A Comparative Study on “Legitimacy” in the Thought and Practice of the Shiite and Ikhawanid Islamists in Afghanistan

No doubt, for various Islamist groups in contemporary Afghanistan, legitimacy is considered the most important and the most serious political issue. Legitimacy is the essence and the spirit of power, and the Shiite and Ikhwanid Islamists as two political mainstreams in Afghanistan have made great effort to legitimize their presence in the political arena of that country. The main idea in the present article is to show, with a comparative look, that why and how the Shiite and Ikhwanid Islamists dealt with the issue of legitimacy, and what the results for their thought and practice were. It seems that Hughes’ method for intellectual analysis of history that considers three stages of backgrounds, nature and consequences, prepares a proper framework for the comparative study of the subject. The findings in this framework show that the Shiite and Ikhwanid Islamists, despite some similarities in the three stages, have sought legitimacy in certain backgrounds, the nature and axes of their thought around the issue of legitimacy were different, and that different results and heterogeneous consequences for their practice have resulted.