Talibanization
Encyclopedia
Talibanization is a term coined following the rise of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan
referring to the process where other religious groups or movements come to follow or imitate the strict practices of the Taliban.
In its original usage, Talibanization referred to groups who followed Taliban practices such as:
in Pakistan
, or situations analogous to the Taliban-Al-Qaeda relationship, such as the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Somalia
and its harboring of Al Qaeda members, or similar harboring of Islamic extremists in Nigeria, Malaysia, or Kashmir and elsewhere around the world, such as Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party
, the current regime of the country, has been accused of "Talibanizing" the country, especially in their persecution of the Hindu minorityhttp://www.thenation.com/doc/20020527/baldwin20020517http://www.metransparent.com/texts/abdullah_elmadani/abdullah_elmadani_talibanization_of_bengladesh_english.htm.
The term was used in a Boston Globe editorial published on November 6, 1999, warning of the emerging threat of the Taliban regime almost two years before the attacks of September 11, 2001.
on women. While Ismael Haniyeh officially denied that Hamas intended to establish an Islamic emirate, in the two years since the 2007 coup, the Gaza Strip has exhibited the characteristics of Talibanization, whereby the Islamist organization imposed strict rules on women, discouraged activities commonly associated with Western or Christian culture, oppressed non-Muslim minorities, imposed sharia
law, and deployed religious police to enforce these laws.
Palestinian
researcher Dr. Khaled Al-Hroub has criticized what he called the "Taliban-like steps" Hamas has taken. In an article titled "The Hamas Enterprise and the Talibanization of Gaza", he wrote, "The Islamization that has been forced upon the Gaza Strip – the suppression of social, cultural, and press freedoms that do not suit Hamas's view[s] – is an egregious deed that must be opposed. It is the reenactment, under a religious guise, of the experience of [other] totalitarian regimes and dictatorships.
A 2005 research by the UC San Diego National Bureau of Economic Research drew a number of parallels between Hamas and Taliban. Researchers noted that Taliban and Hamas are both highly ritualistic, extremely conservative Muslim groups, which augment the prohibitions of mainstream Islamic practice, and tend to segregate themselves from other Muslims and to be intolerant of deviation.
In addition, members of the left in the United States often use it as a political attack against the Republican Party
and the Christian Right
in their allegations of the right wing implementing policies based on Fundamentalist Christianity
.
Sometimes, different analogous neologisms are used by the accusers, such as allegations of "saffronization
" used to describe or critique right-wing policies related to Hindu nationalism
or as a slur used by far left
and anti-Hindu
groups. Radicalized Muslims often exploit the resonance with this term to attack Hindu nationalists as kafir
s (infidel
s) and "Hindu Talibs". The term has also been used to denote Sikh Extremism
(Khalistan
)http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/30/stories/2007053001431000.htm
In India, the far-left Naxalite
terrorists beheaded Police inspector Francis Induwar in the state of Jharkhand
in 2009. The action has been compared to the tactics of the Taliban, and fears exist that the leftists in these areas are "Talibanizing"http://www.timesnow.tv/Maoist-ape-Taliban-tactics/articleshow/4328886.cmshttp://www.ndtv.com/news/india/ranchi_naxals_kill_special_branch_inspector.php
Like any highly politicized term, it may also be used hyperbolically or in an alarmist manner, to make a slippery slope
argument, such as in the invocation of the phrase "Talibanization of Bradford
" to discuss a gamut of common racial problems and tensions which fall far short of the imposition of sharia law and terrorist attacks. It may also be applied unfairly by those who do not understand Islamic culture and the basis of sharia law, or who fail to distinguish between moderate Islamic and extremist Islamist states, or misapplied to perceived threats which are not true or have yet to be proven.
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...
referring to the process where other religious groups or movements come to follow or imitate the strict practices of the Taliban.
In its original usage, Talibanization referred to groups who followed Taliban practices such as:
- usually strict regulation of women, including forbidding of most employment or schooling for women;
- the banning of long lists of activities generally tolerated by other Muslims—movies, television, videos, music, dancing, hanging pictures in homes, clapping during sports events;
- the banning of activities (especially hairstyles and clothing) generally tolerated by other Muslims on the grounds that the activities are Western;
- oppression of Shia, including takfirTakfirIn Islamic law, takfir or takfeer refers to the practice of one Muslim declaring another Muslim an unbeliever or kafir...
threats that they convert to Sunni Islam or be prepared to be killed; - aggressive enforcement of its regulations, particularly the use of armed "religious police";
- the destruction of non-Muslim artifacts, especially carvings and statues such as Buddhas of BamyanBuddhas of BamyanThe Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2,500 meters...
, generally tolerated by other Muslims, on the grounds that the artifacts are idolatrousIdolatryIdolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
or Shirk (polytheism)Shirk (polytheism)In Islam, shirk is the sin of idolatry or polytheism. i.e. the deification or worship of anyone or anything other than the singular God, or more literally the establishment of "partners" placed beside God... - harboring of Al Qaeda or other Islamic terrorists;
- a discriminatory attitude towards non-Muslims such as sumptuary laws against Afghan HindusHinduism in AfghanistanHinduism in Afghanistan has existed for almost as long as Hinduism itself. The religion was widespread in the region until the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan...
the Taliban regime enacted, requiring them to wear yellow badgeYellow badgeThe yellow badge , also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments in order to mark them as Jews in public. It is intended to be a badge of shame associated with antisemitism...
s, a practice that reminded some of Nazi GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's anti-Semitic policies.
Etymology
The term pre-dates the Islamic terrorist attacks of 9/11. It was first used to describe areas or groups outside of Afghanistan which came under the influence of the Taliban, such as the areas of WaziristanWaziristan
Waziristan is a mountainous region near the Northwest of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² . The area is entirely populated by ethnic Pashtuns . The language spoken in the valley is Pashto/Pakhto...
in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, or situations analogous to the Taliban-Al-Qaeda relationship, such as the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
and its harboring of Al Qaeda members, or similar harboring of Islamic extremists in Nigeria, Malaysia, or Kashmir and elsewhere around the world, such as Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party
Bangladesh Nationalist Party
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party , commonly referred to as the BNP, is the mainstream center-right political party in Bangladesh. BNP ruled Bangladesh total 18 years since her independence, the longest than any other party in Bangladesh...
, the current regime of the country, has been accused of "Talibanizing" the country, especially in their persecution of the Hindu minorityhttp://www.thenation.com/doc/20020527/baldwin20020517http://www.metransparent.com/texts/abdullah_elmadani/abdullah_elmadani_talibanization_of_bengladesh_english.htm.
The term was used in a Boston Globe editorial published on November 6, 1999, warning of the emerging threat of the Taliban regime almost two years before the attacks of September 11, 2001.
In the Gaza Strip
Following the takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, Hamas has attempted to implement Islamic law in the Gaza Strip, mainly at schools, institutions and courts by imposing the Islamic dress or hijabHijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
on women. While Ismael Haniyeh officially denied that Hamas intended to establish an Islamic emirate, in the two years since the 2007 coup, the Gaza Strip has exhibited the characteristics of Talibanization, whereby the Islamist organization imposed strict rules on women, discouraged activities commonly associated with Western or Christian culture, oppressed non-Muslim minorities, imposed sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law, and deployed religious police to enforce these laws.
Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
researcher Dr. Khaled Al-Hroub has criticized what he called the "Taliban-like steps" Hamas has taken. In an article titled "The Hamas Enterprise and the Talibanization of Gaza", he wrote, "The Islamization that has been forced upon the Gaza Strip – the suppression of social, cultural, and press freedoms that do not suit Hamas's view[s] – is an egregious deed that must be opposed. It is the reenactment, under a religious guise, of the experience of [other] totalitarian regimes and dictatorships.
A 2005 research by the UC San Diego National Bureau of Economic Research drew a number of parallels between Hamas and Taliban. Researchers noted that Taliban and Hamas are both highly ritualistic, extremely conservative Muslim groups, which augment the prohibitions of mainstream Islamic practice, and tend to segregate themselves from other Muslims and to be intolerant of deviation.
Reference to non-Muslims
The term is also used non-literally, and is applied to non-Islamic bodies and organizations by those who allege them to hold "repressive policies" based on their respective religions.In addition, members of the left in the United States often use it as a political attack against the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and the Christian Right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
in their allegations of the right wing implementing policies based on Fundamentalist Christianity
Fundamentalist Christianity
Christian fundamentalism, also known as Fundamentalist Christianity, or Fundamentalism, arose out of British and American Protestantism in the late 19th century and early 20th century among evangelical Christians...
.
Sometimes, different analogous neologisms are used by the accusers, such as allegations of "saffronization
Saffronization
Saffronization or saffronisation is an Indian political neologism used by critics to refer to the politics of right-wing Hindu nationalism that seek to make the Indian state adopt social policies that recall and glorify the...
" used to describe or critique right-wing policies related to Hindu nationalism
Hindu nationalism
Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expressions of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of historical India...
or as a slur used by far left
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
and anti-Hindu
Anti-Hindu
Anti-Hindu prejudice is a negative perception or religious intolerance against the practice and practitioners of Hinduism. Anti-Hindu sentiments have been expressed by Muslims in Pakistan, Bangladesh, leading to significant persecution of Hindus in those regions, such as the 1971 Bangladesh...
groups. Radicalized Muslims often exploit the resonance with this term to attack Hindu nationalists as kafir
Kafir
Kafir is an Arabic term used in a Islamic doctrinal sense, usually translated as "unbeliever" or "disbeliever"...
s (infidel
Infidel
An infidel is one who has no religious beliefs, or who doubts or rejects the central tenets of a particular religion – especially in reference to Christianity or Islam....
s) and "Hindu Talibs". The term has also been used to denote Sikh Extremism
Sikh extremism
Sikh extremism refers to threats or acts of violence against civilians, or material support for the acts of violence.Some extremists have been separatists pursuing the formation of a Sikh state, often referred to as Khalistan....
(Khalistan
Khalistan
Khalistan refers to a global political secessionist movement to create a separate Sikh state, called Khālistān , carved out of parts mostly consisting of the Punjab region of India, depending on definition....
)http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/30/stories/2007053001431000.htm
In India, the far-left Naxalite
Naxalite
The word Naxal, Naxalite or Naksalvadi is a generic term used to refer to various militant Communist groups operating in different parts of India under different organizational envelopes...
terrorists beheaded Police inspector Francis Induwar in the state of Jharkhand
Jharkhand
Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...
in 2009. The action has been compared to the tactics of the Taliban, and fears exist that the leftists in these areas are "Talibanizing"http://www.timesnow.tv/Maoist-ape-Taliban-tactics/articleshow/4328886.cmshttp://www.ndtv.com/news/india/ranchi_naxals_kill_special_branch_inspector.php
Like any highly politicized term, it may also be used hyperbolically or in an alarmist manner, to make a slippery slope
Slippery slope
In debate or rhetoric, a slippery slope is a classic form of argument, arguably an informal fallacy...
argument, such as in the invocation of the phrase "Talibanization of Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
" to discuss a gamut of common racial problems and tensions which fall far short of the imposition of sharia law and terrorist attacks. It may also be applied unfairly by those who do not understand Islamic culture and the basis of sharia law, or who fail to distinguish between moderate Islamic and extremist Islamist states, or misapplied to perceived threats which are not true or have yet to be proven.
See also
- Islamic fundamentalismIslamic fundamentalismIslamic fundamentalism is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Definitions of the term vary. According to Christine L...
- IslamismIslamismIslamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
- Al-Qaedaism
- IslamofascismIslamofascismThe term Islamofascism is a neologism which draws an analogy between the ideological characteristics of specific Islamist movements from the turn of the 21st century on, and a broad range of European fascist movements of the early 20th century, neofascist movements, or totalitarianism.-Origins of...
- Pakistani state terrorism