From Normativity to Practice: An Investigation into the Religious Universe of the Taliban

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Jan-Peter Hartung
• Subject Area: Islamic Studies, Arabian Studies, Semitic Studies
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 511264483

This project is aimed at a comprehensive investigation of the religious worldviews and their realization in practice of the manifold manifestations of the phenomena subsumed under the singular label “Ṭālibān” in the Pashtun Borderland, between today’s nation-states Afghanistan and Pakistan. Remarkably, such a foundational research into an highly significant Islamic actor in South- and Muslim Central Asia is yet to be undertaken. This gap in the research is attempted to be closed by a careful reading of a substantial quantity of already collected literature in the relevant languages Pashto, Urdu, Arabic and Persian (Dari), as well as – provided its feasibility – by empirical research on location. Ultimate aim is the writing of a research monograph, in which the applicant plans to carry further his considerations on Islamic religiosity in the Pashtun Borderland which he had made in numerous already published research articles, as well as especially in his recent book manuscript, under contract with Cambridge University Press.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants