| Part of a series of articles on |
| Religion in Afghanistan |
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| Majority |
| Sunni Islam |
| Minority |
| Historic/Extinct |
| Controversy |
Shia Islam in Afghanistan is practiced by a significant minority of the population. According to a PEW 2021 survey, 7% of Afghans followed Shia Islam, [2] but other estimates have put the number as high as 35%. [3] [4] [5] Afghanistan's Shia are primarily the Twelvers, while a minority are Ismailis.
The majority of Afghanistan's Shia Muslim's are the Twelvers, primarily of the Hazara ethnicity. The next-largest Twelvers are the Farsiwan of the western Herat and Farah provinces. Other, far smaller, Afghanistan's Twelver communities include the Qizilbash and the Sadat populations.
The Ismailis accepted Ismail ibn Jafar instead of Musa al-Kadhim as the successor to Imam Jafar as-Sadiq. Ismaili communities in Afghanistan are less populous than the Twelver who consider the Ismaili heretical. They are found primarily in and near the eastern Hazarajat, in the Baghlan area north of the Hindu Kush, among the mountain Tajik of Badakhshan, and amongst the Wakhi in the Wakhan Corridor. The Ismailis believe that the series of Imamat or in another word Welayat that comes from the first Imami, Hazar-e-Ali, will never end and it continues. Therefore, they have so far reached to forty-ninth Imam, represented by Aga Khan IV. [6] [7] [8]
Ismaili in Afghanistan are seen to follow their leaders uncritically. The pir or leader of Afghan Ismaili comes from the Sayyid family of Kayan, located in Kayayan valley, 30km west of Doshi, a small town at the northern foot of the Salang Pass, in western Baghlan Province. The current leader of Ismailis in Afghanistan is Sayed Mansur Naderi. During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan this family acquired considerable political power, having over 13,000 armed men who was fighting both with the government and with the different other armed groups including Mujahideen. Sayed Jafar Naderi was the Ismaili commandar, known as the 'Warlord of Kayan' in a documentary by Journeyman Pictures. [9] [10] Ismailis have had key contributions to the Islamic culture in Afghanistan including building large mosques, cutlural centers and the World's Largest Handmade Quran in Afghanistan, which was unveiled in January 2012. [11] [12]
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) initiated its efforts in Afghanistan in 1996, providing food aid amidst the civil war. Since 2002, AKDN, along with its partners, has allocated over $1 billion to development assistance in the country. The network's multifaceted approach encompasses humanitarian, economic, social, and cultural dimensions. Economically, AKDN's projects extend across more than 240 cities and towns in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Its social development and humanitarian initiatives reach into 61 districts across seven provinces, benefiting over three million people. In the realm of cultural preservation, the network has restored over 90 historic buildings in Kabul, Herat, Balkh, and Badakhshan. [13] AKDN's strategy in Afghanistan includes strengthening Afghan institutions and the public sector by engaging communities and local leaders. In the private sector, it supports the Chamber of Commerce, various business associations, and entrepreneurs. The network also enhances the capacity of local civil society organizations, for instance, by expanding community savings programs. AKDN aims for comprehensive area development that is led by Afghan institutions, fostering partnerships among the government, the business sector, and civil society to facilitate the country's transition towards stability and prosperity. [13] A cornerstone of AKDN's efforts in Afghanistan is the emphasis on gender equity. The network actively addresses social barriers, promotes equitable decision-making, and empowers women and girls by enhancing their voice and agency. [13]
Ismailis in Afghanistan have been continuously engaged in the country's political landscape during the democracy era. Following the fall of Taliban in 2001, Ismailis estasblished a political party under the name of National Unity Party of Afghanistan, also called as the National Solidarity Party of Afghanistan. Considering about 3-5% population of Ismailis in Afghanistan, they managed to send up to four representatives in the Afghanistan National Assembly. They also managed to obtain seats in the Afghan government cabient, including the State Ministry for Peace in 2020. They played a key role in 2009, 2014 and 2019 presidential elections, backing Hamid Karzai in 2009, Ashraf Ghani in 2014 and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah in 2019. [14] [15] [16]
Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces. The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions. Each province encompasses a number of districts or usually over 1,000 villages.
Baghlan is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country. As of 2020, the province has a population of about 1,014,634.
Islam in Afghanistan began to be practiced after the Arab Islamic conquest of Afghanistan from the 7th to the 10th centuries, with the last holdouts to conversion submitting in the late 19th century. It was generally accepted by local communities as a replacement of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, local tribes began converting to the new religion. Islam is the official state religion of Afghanistan, with approximately 99.7% of the Afghan population being Muslim. Roughly 90% practice Sunni Islam, while around 10% are Shias. Most Shias belong to the Twelver branch and only a smaller number follow Ismailism.
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a network of private, non-denominational development agencies founded by the Aga Khan, with the primary focus of improving the quality of life in different regions of Asia and Africa.
Sayed Jafar Naderi is an ethnic Tajik-Ismaili who controlled Baghlan Province of Afghanistan during the early 1990s. He was born in Kayan, Baghlan and is also known as Sayyid-e Kayan The son of Sayed Mansoor Naderi, The previous Vice-President of Afghanistan, Sayed Jafar Naderi went to school in England at age 10, after his father was made a political prisoner. He was sent to the United States at age 13 where he became known as Jeff Naderi.
The following lists events that happened during 2002 in Afghanistan.
Kayan is a village in Baghlan Province in north eastern Afghanistan It is located in the valley of Kayan, some 30 kilometres west of Dushi. The residents of Kayan valley are mostly members of Sadat and Hazara tribes loyal to Sayed Kayan who was the official representative of Aga Khan in Afghanistan. The Sayyids follow Isma'ili Islam.
The Tajik–Afghan bridge at Tem-Demogan was opened on 3 November 2002. It spans the Panj River. It was the first of four bridges planned to be built with the assistance of the Aga Khan Foundation.
Sayed Kayan or Sayed of Kayan is a title in northern areas of Afghanistan. A part of the Ismaili community in Afghanistan was led by a family of Syeds hailing from the village of Kayan.
Sayed Mansur Naderi is a leader of an Ismaili Shi'a community centred in Baghlan Province of Afghanistan. This community although Shia is smaller than the mainstream Twelver Shia community in Afghanistan.
Kabul Serena Hotel is a luxury hotel in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan.
The National Solidarity Party of Afghanistan or some other places written as National Unity Party of Afghanistan is a political party representing the Afghanistan's Ismaili Shia minority, largely found in Kabul Province, Baghlan Province, Bamyan Province, Balkh Province and Badakhshan province. As recently as 2008 it was one of 84 political parties registered with the Afghan Ministry of Justice, and headed by Sayed Mansur Naderi.
The Imamate in Nizari Isma'ili doctrine is a concept in Nizari Isma'ilism which defines the political, religious and spiritual dimensions of authority concerning Islamic leadership over the nation of believers. The primary function of the Imamate is to establish an institution between an Imam who is present and living in the world and his following whereby each are granted rights and responsibilities.
The 6th Corps was a corps of the Afghan Army, seemingly active from 1990 to around 2003–2004. Created as a military formation of the PDPA's standing army, it degraded into a grouping of militias by its last years.
The tomb of Timur Shah Durrani is located in Kabul and was built in 1815. It is the mausoleum of Timur Shah Durrani, who was the second ruler of the Durrani Empire, from 1772–1793. In 1776 Timur Shah chose Kabul as the capital of Afghanistan, which was Kandahar until then. Although he died in 1793 in Char Bagh, it wasn't until years later that the tomb was built. Timur Shah was later buried in here.
Khushnood Nabizada is an Afghan journalist, diplomat, peace campaigner, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and owner of Khaama Press, an Afghanistan-based news agency that reports specific political issues of the Afghanistan region.
Sayed Sadat Mansoor Naderi is an entrepreneur and politician. He was Afghanistan's State Minister for Peace from 2020 to 2021 and Minister of Urban Development and Housing from 2015 - 2018.
The world's largest handmade Quran was unveiled in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2012. It was crafted by Afghan calligrapher Mohammed Sabeer Khedri Hussani and his team.
Rawnaq Naderi also known as Sayed Nooruddin Rawnaq Naderi was a distinguished Afghan poet whose works have contributed significantly to Persian literature. As the son of Sayed Kayan, a prominent religious leader of the Afghanistan Ismailis, Naderi's upbringing was deeply influenced by a rich cultural and religious environment.
