Re: Atlantic article

["J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." <rosserjb@xxxxxxx>]

Ted,
      You are correct that local practices in Afghanistan
are heavily influenced by tribal customs, although
the Pushtun are really a language/ethnic group rather
than a tribe, per se.  This is true in most of the Muslim
world actually.  An example is extreme misogyny.
The Qur'an is not nearly as sexist as the practices
one finds in many of these societies, with clothing
being a simple example.  The Qur'an does not require
veils or veiling, but this is enforced in many such
places, including Afghanistan.  What is required is
"modesty," and specifically the covering in public
of sexual parts, arms, and hair by women.
      Another special issue in Afghanistan is that
traditionally the Sunni code that predominated was the
relatively liberal Hanafi code that was dominant
during the Abbasid caliphate (based in Baghdad for
500 years) and which was also dominant in the
Ottoman Empire.  This is the most widespread of
all shari'as, as well as being the most liberal.  The most
conservative of the Sunni codes is the Hanbali, which
is predominant in Sa'udi Arabia and Qatar.  One of
the outcomes of Sa'udi funding and support for the
Afghan mujaheddin, and Osama bin Laden in particular,
was the pushing for the imposition of the Hanbali code
rather than the traditionally Afghan Hanafi.  This was
indeed something that was imposed by the Taliban
and thus there is more to their alliance with bin Laden
than is generally known.
      In general, the movement to impose the Hanbali
shari'a is known as "Wah'habism."  It is the cutting edge
of the most radical of the Sunni fundamentalist movements
throughout Central Asia, including in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,
and Chechnya.  The name comes from Mohammed al-
Wah'hab, a mullah who advocated imposing the Hanbali
code (developed in the 1200s).  In 1740 he met Mohammed
al Sa'ud under a palm tree in Diriyah, a (now) ruined
village in the suburbs of the Sa'udi capital of Riyadh.
They formed an alliance, and from that time forward the
total ideology and raison d'etre of the Sa'udi royal family
has been advocacy of Wah'habism.
Barkley Rosser
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ted Winslow" <egwinslow@xxxxxxxx>
To: "J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." <rosserjb@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2001 8:56 PM
Subject: Re: Atlantic article


> Barkley wrote:
>
> > There are considerable variations among
> > regimes in Muslim nations regarding this matter,
> > including among those that consider themselves
> > to be "Islamic," that is obeying Islamic law as
> > laid out in one of the shari'a codes (there are several
> > of these, four Sunni ones and several Shi'i ones).
>
> My understanding from various internet sources is that the dominant
> interpretation of shari'a in Afghanistan is significantly modified by
> Pashtunwali (the tribal code of the Pashtun, the largest of the tribes
> making up the Afghan pop and the one to which most members of the Taliban
> belong).
>
> Apparently the resulting "law" is, among other things, extremely
misogynist.
> It is obsessed with "honour" and, consistent with this, makes vengeance
the
> main principle of "justice" so that, as one of these internet sources put
> it, vendettas hold the place of greatest respect.  It is enforced with a
> great deal of sadistic cruelty and violence.
>
> Is this accurate?
>
> If it is, it suggests a culture in which the "dangerous human
proclivities"
> have not been much canalised and so express themselves in a relatively
> primitive and unmodified form.  It also suggests one characterized by
> extreme Manichean "splitting" of objects into the idealized "good" and the
> demonized "evil".
>
> Even selective acts of military violence against members of such a
culture -
> or against those with whom they identify - are likely to be
> counterproductive if their intent is to reduce the risk of future suicidal
> acts of terror.
>
> Ted
>
>