The Taliban, religious revival and innovation in Afghan nationalism

Abstract

Policy analysts and academics have portrayed the Taliban as a religious revival campaign and a part of a larger Islamic counteroffensive against the West. The Taliban themselves concur, adding that they are the true guardians of Afghan national identity. If so, why did the Taliban defy long-established facets of Afghan customary law and introduce a different interpretation of Islamic law, thus countering the status quo ante? This article will examine the Taliban movement and ask how we should assess nationalist movements' claims of antiquity.

Keywords:

• Afghanistan
• Islam
• nationalism
• religious revival
• Salafi
• Taliban

Notes on contributors

Mariam Raqib, Ph.D., is the Director of the Afghanistan Samsortya. She teaches and lectures in the greater Boston area is engaged in a reforestation project in Afghanistan.

Amilcar Antonio Barreto is Associate Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University. He is the author of several books on nationalism including Nationalism and Its Logical Foundations (2009) and co-editor of American Identity in the Age of Obama (2013).

Notes

1. As is the case with most Shia in Iran, Afghanistan's Shia minority follow the Jaferi school (Barfield, 2008, p. 352, n.16).