Ethnic-religious sociology of the Taliban

The general public, intellectuals and academics are mostly confronted with a media-portrayed image of the Taliban; therefore, achieving a true picture of the situation of this movement is an important mission for experts in the field of Afghanistan. One of the best ways to get a true picture of the Taliban is to study the movement's sociology; therefore, in this research, an attempt has been made to identify the Taliban by using accurate and documented statements (and not journalistic information) and field facts.
 This research has been done by descriptive-analytical method and by collecting data through authoritative books, magazines and official media of the Taliban as well as specialized interviews with Afghan scholars. The results of this study show that from a social and manpower perspective, the Taliban group emerged in the early 1970s or 1990s and was, above all, the product of the social, historical and jihadist structure of the region. With the beginning of the Taliban movement, the Maulvi Nasrullah Mansour branch of the Islamic Revolution and then the Younis Khalis branch of the Islamic Party in the East, joined it; Hence the manpower of this movement increased rapidly. Over the past three decades, a large number (not a small number) of Tajiks, Uzbeks, and minorities such as Aimaq, Mosquito, etc. have joined the Taliban; however, the backbone of the Taliban is the Pashtun ethnic group, which has a relative majority in Afghanistan. For this reason, it was necessary to study the customs, traditions and myths of the Pashtuns; Because Pashtun customs and traditions called "Pashtunwali" play an important role in the process of socialization of members of this community.