The Afghan Jamiat-i Islami’s Aims, Ideology, and Discourse in the 1980s

In the 1980s the predominantly Tajik party Jamiat-i Islami led by Burhanuddin Rabbani was one of the most powerful mujahideen factions that fought against the Soviet occupation. The West saw in its military leader Ahmad Shah Massoud a charismatic figure endowed with great strategic skills and considered the Jamiat a “moderate” and inclusive force, unlike the Hezb-i Islami and other “Islamist” factions. This image would be an enduring one, lasting well into the 1990s, when many in the West viewed the Jamiat as a viable alternative to the interpretation of Islam espoused by the Taliban. And yet, little was, nor indeed is today, known about its program and vision for the future. This article analyses the content and language of the journal Mirror of Jehad and the newsletter AFGHANews with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the ideology of the Jamiat-i Islami and of the message it wanted to convey through its English language propaganda material.