Amitai Etzioni David Katz Harsh Pant - Middle East Forum

Photo will not display.Burqa-clad Afghan women show identification cardsas they wait to cast their votes at a school converted toa polling center in Kandahar, August 20, 2009. To winthe fight against Salafism, the historical weight andresources of local religion must be mobilized forgrassroots control of the mosque, imam, and ulema.madrasa system can also attack acritical vulnerability of armed Salafimovements by aggressively vyingwith them for new recruits. Thiscould, in turn, limit the Taliban’s abilityto replace its combat losses,shrink its available pool of manpower,and drive up its labor costs.The confluence of these factors maycascade through to Taliban combatoperations, reducing tempo, decreasingrange, changing tactics andfocus. If successful, a competingmadrasa system should providetheological shock troops matchingthe Taliban’s religious zeal and exceedingthem in religious education.The end result would be an equaland opposite self-organized, armed,extra-tribal, sectarian force fundamentallyopposed to the Taliban.There are other minority sectsin Afghanistan and Central Asia thatcan buttress the sectarian waragainst armed Salafism, notably the Sufi movement,which in many ways embodies the antithesisto Salafism. Its incorporation of local beliefsand variations of practice falls into the sinfulcategory of Bid’a, or religious innovation afterIslam’s first generations; its veneration ofsaints, visitation of tombs, celebration of theProphet Muhammad’s birthday, all violatetawhid—the uniqueness and unity of God—byrevering anything other than God. 26Sufism’s propensity to regionalize, acculturate,and seek economic uplift imbues it withthe ability to create combined religious-ethniceconomicwedge issues. As such, it can offer anadvantageous religious model for Pashtuns versusSalafism and be successful in competing fornew adherents. Establishing Sufi centers orcloisters with schools in border regions introducesa strategic, sectarian challenge to theSalafis. Sufism in Chechnya operates in a military-stylecell structure. 27 This could easily beimported to Afghanistan. In hostile locations,Sufism operates underground schools, and thecombination of military organization and tendencyto secrecy may allow for strategic penetrationof Salafi areas. 28 Indeed, the Russiansbegan using Sufism as a counterbalance toSalafism in 1996 under Chechen president AslanMaskhadov, and the idea of promoting Sufismas a counterbalance to Salafism is gaining currencyin some U.S. defense-related think tanks,such as the Rand Corporation and the HeritageInstitute. 29Given their inclination to oppose foreignoccupation, Sufis fought alongside Salafis and26 Mary Brill Olcott, “Sufism in Central Asia: A Force forModeration or a Cause of Politicization?” Carnegie Endowmentfor International Peace, Russian and Eurasian Program, Washington,D.C., May 2002, p. 1; Wiktorowicz, “The New GlobalThreat,” p. 20.27 Mairbek Vatchagaev, “The Role of Sufism in the ChechenResistance,” North Caucasus Analysis, Jamestown Foundation,Washington, D.C., Dec. 31, 1969.28 Olcott, “Sufism in Central Asia,” p. 16; Reuters, June 26,2009.29 Reuters, June 26, 2009.Katz: Pashtun Society / 27