Introduction

This book is a concise depiction of the Taliban’s military, social and political presence in Afghanistan. This is an important issue due to the fact that they in their aspirations and understanding of Islam----- echo a part of Islam that has long become a matter of heated dispute and controversy both inside the Islamic religion and outside it. Although almost all of the Western world condemned the so many Muslims indicated indignation and displeasure about sealed anti Islamic behavior of the Taliban, nevertheless, there were a large number of Muslims who considered the Taliban’s administration as an embodiment of Islamic law and politics. The fact that the Taliban fought an Islamic government founded by the Mujahideen carries an element of irony. The Mujahideen were known world wide for their Islamic resistance and campaign (jihad) against so called “Soviet infidels”. They represented Islam in battle, in religious and political arenas, they were praised by a wide verily of political individuals and institutions ranging from the US governments to Shi’ite mentors of the Islamic revolution in Iran. They received help and prayer and Islamic endowments simply because they were deemed by all Muslims as “the true defenders of the faith”. To many Muslims, the Mujahideen represented the purest form of Islam symbolizing the highest values prescribed by Allah. Mujahideen, as many Muslims believed, revived the long forgotten principle of Jihad, exactly the thing that was believed to ensure the Muslims’ return to their glory and magnificence. However, this view was not shared by the Taliban and their supporters.

Quite ironically, they called their campaign against the Mujahideen “jihad”, claiming to be fighters of Allah; they needed to excommunicate the Mujahideen so that they could wage war against them. Perhaps the conflict within Mujahideen groups over power was the most suitable excuse that provided the Taliban with the justification by needed for their anti Mujahideen campaign. Yet many political observers believe that the emergence of the Taliban was not merely motivated by religious incentives. They support their claim by relating the appearance of the Taliban and their rise to power with foreign interests in Afghanistan. It was staggering to many of these observers that a group of unskilled religious students, whom nobody had heard of throughout the long years of jihad came out of the shadows and curbed all major Mujahideen groups in almost no time. Irrespective of all odds, the bloodshed that started with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan still continues to ravage the lives of millions of Afghans.

In the contemporary phase of the civil war in Afghanistan, the world stands in a position of perplexity and bewilder meat. Some man infestations of the Taliban rule have brought issues of mounting concern to the surface. People both in the West, and in some secularly ruled Muslim societies ask if the Taliban policies on gender. Judicial system, education and individual rights are genuinely Islamic. At times the support for the Taliban expressed by Muslim hard liners living in Western societies gives impetus to debates dealing with multiculturalism and peaceful coexistence. In areas with considerable number of the Taliban’s fellow religionists such as Pakistan, the very example of the Taliban administration could put the legitimacy of the government at risk. In neigbouring countries of Afghanistan such as Iran. Territorial integrity would be at stake due to centrifugal religious movements inspired and sponsored by the Taliban. The implementation of what the Taliban deem to be “Islamic law”, challenges the achievements of the international community, especially on human rights and their universality. All these parameters make research about the Taliban valid and worthwhile.