Fear and Loathing in Afghanistan

Well things are pretty torqued up around here, as you can imagine.

First of all, there was the inadvertent burning of some holy Qur'ans a couple of weeks back.  There were, as I'm sure you've heard, a number of protests killing an estimated thirty Afghan civilians, and some reprisal shootings, including the so-called "blue-on-green" attacks where members of the ostensibly allied Afghan national forces turned their guns on ISAF forces.

Then there was the mass murder of a number of civilians, including a number of children, by an American soldier in Kandahar province.  Curiously, the Qur'an incident seems to have sparked more outrage.  Perhaps the Afghans are still digesting the murders, and the fury has yet to come.  Are we wiating fo rthe "other shoe to drop" or was the defilement of the Qur'ans, perhaps, considered the bigger sin?

People back home were probably trying to wrap their heads around the sheer scale and violence of the response to the Qur'an incident.  There was a lot of speculation that this was "trigger event" that tapped into a simmering Afghan discontent with the length of occupation of their country, and the failure of the occupying forces to deliver on prosperity and change.

This may well have some truth to it.  But one thing you learn living here is that first and foremost:  Afghans are a very, very religious people, and they have been for 1200 years.  99% of Afghans are Muslims.  Muslims are famously devout, but even among them it is known that Afghans are particularly pious.  Islam is woven into every aspect of their lives.  We, in the west, have difficulty perceiving this because we've been brought up to separate our religious inclinations from the rest of our lives.  The idea of a separation between Islam and the state is completely alien to a typical Afghan Muslim.  It's not merely that they don't like the idea; they can't even imagine it.

The overall purpose of education is to produce good Muslims. Most Afghans attend a mosque school from when they are four or five years old.  Even the "general education schools" (those which are not mosque schools or madrassas) contain several hours a week of Islamic education.  Everything else is secondary.  To learn to read is to learn to read the Qur'an. 

Seen through this lens, it is understandable that any insult to their religion would cause profound discontent.  Of course, that's not to say that cynical mullahs aren't exploiting the opportunity to cause mischief.

Obama apologized for the incident.  Apparently, it was suspected that the Qur'ans in question were from a detainment facility and were being used to transmit messages between inmates.   But this points out another difference between the Afghanistan and Western mindset.  The fact that this was, by all accounts (even Afghan witnesses) completely inadvertent, does not carry the same weight as it would in Canada or the US.  Intent and motive are key to Western law.  In the US, the difference between murder with intent and inadvertent homicide can be life an death (for the accused, that is; we assume the victim has already gone to his Great Reward).  In practice in Afghanistan, Islamic law does not attach the same significance to intent, at least for certain huddud crimes such as blasphemy and illegal sexual intercourse.  Which is why if you are a girl unfortunate enough to get raped, you may find yourself on trial for adultery or fornication.

Another profound difference in world views is encompassed by the term Inshallah-- "God Willing" or "If God wishes." For instance, yesterday, as part of my work here, I was reading a report by the Civil-MIlitary Fusion Center (warning: pdf) on illness and death due to contaminated water in Afghanistan.  It is likely that thousands of Afghans die prematurely every year due to contaminated water.  

Sediq Azizi, spokesman of the Samangan governor, Khairullah Anush, told IWPR that "every year we present our problems to the ministries in Kabul, but they have not taken any action yet." He concluded, “these deaths are the will of Allah. " 

Inshallah is not intended to be pessimistic or dismissive, but humble and passive.  Muslims submit to the will Allah in a way that we may not comprehend.  Things unfold according to Allah's will. Or, to quote Robert Burns, . 

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,

In proving foresight may be vain:


The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men


Gang aft agley,


An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,


For promis'd joy!

Or maybe I could do just as well to quote the Kansas classic Dust in the Wind:

Same old song

Just a drop of water in an endless sea

All we do

Crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see

Dust in the Wind

All we are is dust in the wind

Inshallah is the antithesis of the American "Can-Do" mindset.  American mythology is replete with figures who, as individuals, triumph over an unjust system.  I mean, will Hollywood movie makers ever tire of the line "I've got a great idea for a movie. It's about a cop who bucks the system and saves the world."

Curiously, the term Inshallah has become quite popular with the military folks over here.

"So, do you think the Afghanistan government will be able to keep the Taliban at bay when we pull out of here in 2014."

"Inshallah."

There is a joke going around that we are pulling out of Afghanistan but driving through Iran on the way home.  Thing is, when you tell that joke, nobody laughs.