Islam and the Challenge of Communism The Case of Afghanistan

Abstract

The conflict that has been taking place in Afghanistan for the past
three years has come to be interpreted in markedly different ways
depending on one’s viewpoint. Those in the West, including students and
specialists of the region and policy makers, tend to view the events in
Afghanistan primarily in geo-political or geo-strategic terms. For
instance, questions are asked such as what impact is being felt in terms
of the military, strategic and economic interests of the superpowers? Of
the other states in the region? What effect will there be on relations
between states in the region? Between the superpowers? And so on.
Differing from this view and its apparent preoccupation with security
and strategic concerns, is a perspective that is more commonly voiced in
the Muslim world2 which casts the conflict in Afghanistan in terms of
Islam and the challenge of Communism, or perhaps it would be more
accurate to say in terms of the converse: Communism and the challenge
of Islam. This view suggests that what the real conflict in Afghanistan is
about is the struggle between these two great ideologies or belief systems
and the effort on the part of each to vanquish the other.
Because this latter interpretation is less frequently presented or
voiced at meetings of Western scholars, I would like to develop to some
extent this theme in this short paper. First of all, I would like to present
some of the points made by this Islamic school of interpretation-I would ...