read more

AAN Paper: Afghanistan’s new generation of Islamic activists

AAN Team •

Since the fall of the Taleban, Afghanistan has gone through a great deal of changes. The efforts to establish a democratic and pluralistic political system, the hugely improved access to the rest of the world through media and telecommunication, the emergence of a middle class as a result of a growing economy and the influx […]

Political Landscape Read more

The Killing of Farkhunda (2): Mullahs, feminists and a gap in the debate

Borhan Osman •

From ultra-conservative Salafis to secular-minded feminists, an astonishingly diverse range of voices have found their heroine in Farkhunda, the young woman who was lynched by a mob in Kabul on 19 March 2015. She has become the rare victim of violence to be almost unanimously called a shahid, a martyr. The consensus on her status, however, […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

The Killing of Farkhunda (1): The physical environment and the social types party to her murder

Fabrizio Foschini • Naheed Esar Malikzay •

40 days after the violent killing of Farkhunda, supporters gathered on Monday, 27 April 2015, to mourn and protest her death. Afghan public opinion has now reached a broad consensus over the unprecedented gravity of this murder. Yet, many questions remain as to what triggered the killing and how it was possible for such a […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

A new Afghan Shia Leader: Return to quietism versus political Islam?

Qayoom Suroush •

A new leader is emerging in Afghanistan’s Shia community, one who so far has chosen to abstain from any presence or involvement in the religious or political affairs of the country. Ayatollah Mohammad Eshaq Fayaz is being supported by Afghan Shia – among them rather influential figures such as Second Vice President Sarwar Danish – […]

Political Landscape Read more

Warlords, Religious Leaders, Insurgents: Three external publications

Thomas Ruttig •

  For the London-based Tony Blair Faith Foundation, Thomas Ruttig analysed the relationship between Islamic religion and politics in Afghanistan through the phases of internal conflict over modernisation and armed conflict, starting with the 1970s. He starts with the analysis that Afghan society, before the Soviet occupation, was religiously conservative, with liberal urban enclaves and […]

External publications Read more
The Mausoleum of Ahmad Shah Durrani in Kandahar, where the Cloak was initially meant to be hosted. Photo: Fabrizio Foschini

Under the Cloak of History: The Kherqa-ye Sharif from Faizabad to Kandahar

Bette Dam • Fabrizio Foschini •

These are hard times for holy shrines in many Muslim countries. Often targeted by fundamentalist militants who reject practices of popular religious devotion as un-Islamic, many ancient and famous ziarats have been destroyed or damaged. The last on the list seems to have been the tomb of Yunus (Jonah) near Mosul, Iraq, reportedly blown up […]

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Afghan Youth for Democracy? Not all of them

Borhan Osman •

Many observers are looking with hope at the progress in terms of education of Afghan youth and often describe it as a safeguard of democracy during the political transitions ahead. This, however, means painting Afghan youth with an all–too-broad brush and closing eyes to undercurrents that try to undermine further democratisation, says AAN’s Borhan Osman. […]

Political Landscape Read more

Can madrassas help developing countries?

AAN •

al-Jazeera, 13 March 2014 Discussing the role of religious schools, AAN's Borhan Osman and AAN author Claudio Franco are quoted on the situation in Afghanistan: Borhan Osman, of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said there was a dichotomy between "modern" and more traditional schools that needed to be addressed. "There is a serious need for reforming the […]

AAN in the Media Read more

دختران سیاه‌پوش با افکار تندروانه در شمال افغانستان [Blackclad Girls with Radical Views in Northern Afghanistan]

AAN •

BBC Persian, 28 February 2014 An interesting reportage about a growing network of radical girls' madrassas centred in Kunduz, established by two mullas four years ago and called Ashraf ul-Madares. It already has branches in Takhar and Baghlan, and plans to expand to nine more provinces. According to civil society activists, the girls enroled in […]

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The Other Side of the Amu Darya: Tajik and Afghans, neighbours apart

Thomas Ruttig •

Despite pushes from the West and economic needs, Afghan-Central Asian economic cooperation has not taken off, yet. The people of Tajikistan, for example, are not very interested in or even prejudiced towards their southern neighbours, as they concentrate on their troubles with their former Uzbek brothers. The Tajik government and the other more or less authoritarian […]

Regional Relations Read more

Under Strange Flags: Afghans’ delayed protests against an ‘anti-Islam film’

Borhan Osman •

Afghanistan’s public has reacted, after a few days of delay, to a video produced by fringe anti-Islam activists in the US. While last Friday saw violent demonstrations in many parts of the Muslim world, Afghans widely remained quite calm despite mullahs across major cities preaching angry sermons about the hostility of America or the West, […]

Context and Culture Read more

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