An In-depth Study of the Impact of Media on Islam in Afghanistan

Abstract

Media, the means of mass communication is a powerful tool and it can do wonders by making the black, white and making the white, black. This paper seeks to study the impact of media on Islam in Afghanistan. First and foremost this paper shall discuss Islam’s stand towards media and its usage by Muslims, secondly the Orients activity through Afghan media and goes further with some suggestions to arrest or at least curtail the negative impacts of media. Primary and secondary sources were used in this paper and research was conducted among 130 individuals including students, alumni and lecturers of law and Sharia faculty in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. The research was in two forms; written and oral. The results were though media is new in Afghanistan, but its affects and impacts are not much different here. Afghan media also have affects including positive and negative, direct and indirect as well as short-term and long-term affects upon almost all spheres of Afghans’ life like religious, political, economic, social and educational. Similarly the religious, political, economic and social forces have their own share of effect on Afghan media institutions and contents. For Muslims each aspect of life is intertwined with Islam, so this paper shall briefly study the above mentioned spheres, while focusing on religious affairs specifically. Due to these affects and more importantly the Orients activity through international media generally and Afghan media specifically it is a big challenge for media usage in Afghanistan as some Afghans are against the media claiming it a source of corruption, while some Afghans use it as an agent of development without any Islamic preservation. Broadcast media and internet are more pursued by Afghans than print and outdoor media due to low literacy, economic rate and easy usage of this type of media. Most Afghans think that Afghan media is influenced through Orients activities, and media affects almost all aspects of life, thus they see the bad impact of media more than the good impacts. Therefore this study suggests that as media affects are not limited to individuals or the organizations then the responsibility of using media in positive direction and avoiding the negative affects is also not limited to any individual or any organization only. Each Afghan as Muslim should understand his/her duty in media usage according to Islamic Sharia in different level and form which they have such as government by amendment of laws, censorship, ministries responsibilities as well as forcing rule of law and public awareness, media institutions by working in accordance with sharia, national goals and preferring national interest upon personal interest, communities by understanding and doing the duty as bridge between citizens and government, families and individual by strong censorship at their level to restrict the negative impact of media as much as possible and try their level best in empowering the positive impact of this same media specially by spreading the true message of Islam and development of the country in and out of Afghanistan. Key word: Media, Islam, Afghanistan, Orientalism, Impact, Positive, Negative