Jihad and Ideology in the Soviet-Afghan War (1979–1989): How Religion Shaped Armed Resistance in Afghanistan

Abstract

Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) represents a defining aspect of world geopolitics in this day and age not only because of its cold war undertones but mainly because of the influence religious ideology had on the mobilisation of the Afghan resistance. What started as a nationalist process that took part in a purely nationalist struggle in Afghanistan is now transnational and has a strong Islamic identity and a long-term impact on the world of militants.

This paper holds that religion (in this case being the Islamic ideology) was not just a benign background incentive but an engine where it provided form, authority and moral rationale to the Afghan opposition to Soviet troops. Leaders of the Afghanistan mujahideen backed by foreign volunteers and religious scholars, in turn, used jihad as more than a defensive measure but as a heavenly command. This story found many sympathizers among Muslim peoples of the whole world and turned the war into an ideological one. It also became the basis of the emergence of Islamist militant groups, which included Al-Qaeda, during the postwar era.

This study is interdisciplinary and qualitative in its methodology that aims at intertwining historical analysis of ideological critique. Speeches, fatwas, and writings of leaders of mujahideen are used as primary sources, whereas scholarly books, journal articles, and declassified intelligence reports are used as the secondary ones. Another way in which the research engages is the presence of a comparative aspect of the discourse analysis because it seeks to understand how various elements of the duty of jihad were interpreted and propagated by various parties in and outside Afghanistan during the war. Through critical analysis of the ideological structure of the Afghan resistance, the paper offers a better insight on how religion can essentially be a cohesive advantage and at the same time foster a long-term geopolitical reformation.