Are Taliban religious nationalists or Pukhtun nationalists?

This issue has bedeviled analysts for a long time. The question keeps popping up as the solution of the Taliban insurgency in both Afghanistan and Pakistan is linked to it. Are they Pukhtun or Pashtun nationalists fighting to liberate their homeland or are they holy warriors fighting for the pristine Islam of the 7th century? Or if they are are a combination of both, which is the dominant ideology for the Taliban, Pukhtun nationalism or Islam/Islamism/pan-Islamism? 

In 2009, this issue was discussed with different shades of opinion making their case. Some claimed that Pukhtun nationalism was dominant and contended that the Taliban were the 'latest incarnation of Pukhtun nationalism' and 'the radical Islamist insurgency is itself a reassertion of the concept of Pushtunistan on both sides of the  Afghanistan-Pakistan border' as Kaplan did here (Saving Afghanistan). Others, and certainly the Taliban themselves, claim that they are Islamist or pan-Islamist i.e. believers in religious nationalism (like I Didn't Want To). Others have been more nuanced opinion as Michael Totten discussed this issue in 2009 (The Taliban and Pashtun Nationalism).  

The Taliban are more than an expression of Pashtun nationalism, of course. They represent a reactionary movement that idealizes the simplicity and extreme conservatism of 7th century Islam. By burnishing this ideology, the Taliban is able, absurdly, to attract support beyond its Pashtun base. 

The ethnic component, though, is a formidable one. It all but guaranteed a certain degreeof success by the Taliban in all of “Pashtunistan,” in Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan. Yet all the while, the ethnic map imposes constraints, if not limits, on how far the Taliban can expand.

While many would argue that the Pakistani Taliban are different from the Afghan Taliban, the debate about their ideology does not change much. There is a popular perception in Pakistan that Pakistani Taliban were noble savages living in the blissful 'state of nature' before Pakistan army on the directives of the US entered tribal areas and destroyed the heaven. Imran Khan, leader of the party getting the second largest number of votes in last elections, believes in this theory of Pukhtun nationalism and claimed recently that sharia imposition was never one of Taliban demands, thus rejecting religious nationalism of Taliban ( Imposition of shariah is not Taliban demand: IK). His party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf won the provincial elections in the Pukhtunkhwa province, the province having Pukhtun majority and bordering Afghanistan. However, his coalition partners Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party, believes otherwise and considers the Taliban as fellow religious nationalists, fighting to revive the glory of Islam. 

The current peace talk going on between the umbrella group of Taliban organizations, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has again focused attention on this issue. While Government of Pakistan (GOP) has tried to localize them and claimed that negotiations are about the specific tribal areas where Taliban are mostly based, Taliban and their negotiators have argued that the fight of Taliban is about Islam and so negotiations are about how to implement Shariah in the whole of Pakistan (Govt's committee waiting for Taliban's response).

One of the ways to tackle the issue will be to look whether the Taliban are ready to give up their tribal customs (or what they think as their culture) for Islam or vice versa? For instance, almost all Muslims believe that women education is recommended in Islam and this includes education of non-religious subjects. While the Taliban have tried to dodge the issue in the recent past, it is clear from their conduct and policies adopted during their five-year rule that they would prefer women limiting their study to basic Quran and Sunnah lessons. Similarly, while the Quran clearly speaks against the killing of innocents, the Taliban have shown their willingness to kill innocents, if they do not adhere to their (Taliban's) strict interpretations. After the US invasion, they have also engaged in kidnappings for ransom and drug trade, despite earlier acknowledging that these actions were forbidden in Islam. Drug trade was banned when the Taliban were ruling Afghanistan but now the Taliban not only allow it but profit from it. Clearly, the Taliban are not fully adhering to Islamic injunctions and using it to achieve their cultural, ethnic, group or personal objectives. 

However, the Taliban have always proclaimed themselves as soldiers of Islam and are very strict in observing Islamic ibadah and rituals. Using their pan-Islamic message, they have been successful in decreasing the strength of tribal loyalties that are very important for Pukhtun culture. This success, albeit, has remained confined to Pukhtuns and non-Pukhtun Muslims have rejected the Taliban's pan-Islamism. In fact, ethnic and sectarian divisions and boundaries in Afghanistan, 99% Muslim, have deepened after the Taliban emergence. In Afghanistan, the Taliban represent not Muslim nationalism but Sunni nationalism or even more restricted Salafi (Wahhabi) or Deobandi nationalism. They have failed to present themselves as an Islamic force to other ethnic and sectarian groups in Afghanistan and commentators are talking of two Afghanistans, one for Pukhtuns and other for non-Pukhtuns.

So, if the Taliban are not true Islamic warriors, are they true adherents of Pashtunwali, ancient code of Pukhtun nationalism? Not really. When the Taliban rose, they first rejected the tribal elders and jirga (an assembly of elders to settle disputes), both essential tenets of the Pashtunwali.  According to the code, badal or revenge was limited to the perpetrator, his family or his tribe. Under the Taliban, badal of a Taliban was extended to any anti-Taliban, a gross misinterpretation. Massacres of innocents and abduction of women of rivals are again not part of Pashtunwali but were part of the Taliban tactics.

Pukhtun Jirga (assembly of elders)

Source: Foreign Policy

So, are the Taliban religious nationalists or Pukhtun nationalists? They are both, meaning they are neither true religious/Muslim nationalists nor true Pukhtun nationalists. Like most groups, their history, ethnicity, religion, society, and culture has influenced them. The Taliban cannot eliminate any of these influences even if they want to. They are a farrago of Pakhtunwali, Deobandi school, and Salafism (Wahhabism) so they do not entirely and precisely follow the predominant practices of Pakhtunwali, Deobandi school, and Salafism.

The Taliban were students of madressahs of Deobandi sect of Islam, but quite different than the Deobandism practiced in other parts of South Asia. What Taliban practiced was a hotchpotch of Pashtunwali-Deobandism[12] with Saudi-inspred practices. The Saudi influence came up with the Saudi money in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.[13] They attempted to create more or less a state modeled on the principles of Saudi Arabia.[14] The Taliban ideology could be understood from their imposition of ‘Sharia’ based laws and banning of certain practices which they deemed against Islamic traditions. The Taliban ideology could be clearly examined by analyzing their acts and implementation of tribal-based practices. 

This elusive mix resulted in the edifice which Taliban tried to erect and which shocked the world. The Taliban clerics defined their state as true manifestation of an ideal Islamic one. In that sense they tried to implement a tribal customs-mixed Islam on Afghan populace that the world had never seen before. The Taliban’s Saudi influences were harsher than that of Saudis as they lacked oil wealth to appease the masses and Afghan society though tribal but not homogeneous Taliban went further in following the Saudi model and considered all of their practices as ‘true’ interpretations of Quran. As Deobandism is more of an urban phenomenon in India and Pakistan[15] the Deobandism of Taliban was much different and their practices were more inspired of Saudi system and the laws.[16] Despite of the world’s abhorrence of their imposed laws the Taliban laws were considerably well received in Pashtun dominated areas as most of these edicts were already part of Pashtun culture. (See Understanding Taliban through the prism of Pashtunwali code)

Okay, but can we ascertain which is the major influence on the Taliban, Islam or Pashtunwali? It is difficult as the Taliban are a collection of groups fighting under the overall command of the Taliban leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada. Most of these groups are close-knitted men, sometimes from one tribe, fighting under the command of one tribal leader in a particular area. Based on the preference of leader or tribe, either of the three influences (Pashtunwali, Deobandi or Salafism) can be dominant.