Table of Contents
Are the Tajiks Shia?
Most Tajiks are Sunni Muslims, with a minority of Twelver Imami Shi’a in the west around the city of Herat, and speak a form of Dari (Farsi dialect) close to the national language of Iran.
Is the Afghanistan government Sunni or Shia?
Afghanistan portal
| Religion in Afghanistan (2012) | |
|---|---|
| religion | percent |
| Sunni Islam | 90\% |
| Shia Islam | 9.7\% |
| Other religion | 0.3\% |
Why are there Tajiks in Afghanistan?
Tajiks are the major ethnic group in neighboring Tajikistan, a country that was created north of Afghanistan in 1991. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, large number of Central Asian Tajiks fled the conquest of their native homeland by Russian Red Army and settled in northern Afghanistan.
Who are the Tajiks in Afghanistan?
The Tajiks are the direct descendants of the Iranian peoples whose continuous presence in Central Asia and northern Afghanistan is attested from the middle of the 1st millennium BC.
Where are Shia located in Afghanistan?
The majority of Afghanistan’s Shia are the Twelvers, primarily of the Hazara ethnicity. The next-largest Twelvers are the Farsiwan of the western Herat and Farah provinces. Other, far smaller, Afghanistan’s Twelver communities include the Qizilbash and the Sadat populations.
What caused the split between Sunni and Shia?
Shia and Sunni Islam are the two prominent denominations of Islam. The origin of their separation can be traced back to a dispute over the succession to the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a caliph of the Islamic community.
Do Shia believe in Prophet Muhammad?
Muslims believe that Muhammad and other prophets in Islam possessed ismah. Twelver and Ismaili Shia Muslims also attribute the quality to Imams as well as to Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad, in contrast to the Zaidi, who do not attribute ‘ismah to the Imams.
What is the religion of Tajiks?
Historical context Most Tajiks are Sunni Muslims, with a minority of Twelver Imami Shi’a in the west around the city of Herat, and speak a form of Dari (Farsi dialect) close to the national language of Iran.
Is Tajikistan a Shia or Sunni country?
According to a 2009 U.S. State Department release, the population of Tajikistan is 98\% Muslim, (approximately 85\% Sunni and 5\% Shia). In Afghanistan, the great number of Tajiks adhere to Sunni Islam. The smaller number of Tajiks who may follow Twelver Shia Islam are locally called Farsiwan.
How many Tajiks are there in Afghanistan?
According to the World Factbook, Tajiks make up about 27\% of the population in Afghanistan, but according to other sources they form 37\%–39\% of the population. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica they constitute about one-fifth of the population.
What is the difference between Pashtuns and Tajik?
They belong to an ethnic group that appears not to have retained memories of their tribal past, which as a result seems lost in ancient times. Instead, unlike the Pashtuns they have no specific social structure, and Afghan Tajik loyalty patterns evolve around the village and family.