We often recognize Khwaja Abdullah Ansari (481 AH) of Herat, known as the “Sage of Herat,” through his poignant supplications and mystical poems. However, the reality is that he was among those individuals of his time who, in opposition to intellectual and ideological adversaries, were zealous and unwavering. He was one of those who paid no attention to rational and empirical sciences. According to military narratives in “Chahar Maqaleh,” he went so far as to burn the books of his opponents. The military narrative mentions a man named Adib Isma’il, a skilled physician who lived during the reign of Malikshah Seljuk and Sultan Sanjar Seljuk. Ansari’s relationship with this physician was dark, and Ansari, along with his disciples, repeatedly harmed this physician and even set fire to his books. At one point, Khwaja Ansari himself fell seriously ill, and his companions had to take a urine sample to Adib Isma’il under a different name. Isma’il, recognizing that the urine belonged to Khwaja Abdullah, wrote a prescription, taught the treatment method, and told Ansari’s disciples, who brought the urine, to tell Khwaja: “Knowledge should be acquired, and books should not be burned.”
The purpose of recounting this story is to convey that the practice of book burning and hostility towards books has been prevalent in these lands since ancient times and is not exclusive to the Taliban. Any faction or sect that seizes power seeks to confront the ideas of its intellectual opponents and eliminate their books and works. In those days, washing away the books of opponents or burning them was not as repulsive as it is today. The abhorrence we now feel towards book banning or censorship stems from ideas and concepts that have gradually taken shape and solidified over the past few centuries. However, the enmity of individuals towards a range of books may be harmful, but it becomes intolerable when political authorities take to burning or banning books, a practice that the Taliban is currently engaged in.
Recently, the Taliban has taken extensive measures against publishing institutions and bookstores in Kabul and other cities of Afghanistan. Taliban officials, including members of their intelligence and the Ministry of Culture, enter bookstores and throw books they believe promote opposing ideologies or are related to religious intellectuals or contemporary Afghan figures such as Ahmad Shah Massoud into prepared vehicles for this purpose. The Taliban deal with bookstores and publications with violence, insult, and humiliation, even advising them to close their bookstore gates and pursue another profession. The Taliban want bookstores to find books that, in their view, do not have desirable content and are contrary to their beliefs. They make efforts to use bookstores to trap undesirable writers and intellectuals.
Undoubtedly, this approach towards dealing with bookstores and publishing institutions inflicts a significant blow to culture, making the book market even more feeble and lifeless in this country. According to statements from bookstore owners, the book market has faced a recession again following the Taliban’s resurgence. In the past, a significant portion of the daily book sales consisted of academic and school books. With the closure of schools and universities to girls and the massive emigration of young people from the country, few people now seek such books. With the destruction and suppression initiated by the Taliban against books, few book enthusiasts will visit bookstores, as they cannot find their desired books in these stores. Moreover, many of the books that are still allowed for publication and distribution lack the value of meaningful reading.
In more advanced countries than ours, there are well-equipped public libraries in every locality where one can find various books and benefit from them free of charge. In addition, the spaces of these libraries serve as public spaces for individuals to read, research, and write. Unfortunately, in Afghanistan, such a tradition has not yet taken root, and public libraries in this country serve as a rare commodity. In Kabul, there is a public library across from the Golbahar Center where an interesting archive of national books, magazines, and newspapers can be accessed, but currently, this library is almost closed, and its reading room is consistently locked with a large padlock. The reality is that the circumstances have placed such pressure on the people that few individuals take the time to visit public libraries, which are rarely accessible to the public.
Challenging the Religious Authority of Clerics
The primary reason for the Taliban’s and religious clerics’ resistance against new books in the Persian language within the field of humanities is that these books gradually question the religious authority of clerics and, through promoting a critical perspective, expose the clichés advocated by clerics as weak and irrational. From ancient times, religious scholars have been accustomed to considering every word they utter as synonymous with the words of God and His messenger. They do not permit anyone to oppose it, and if someone dares to dissent, they heap various accusations upon them, expel them, and marginalize them. The prevalence of ideas that open up society through books in the field of humanities undoubtedly weakens the authority of religious scholars who are not in sync with the changes of the time. In a society and environment where critical thinking is institutionalized, clichés lose popularity, and argumentation takes the place of authoritarianism. People confidently grant themselves the right to express their opinions and distinguish sense from nonsense in any field.
The Taliban do not have absolute enmity with books; in fact, they quite like the Peshawar Storybooks and want them to find more buyers in Afghan society. Storybooks reinforce traditional values, strengthen the authority of religious scholars, nurture superstitions, and venerate traditional authorities. Therefore, there is no reason for the Taliban to be hostile to them. Totalitarian systems do not necessarily oppose all books; they also promote and advertise their preferred books. When Stalin passed away, his library contained 25,000 books.
Iranian Books and the Persian Language:
Despite the expansion of the printing and publishing industry in Afghanistan in the past two decades, the majority of books available in Afghanistan’s bookstores are Iranian publications. One of the reasons for the Taliban’s opposition to Iranian books is their belief that these books disseminate the Persian language among readers, a language they believe differs from the Dari language. The prevalence of Persian is thought to lead to an invasion of the Dari language, causing it to lose its distinct characteristics. Supporters of the Taliban repeat the argument that Iranians, through the promotion of Persian in Afghanistan via their books, introduce foreign words and expressions into the native languages of the country. During both the Taliban era and the Republic period, the issue of national terminology has been one of the controversial and contentious topics, consistently fueling debates and excitement on both sides of the matter.
Another reason for the opposition to Iranian books stems from the Taliban’s Shia aversion and that of their like-minded individuals. The Taliban consider themselves followers of the Hanafi sect and emphasize that the Hanafi sect is the majority sect in Afghanistan, and efforts should be made to promote it in governance. Regardless of whether the Taliban truly adhere to a specific religious sect, it is clear that they believe the dissemination of books in the field of humanities among the people will compromise the values of the Hanafi sect. Even among this group, some consider the Persian language and the Shia sect synonymous. They believe that with the influx of Iranian books into Afghanistan, Shia beliefs will automatically infiltrate the country, undermining indigenous beliefs. It is worth noting that a portion of the Afghan population is currently followers of the Ja’fari and Ismaili sects and has been living here for centuries. However, the Taliban do not attach much importance to this matter.
Diversity of Knowledge Sources Leads to Disbelief:
“The Taliban believes that diversity in the sources of knowledge leads to deviation and disbelief, posing a significant danger to Islamic society. In the past, it was believed that truth was something easily attainable. Now it is clear that truth is a complex concept, and full access to it, if not impossible, is at least challenging. Some books published in Persian, both in Iran and Afghanistan, in recent years, address this issue, urging readers to critically examine ancient claims and emphasizing the necessity of reevaluating the beliefs inherited from the past. The Taliban think that these ideas spread disbelief among the youth. They believe that people need guidance, and it is the responsibility of their group to take charge of their governance and show them the right path amidst the world of right and wrong. The Taliban are staunch and uncompromising in their beliefs because they have always received a single-source education and are largely unaware of other realms. They think that diversity in sources is misleading and that, in today’s turbulent and complex world, all answers can be found by referring to ancient texts. They intend to raise and educate the masses in their territories in the same way they were raised and educated.
It must be noted that the Taliban, during their initial period of rule, had a reactionary and medieval approach to books, and this time they are repeating the same approach more extensively. The track record of this group in the fields of knowledge and culture, both in their first term and now, has been ugly and detrimental. Undoubtedly, this kind of confrontation not only does not contribute to the well-being of society but also keeps it from preparing to join the caravan of development and progress. It is also crucial to recognize that the experience has proven that in a society where books lack value, human life is also devalued. Heinrich Heine, the German poet, once said: “Where they burn books, they will end up burning people.”
