Professor Nematullah Shahrani is one of the most prominent Afghan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 scholars. He was one of four Vice Presidents

Vice President of Afghanistan

The Vice President of Afghanistan is the second highest political position obtainable in Afghanistan. Vice Presidents are elected in the same ticket as the President. The current Vice Presidents are Mohammad Qasim Fahim and Karim Khalili .-External links:** *List of current Vice Presidents...

 of the Afghan Transitional Administration from 2002 to 2004. Shahrani also headed of the Afghan Constitution Commission

Afghan Constitution Commission

The Afghan Constitution Commission was established October 5, 2002 as required by the Bonn Agreement, which stipulated that a new Afghan constitution be adopted by a loya jirga...

.

He has written more than 30 books and several hundred academic articles. He belongs to an academic family that is known in Afghanistan as the family of scholars. He studied at Kabul University

Kabul University

Kabul University is located in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. It was founded in 1931 but officially opened for classes in 1932. Kabul University is currently attended by approximately 7,000 students, of which 1,700 are women. As of 2008, Hamidullah Amin is the chancellor of the university...

, Al-Azhar University

Al-Azhar University

Al-Azhar University is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.It is...

 (Cairo) and The George Washington University (U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

).

From Badakhshan Province

Badakhshan Province

Badakhshan is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, consisting of 28 districts. It is located in the north-east of the country, between the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya. It is part of the Badakhshan region.-Geography:...

 in northern Afghanistan, Shahrani is ethnically Uzbek

Uzbeks

The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...

. Although he was one of the ideological figures behind the Afghan resistance against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Soviet war in Afghanistan

The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...

, he was never involved in any sectarian, party and other ethnic conflicts in Afghanistan. For that he earned the nickname of Mr. Clean.

Currently some of his other family members are teaching at academic institutions in the United States (such as Indiana University Bloomington

Indiana University Bloomington

Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...

) and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.