The war continues to rage in Afghanistan. The enduring violence and conflict has left the nation, its people and economy in ruins. Over the past nine years, billions of dollars have been spent and army commanders have come and gone. Like many of its neighbours in the Middle East, Afghanistan continues to find its existence challenged by the problem of terrorism, fundamentalism and fanaticism. Why is there so much violence and extremism in Afghanistan? Why are the same Muslims that live in India, Indonesia and Malaysia able to live more peacefully with their neighbours? The answer could lie in an incomplete understanding of the history and culture of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has long stood at the crossroads of a number of cultural and spiritual traditions. Because of its strategic location between the Middle and Far East, it has been an important trading route and meeting place of different cultures for thousands of years. In the past Afghanistan has been home to Zoroastrian, Hindu, Buddhist as well as Muslim communities. All these traditions flourished in harmony -- the country thrived both intellectually and materially because of its openness to various ideas -- until the 20th century. Unfortunately, in this century Afghans have been encouraged or otherwise forced to disown and disrespect their own ancestral heritage, which promoted the values of non-violence and tolerance. Disowning these traditions has resulted in a rise of fanaticism and fundamentalism, which has radicalized an entire generation.
Many people don't realize that the ancient Zoroastrian religion has its roots in present day Afghanistan. Buddhism entered Afghanistan at a very early period, and over the centuries, various rulers, both non-Buddhist and Buddhist, supported the widespread construction of Buddhist monasteries there. Afghanistan was once a centre of Vedic culture. In fact the word Afghanistan comes from the Sanskrit roots, "ahi", "gana", and "sthan", meaning the country of awakened people. A number of Hindu teachers and Buddhists monks of great reputation lived in Afghanistan and founded famous universities and schools of yoga and meditation there. There was a rich tradition of meditation, spirituality, music, dance, and architecture, all of which has been systematically suppressed in recent times and replaced by an aggressive and extremist interpretation of Islam.
When pride becomes associated with aggression in a culture, it can lead youth to believe that theirs is the only right path, and that they have the right to destroy anything that they see as blasphemous and against the will of God. If a person identifies himself primarily with a religion, culture or nationality, he can remain locked in that position, to fight and die for it -- and others will die with him.
Often violence comes with noise. Non-violence happens in silence. People who are violent make huge noise; they make it known. People who are non-violent are quiet. But the time has come for people who are non-violent to make noise so that the violence will quieten down. The message of non-violence has to come loud and clear so that it can be heard from a young age. The way to get rid of fanaticism in Afghanistan and elsewhere is through an education that emphases non-violence and is broad-based, multicultural and multi-religious so that as a child grows up, he or she does not think that only the Bible or the Koran hold the truth. Religious and spiritual leaders in particular need to have a broader understanding of cultures and religions. We have to teach children to embrace non-violence and value human life more than any particular religion or culture.
When we learn to broaden our vision and deepen our roots in this way, people will not fall into a narrow and rigid idea of the will of God; they will not act in aggressive and intolerant ways to defend it. We should encourage the people of Afghanistan to study their own history and to see the value of this broader perspective. Afghanistan thrived for centuries as a centre of learning, commerce and culture. For Afghanistan to survive as both a culture and a country in the present, and to flourish into the future, its youth need to take a look at the wealth of their ancestral history and honour the diversity of their culture.
Only then will the country will be Afghanistan, the Land of the Awakened.
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Some of the most accomplished spiritual masters ever to traverse Afghanistan were the Islamic Muslim Sufi masters who singlehandedly led to the conversion of the Afghans to Islam en mass, then to modern day Pakistan, and then to India.
Till this day there are shrine and cities like Mazar-e-Sharif, Kabul, Herat dedicated to them. In modern day Pakistan the city of Lahore has the shrine of the fakir (poor man of God) Data Saab. (the giver who gives).
Indeed Afghanistan is a great nation but the current condition it finds itself in is as a result of Western and Russian powers meddling in the nation's affairs. Lets not forget as recently as 1970s it was a peaceful nation under the rule of a popular king.
Buddhism
Afghanistan’s significant ancient tangible and intangible Buddhist heritage is recorded through wide-ranging archeological finds, including religious and artistic remnants. Buddhist doctrines are reported to have reached as far as Balkh even during the life of the Buddha (563 BCE to 483 BCE), as recorded by Husang Tsang.
In this context a legend recorded by Husang Tsang refers to the first two lay disciples of Buddha, Trapusa and Bhallika responsible for introducing Buddhism in that country. Originally these two were merchants of the kingdom of Balhika, as the name Bhalluka or Bhallika probably suggests the association of one with that country. They had gone to India for trade and had happened to be at Bodhgaya when the Buddha had just attained enlightenment.[22]
Islamic Caliphate (642-873 AD)
During the eighth and ninth centuries AD the eastern parts of modern Afghanistan were still in the hands of non-muslim rulers. The Muslims tended to regard them as Indians, although many of the local rulers were apparently of Hunnish or Turkic descent. Yet, the Muslims were right in so far as the non Muslim population of Eastern Afghanistan was, culturally, strongly linked to the Indian sub-continent. Most of them were either Buddhists or they worshipped Hindu deities.[23]
—Willem Vogelsang, 2002
I'm not going to argue that hindus were not in Afghanistan but at the same time you must be aware that the Hindu converts were small in numbers and isolated to certain regions of the country. Also they only ruled the small isolated areas for only a couple of hundred years. On the other hand, bhuddism was in Afghanistan for a much longer period and covered a much larger territory.
Let's also not forget that the original religion of Afghanistan and its 5k year history was Zoroastrianism.
This site is a freely available archive of electronic texts about religion, mythology, legends and folklore, and occult and esoteric topics. Texts are presented in English translation and, where possible, in the original language.
The wiki page also shows India ruling over half of the old Persian empire. Great job buddy.
The earliest known use of this name was by the famous Arab traveller, Ibn Battūta c. 1334, who wrote: "Another reason for our halt was fear of the snow, for on the road there is a mountain called Hindūkūsh, which means "Slayer of Hindus," because the slave boys and girls who are brought from Hind (India) die there in large numbers as a result of the extreme cold and the quantity of snow."
Part of India? There was no India back then. Just a bunch of kingdoms.
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one"
John Lennon
hari om
we only want to install a puppet gov.
make them a colony of the USA.
and steal their minerals.
and have our soldiers break down their doors late at night.
and have drones fly overhead and bomb them and their families without warning.
I mean if the afghans were in our country doing that to us we would not mind at all.
especially the southern folks with all their guns and pick up trucks.
when we leave they will be butchered by the taliban.
the suffering we are causing that nation now and later is impossible to know.
and if you think we are there to kill terrorists or so little girls can go to school you have drank the industrial military complex and corp fascism kool aid.
we will use any excuse to have a war for corp profits.
fear works on americans as most have been conditioned for decades for war for profits. history tells us that. ie vietnam. iraq. etc.
720 military bases around the world is the very definition of imperialism.
at least we are a christian nation and followers of the prince of peace. :-)
but you didn't get much into the why of how this happened. you talked about how it used to be and how it needs to be and some of what has happened, but you didn't talk about how it is that the extremists gained power
i actually would like to know. i know a tiny bit of middle eastern history, but not enough to understand how the region seems to have been better off hundreds of years ago.
when europe was having its "dark/middle ages", the muslims in the middle east were having a renaissance of their own
how is it that knowledge, science and cultural progress were previously valued and achieved, but now they have what they have
i read somewhere that some historians believe that ghangis khan's pilaging of that entire region was the equivalent of a nuclear bomb on the middle east. not only did they take over control, but they destroyed everything in their path, broke apart families and communities and razed entire cities and schools and libraries.
so some historians say that the middle east's current state of "backwardness" is a direct result of the "wiping out" of its entire civilization by the khans
can anyone elaborate and comment on this?
The way they maintained control was through organised terror and discrimination, promoting Islamic extremism and encouraging Sunni/Shia'a sectarianism - all of which spread across the Islamic world. Over the years, these complicated situations gave birth to the Iranian revolution, the Baath party coup, the current Saudi regime etc.
If the people of the Middle East were allowed to adapt to modernity at their own pace, with their own values intact, I don't think you would see this huge struggle we are seeing now. The myth that Arabs and Muslims in general tend to historically be dictatorships with Middle-Ages sorts of practises is largely untrue. Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait, Afghanistan etc were pretty progressive places until recently.
Western big business went to work on them at a very sensitive part of their development.
There is no question that your assessment of the influence of foreign oil companies on the government and culture of the Middle Eastern region has been as you described.
But at best, that has been for about 100 years. What about before that?
Why was the Middle East in such a weakened condition before that? Why was it so easy for foreigners to come in and effectively take over? Why was there almost no resistance in the beginning?
One huge mistake I think the governments like Iran are making is trying to control their population growth. They are worried about overpopulation in their cities and not seeing the bigger picture.
Look at India for example. I live in Houston and I know tons of Indians. We have Indians in government here locally and nationally (and a governor, however ridiculous he is).
What would happen if our nation got aggressive against India? There would more than just India to worry about.
Ex-Pats are the best source of self defense for any nation or group of people. If the USA was full of say at least 5% Arabs, it wouldn't be the way it is now.
Those governments need to open up their borders and let people leave peacefully and let people procreate without harassment. It is the best "long term" defense and influence expansion available anywhere.
Compare that to many other nations with lots of expats in USA
Europe (itself nationalist powers ruled by monarchies who transcended nationalism) advocated nationalist identity to resist religious identity and divide people who were otherwise coexisting. Greek, Armenian, Slovak, Arab, Turkish, Kurdish nationalisms were propagated as universal truths rather than the actual beliefs of the people. This divided people, weakening them.
Today, Its quite noteworthy that Europe and America have been moving towards transcending and diluting nationalism in economic, military, and legal power. Multinational corporations (replacing European royalty) transcend national economies, laws, and power enabling corporations to become more powerful than many national goverments. Militaries are now based on multinational treaties. And yet the people are still confined by national borders, divided from other similar people, and misled with 'modernity' that this is their fate. The best Kurd in history was Salahideen who liberated the Holyland. He grew up in Egypt and resided and died in Damascus and spoke fluent arabic and was widely beloved by all: Turk, Kurd, Arab, Egyptian, Berber, etc. This is why there is an Islamic Resurgence: Islam is the best thing for the Muslim world.
For evidence of this, take a look at Russia. Russia is one of the only European kingdoms to have been conquered and destroyed by Mongols. Previous to that, it was intellectually and economically superior to western Europe. They never quite recovered, and they were only hit by the fringe of the mongol wave.
I'm not going to argue that hindus were not in Afghanistan but at the same time you must be aware that the Hindu converts were small in numbers and isolated to certain regions of the country. Also they only ruled the small isolated areas for only a couple of hundred years. On the other hand, bhuddism was in Afghanistan for a much longer period and covered a much larger territory.
Let's also not forget that the original religion of Afghanistan and its 5k year history was Zoroastrianism.
All the 3 said religions of the land before islamic era, existed before the conversion, are much more laid back, both then and now.The point I was making is that the contemporary afghan would not have turned so shockingly violent the way it is seen today had the preislamic religions remained alive and thriving there today.
The Zorastrians were basically persians who ran away from the Islamic invaders and took refuge in Hindustan. Zorastrianism came from Persia. The unconverted Persians were the Zorastrians who took up citizenship of Hindustan (India) and became integral part of India,