ABSTRACT
Islam, as practised in rural Afghanistan, among the nomads, and in many urban centres bears little resemblance to the Islam of the sophisticated Muslim scholar. Nevertheless, the ulama are influential in Afghanistan, as elsewhere in the Muslim world. Amanullah intervened in the Russian civil war, supporting the Amir of Bakhara and later the Basmachi rebels, a quasi religious-nationalist group which used northern Afghanistan as a base for its operations against the Soviet government. To attribute the counter-revolutionary movement in Afghanistan after April 1978 to any political resurgence of Islam is to invite misconception. Those Afghan politicians who fled to Peshawar and established their headquarters there are attempting to defend their power and privilege against a government committed to social and economic reform. The people of Democratic Party of Afghanistan, and in particular Hafizullah Amin, understood the role of Islam in Afghan politics is demonstrated by their skilful use of it to defend their government and reform measures.
