On the peculiarities of Afghanistan’s legal system during the rule of the Taliban

The essence of any legal system in the concrete state depends on what is actually recognized in it as the main source of law. In case of Sharia, such sources are Koran, Sunnah, qiyas, and Yidma. In addition to Sharia, however, pre-Islamic and non-Islamic sources of law – such as adat (custom), firman (decree) and nizam (law) – are actively involved in the legal systems of many Muslim states.

The operation of several sources of law in one country is an example characteristic for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban there. Lack of balance between the interests of different ethnic groups in Afghanistan, the inability of Afghan authorities to compromise and contradictions among the competing legal norms have led to destabilizing the legal system of the country that has finally been transformed into a kind of space where several enclave legal sources operate, being in a conflict with each other at such levels of their interaction as Hanafi-Hanbali (the level of madhhabs), inner- Islamic (Sufi and Wahhabi, Shiite and Sunni), ethno-political (Pashtunization and Talibanization), Sharia -non-Sharia (adat, firman). The last level – which is Sharia – non-Sharia (adat, firman) – has become an illustrative example of a complicated, sometimes conflicting, relationship of Sharia and adat (customary law, enshrined in the code of honor “Pashtunwali”).

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