Former Salafist states in Afghanistan

Various Salafist states appeared during Afghanistan's war with the Soviets and following period of civil war. The Salafist ideology was disseminated in Afghanistan by Saudi supporters of the Afghan resistance, who required ideological conformity from the Afghans in exchange for aid.^[1]

Salafists in Afghanistan's northeast were greatly influenced by the Saudi-financed madrassas in Pakistan, particularly the "Panjpiri" madrassas based in the town of Panjpir, Swabi District in Pakistan.^[2]

Salafist mini-states

Several prominent men among the Salafist converts returned to Afghanistan and formed small localised states with fellow Afghan Salafists, often again with the aid of foreign backers.

• In Nuristan province, Mawlawi Afzal formed the Islamic Revolutionary State of Afghanistan
• In Konar province, Jamil al-Rahman, a former Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin member, broke from his party and formed a mini-state ruled by his new organisation Jama’at al-Da’wa ila al-Qur’an wal-Sunna
• In Badakhshan province, Mawlawi Shariqi formed a Salafist emirate^[3]

Sources

• Ed Darack. Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalers - The Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan. Penguin Group, 2009. ISBN 0-425-22619-0, ISBN 978-0-425-22619-3.
• Olivier Roy, Carol Volk. The failure of political Islam. Harvard University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-674-29141-7, ISBN 978-0-674-29141-6.

References