Islamic Society جمعیت اسلامی افغانستان | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of Jamiat-e-Islami | |
| Chairman of the Political Bureau | Salahuddin Rabbani |
| Military commander |
|
| Founder | Burhanuddin Rabbani† |
| Founded | 1972 (1972) (possibly 1960s) |
| Headquarters | |
| Ideology | Islamism Afghan nationalism Islamic democracy Republicanism Communitarism Moderate Progressivism Afghan Tajik interests Anti-Communism Anti-Sovietism Anti-Islamic Extremism Anti-Taliban |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Colours | Green White |
| Seats in the House of the People | 0 / 249 |
| Party Flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
| jamiat-e-islami | |
Jamiat-e-Islami (also rendered asJamiati Islami;Persian:جمعیت اسلامی افغانستان,lit. 'Islamic Society'), sometimes shortened toJamiat, is a predominantlyAfghan Tajik political party and former paramilitary organisation inAfghanistan. It is the oldest and largest functioning political party in Afghanistan, and was originally formed as a student political society atKabul University. It has acommunitarian ideology based onIslamic law. During theSoviet–Afghan War and the subsequentFirst Afghan Civil War against thecommunist government, Jamiat-e Islami was one of the most powerful of theAfghan mujahideen groups.Burhanuddin Rabbani led the party (including its predecessors) from 1968 to 2011, and served as President of theIslamic State of Afghanistan from 1992 to 2001, inexile from 1996.[1]
Jamiat "emerged" in 1972 from among "the informal Islamist groupings that had existed since the 1960s". Led by Burhanuddin Rabbani, a professor of Islamic theology atKabul University, it was inspired byAbul A'la Maududi and hisJamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.[2] When Rabbani's arrest was ordered byMohammad Daoud Khan in 1973, it was to Pakistan that Rabbani fled, and Jamaat-e-Islami who initially hosted him there.[2] (Later Jamait lost the backing of Jamaat-e-Islami to the more puristHezb-i Islami.[3])
In Pakistan, Professor Rabbani gathered important people and continued to build the party. Sayed Noorullah Emad, who was then a young Muslim at Kabul University became its general secretary and, later, its deputy chief. Some of its prominent commanders included Ustad Zabihullah],Gulbadin Hekmatyar,Ahmad Shah Massoud,Ismail Khan,Atta Muhammad Nur,Mullah Naqib andDr. Fazlullah. Ahmad Shah Massoud directed the military wing of the party.
Ahmad Shah Massoud andGulbuddin Hekmatyar were both early followers of Rabbani, being Kabul University students at the time. Hekmatyar broke away from Jamiat in 1976 to found his own party:Hezb-e Islami.[4]
The two groups formed the two main tendencies of the Islamist movement in Afghanistan, and after theApril 1978 coup and the brutality of the invading Soviet Army, the two strongest Afghan mujahideen groups in the 1980s.[5]
Rabbani and the Jamiat advocated "building of a widely based movement that would create popular support", agradualist strategy of infiltration of society and the state apparatus to gain power.[6] Jamiat was dominated by Tajiks but had a greater `tribal and regional cross section` than other groups,[5] and was willing to seek "common ground" with non-Islamists.[3] It gained prominence because of the battlefield success of Ahmad Shah Massoud.[3]
Hezb-i Islami was overwhelmingly Ghilzai Pashtun, and backed by Pakistan presidentZia ul-Haq.[5] Its leader, Hekmatyar, was "implacably hostile to any form of compromise"[3] favouring violent armed conflict.[7] As a result, Hezb-i Islami, and not Jamiat, gained the support of theMuslim Brotherhood,Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, and Saudi Arabian networks.
After theSoviet invasion in Afghanistan in 1979, Massoud organised a mujahideen group inParwan Province to fight against the Communist government and their Soviet allies. This group grew to control multiple provinces and include thousands of fighters. The Soviet Army launched a series of major offensives to attempt to destroy their forces, but they were unable to engage most of Massoud's men.[citation needed]
After thewithdrawal of the Soviet troops in 1989, the mujahideen groups continued to wear down government forces. However they also fought among each other: in June 1990, battles between Jamiat and Gulbuddin's Hezb inLogar andParwan caused hundreds of casualties on each side.[5]
In 1991, Jamiat's forces participated in theGulf War fighting againstBa'athist Iraq.[8]
In 1992, the communist government collapsed entirely. Jamiat's forces were among the first to enterKabul. Meanwhile, a peace and power-sharing agreement among the leadership of the Afghan political party leaders led to a tentative agreement to appoint Burhanuddin Rabbani, who had spent the civil war in exile, as interim president. The peace agreement was called thePeshawar Accords.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar however, did not support the peace agreement despite the fact that he was repeatedly offered the position ofprime minister. Subsequently, hisHezb-i Islami attacked the new interim government and the capital of Kabul with tens of thousands of rockets. AsHezb-i Wahdat andIttihad-i Islami started a second war in 1992 and Dostum'sJunbish-i Milli joined Hekmatyar in 1994, Kabul witnessed a gruesome war with massive civilian casualties and destruction of much of the city. In 1995 the Islamic State of Afghanistan government also with Jamiat forces retained control of Kabul, pushing back a coalition of Hekmatyar'sHezb-i Islami, theHizb-i-Wahdat andAbdul Rashid Dostum'sJumbish-i-Milli Islami.[citation needed]
By 1995, theTaliban, which had seized control of much of southern Afghanistan with comparative ease the previous year, were advancing on Kabul. Jamiat rejected Taliban demands that they surrender, and the Taliban rejected Jamiat's offer to join a peaceful political process leading towards a general election. In March 1995, Massoud handed the Taliban their first major loss, however, with the aid of Saudi and Pakistani backing, they regrouped and launched and offensive in mid-1996. Massoud ordered the retreat of his troops among them Jamiat to avoid another bloodbath.[citation needed]
Following the capture of Kabul by the Taliban, the major mujahideen factions put aside their feuds and formed theUnited Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (the United Front), commonly known in the west as the Northern Alliance, with Rabbani, officially becoming its political leader. Other Jamiat members took up senior positions within the United Front government:Yunus Qanuni served as Interior Minister andDr. Abdullah became Foreign Minister, for example.[citation needed]
On 9 September 2001, just two days before theSeptember 11 attacks in the United States, Massoud was assassinated by two suicide bombers, probably at the instigation of al-Qaeda. Immediately afterwards Taliban forces launched a major offensive against United Front positions. Mohammed Qasim Fahim was chosen to succeed Massoud as leader of Jamiat's military wing and repulsed the Taliban offensive. With extensive assistance from an American-led coalition in October and November 2001 (seeWar in Afghanistan (2001–2021)), United Front forces recaptured most of Afghanistan.
Jamiat's founder and leader, Burhanuddin Rabbani, was assassinated in 2011.[9] His son,Salahuddin Rabbani, has since led the party.
After the Taliban came to power in 2021, Salahuddin Rabbani left Afghanistan.
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