The Ismailis in Afghanistan are the only religious minority after Afghan Hindus. Hindus left Afghanistan due to prejudice and religious violence. The Ismailis are currently the only religious minority in Afghanistan that is under all kinds of religious, cultural, and social pressure.
Exclusive interview of the Rahe Adalat (Afghanistan Justice and Freedom Party) website with Dr. Yaqub Yasno, professor at Beruni University in Afghanistan, a member of the Sangar Advisory Council.
RAHE ADALAT (Path of Justice): These days we hear a lot of news about the forced conversion of Ismailis by the Taliban to the Hanafi madhhab. What is the scale of this phenomenon, and is there generally statistical data on how many people and where were forced to leave their madhhab and choose another?
YAQUB YASNA: The truth is that if they can change the Ismaili madhab, they will change the religion of all Ismailis. Thus, the degree and scope of this action are comprehensive. Several videos have been published, if you have seen them, they say that "we are converting the Ismailis to Islam and they should become Muslims". Their actions are based on takfir and jihad, and their intention is to convert all Ismailis to Islam.
When they say that “Ismailis are not Muslims,” takfir and jihad are hidden in this verdict; That is, the meaning of this verdict is, on the one hand, that the Ismailis are polytheists and infidels, and on the other hand, forcing the Ismailis to change their madhhab is jihad. They do not say that they converted an Ismaili from one Islamic madhhab to another, but having gathered the people, they say that they converted them to Islam.
As far as I know, two people in Badakhshan and two more people in Baghlan were forced to convert from the Ismaili madhhab to the Hanafi one. In one area of Badakhshan, a jama'atkhana (Ismaili mosque) was set on fire, and in some parts of Badakhshan, Ismailis are not allowed to perform religious rites, and their children are forced to study Hanafi fiqh in a Hanafi religious school when the Ismaili jama'atkhana has religious education programs for children.
RAHE ADALAT: What are the goal or goals of the Taliban and why did they turn to the Ismailis?
YAQUB YASNA: The Ismailis are a minority and an easy target, and they can put pressure on the Ismailis through their Sunni neighbors. By this, they force people from among the Ismailis to change their madhhab, and they call the conversion of these people Islamization and show that you, Ismailis, are infidels. If you renounce your madhhab, you will be supported, if not, you will be told that people will persecute you and you will not be able to control them. By doing this, they give the local Hanafis a free hand to persecute the Ismailis, so that the Ismailis are subjected to double pressure from the people.
The Ismailis, whom they hunt and change their madhhab, are given positions and weapons, and they are told: “Go and force others to renounce their madhhab.” The Ismailis who complain that “we are being persecuted” will be answered that “these people are yours, they are Muslims and follow the right path, they, being your people, cannot tolerate you, consider you infidels, and want to lead you on the right path.”
One of the Ismailis, who was forced to "convert to Islam", was given a weapon and, with the support of the local Taliban government in Badakhshan, persecuted other Ismailis. I protested on social networks. One of the Taliban supporters sent me a message and said: “Yasna, why are you protesting without being informed? The person who wants to lead the Ismailis to the true path is one of your own people who wants to lead his people to the path of truth.” I said that this cannot be a justification because you are using him.”
In short, it should be said that the Ismailis are being pressured in different ways. The Taliban has no official position on this matter. They did not say that this was our decision, did not respond to the protests of the Ismailis, and were silent. This silence means that extremist individuals and groups have been given a free hand to persecute and convert the Ismailis, and this approach is in fact a targeted and organized tactic against the Ismailis.
RAHE ADALAT: What are the consequences of these Taliban practices for other ethnic and religious groups other than the Taliban?
YAQUB YASNA: The Taliban's efforts to turn Afghanistan into a mono-ethnic, mono-lingual, and mono-religious Afghanistan are widespread. The goal is not only to convert the Ismailis to the Hanafi madhhab. This is one of the goals. And it is easy for the Taliban to achieve this goal, that is, they want to achieve this goal through the hands of the Hanafis. In several cases where Ismailis were forced to change their madhhab, it was not the official Taliban authorities who did so, but Hanafis who were supported by the Taliban.
The Taliban did not recognize the personal status of Shiites and banned the teaching of Jafari jurisprudence in universities, especially at Bamiyan University. Farsi language has been excluded from official correspondence in government offices and keeping in mind the ethnic approach they support only the Pashto language and the official and administrative language of the Taliban is only Pashto. The Taliban is seeking to change the human geography of Afghanistan.
The Pashtuns of Pakistan have been resettled to the north, this resettlement continues and the Qushtheppa Canal is being built for this purpose. They occupy the lands and villages of the Hazaras in various ways and hand them over to the Pashtun nomads.
All this is done with the same goal - ethnic domination, Pashtun hegemony, and Pashtunization of Afghanistan. Based on this, there is no need to judge, ethnic and religious groups should know what the conversation is about based on this evidence.
RAHE ADALAT: If this process continues, do you think that the original identity of the Ismailis will not be in serious danger?
YAQUB YASNA: The identity of the Ismailis as an Ismaili minority has always been under threat in the religious society of Afghanistan. However, this confrontation with the Taliban, which gave the Hanafi religious community of Afghanistan a free hand to pressure the Ismaili religious minority, the danger of such conversion is more obvious than at any other time for the Ismailis.
Unfortunately, even university textbooks contain negative propaganda against the Ismailis and classify them as a group of false madhhabs. First religious textbooks preached against Ismailis and called them infidels, then Hanafi extremist individuals and groups began converting Ismailis to Islam in religious schools and mosques. That is, they say that “we are converting the Ismailis to Islam,” this is an organized action, first they created a theoretical basis in textbooks, and then they began to take practical actions.
RAHE ADALAT: Several official institutions are responsible for issues of the Ismaili madhhab. Have these institutions taken any action to prevent the Taliban's lawlessness against the followers of this madhhab? If not, what reason do you see for such silence?
YAQUB YASNA: The Ismaili National Council is the highest religious body of the Ismailis in the country, the head office of this institution is in Kabul, and this institution has representatives in other provinces where Ismailis are present. In addition, the leadership of the Ismaili Imamat has a political representative called the ambassador and minister in the Ismaili countries. This leadership has not stated an official and clear position.
It is better not to judge or comment on why they did not state their position or why they remained silent. Because I do not represent these organs, and, on the other hand, I am not familiar with how these organs work. But as an Ismaili, I know that Ismailis are dissatisfied with the functioning and services of these madhhab bodies, especially the Ismaili National Council, and, in their opinion, this institution does little and does not respond to the problems of Ismailis.
RAHE ADALAT: What solution do you propose to cope with such a dangerous phenomenon and what recommendations will you give to the Ismailis?
YAQUB YASNA: The Ismailis in Afghanistan are the only religious minority after the Hindus. Hindus left Afghanistan due to prejudice and religious violence. The Ismailis are currently the only religious minority in Afghanistan that is under all kinds of religious, cultural, and social pressure. Therefore, on behalf of the United Nations and other human rights institutions, the special conditions that are being considered for minorities should also be considered for the Ismaili minority, and the Taliban should be asked to state their position regarding the religious and social pressure on the Ismailis by the Sunnis.
If the Taliban does not support religious pressure on the Ismailis, they must stop those who force the Ismailis to renounce their madhhab and spread negative propaganda against the Ismailis. Otherwise, the Taliban's silence means supporting the people who are persecuting the Ismailis.
Apart from the Ismaili minority, which is a religious minority, we no longer have an ethnic or religious minority; Because the ethnic groups of Afghanistan are relatively equal. The Hanafi religion is the majority in Afghanistan, but the absolute majority does not exceed 80%.
Therefore, the followers of the Shia religion in Afghanistan are not a minority in any special sense but are the Hazaras and a number of other Shia groups who make up approximately 30% of the Afghan population. But let's not ignore the truth: Shiites in Afghanistan have been subjected to religious discrimination for years. Ismailism is also a branch of the Shiite madhhab.
