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Pashtunwali
Traditional way of life of the Pashtun people
Traditional way of life of the Pashtun people
Pashtunwali (, ), also known as Pakhtunwali and Afghaniyat, is the traditional lifestyle or a code of honour and tribal code of the Pashtun people, from Afghanistan and Pakistan, by which they live. Many scholars widely have interpreted it as being "the way of the Pashtuns" or "the code of life". Pashtunwali is widely practised by Pashtuns in the Pashtun-dominated regions, and dates back to ancient pre-Islamic times.
Overview
The native Pashtun tribes, often described as fiercely independent people, who inhabit the Pashtunistan region (southeastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan) follow this traditional code of conduct that governs the social behaviour and values of the Pashtuns, which is called Pashtunwali, and it is described as being ancient, which the Pashtuns follow and predates Islam. Because of that, much of their mountainous territory has remained outside government rule or control. Pashtun resistance to outside rule and the terrain they reside in is sometimes speculated to be why Indigenous Pashtuns still follow the "code of life".
Pashtunwali rules are accepted in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and also in some Pashtun communities around the world. Some non-Pashtun Afghans and others have also adopted its ideology or practices for their own benefit. Conversely, many urbanized Pashtuns tend to ignore the rules of Pashtunwali. Passed on from generation to generation, Pashtunwali guides both individual and communal conduct. Practiced by the majority of Pashtuns, it helps to promote Pashtunization.{{Blockquote|Ideal Pukhtun behaviour approximates the features of Pukhtunwali, the code of the Pukhtuns, which includes the following traditional features: courage (tora), revenge (badal), hospitality (melmestia), generosity to a defeated...{{cite book|last1=Zulfacar|first1=Maliha|author-link1=Maliha Zulfacar|title=Afghan Immigrants in the USA and Germany: A Comparative Analysis of the Use of Ethnic Social Capital|series=Kulturelle Identitat und politische Selbstbestimmung in der Weltgesellschaft|publisher=LIT Verlag|date=1998
Pashtuns embrace an ancient traditional, spiritual, and communal identity tied to a set of moral codes and rules of behaviour, as well as to a record of history spanning some seventeen hundred years.
Pashtunwali promotes self-respect, independence, justice, hospitality, love, forgiveness, revenge and tolerance toward all (especially to strangers or guests). It is considered to be the personal responsibility of every Pashtun to discover and rediscover Pashtunwali's essence and meaning.
:::Winston Churchill (*My Early Life*, Chapter 11: "The Mahmund Valley")
## Pashtun institutions
Pashtuns are organised into tribal or extended family groups often led by a "Malik" (a wealthy and influential leader from the group).
Disputes within clans are settled by a jirga (traditionally a tribal assembly involving all adult males).
In times of foreign invasion, Pashtuns have been known to unite under Pashtun religious leaders such as Saidullah Baba in the Siege of Malakand and even under Pashtána female leaders such as Malalai of Maiwand in the Battle of Maiwand.
## Main principles
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Afghan_provincial_governors_front_row.jpg" caption="Laghman]] governor, listen to speakers talk about [[peace]], [[prosperity]] and the rehabilitation of [[Afghanistan]] during the first regional [[Jirga]] in 2009."]
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Although not exclusive, the following thirteen principles form the major components of Pashtunwali.
The three primary principles:
1. **Hospitality** () – Showing hospitality and respect to all visitors, regardless of race, religion, nationality or wealth, without any expectation of repayment. Pashtuns will go to great lengths to show their hospitality.
1. **Asylum** () – Protection given to a fugitive from his enemies, at all costs. Even those running from the law must be given refuge until the situation can be clarified. Nənawā́te can also be used when the vanquished party in a dispute pleads for forgiveness in the house of the victors, a form of chivalrous surrender. In a notable example, US Navy PO1 Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of a US Navy SEAL team ambushed by Taliban fighters, was aided by members of the Pashtun Sabray tribe. The tribal chief Mohammed Gulab gave the soldier refuge in his village, fending off attacking tribes until he was returned to nearby US forces.
1. **Justice and revenge** () – To seek justice or take revenge against a wrongdoer. No time limit restricts the revenge period. Even a mere taunt () may count as a mortal insult. Monetary compensation can be an alternative to *badal*, for example to expiate murder.
**The other main principles:**
1. **Bravery** (). A Pashtun must defend his land, property, and family from intruders, killing them if provoked.
1. **Loyalty** (). A Pashtun must be loyal to family, friends and tribe members.
1. **Kindness** (). Pashtuns should act for the welfare of others.
1. **Arbitration** (). Disputes are to be resolved through the Jirga.
1. **Faith** () Trust in Allah. The notion of trusting in the Creator generally equates to Islamic monotheism (*tawhid*).
1. **Respect** () and **pride** (). A Pashtun man's pride must be respected, and he must respect himself and others, especially strangers. Respect begins at home, among family members and relatives. A man without respect is unworthy of being a Pashtun. In the poetry of Khushal Khattak, “The loss of life and wealth should not matter, what matters is *pat*."
1. **Female honour** (). A Pashtun must defend the honor of women at all costs and must protect them from all harm and disrespect.
1. **Honour** (). A Pashtun must defend the weak around him.
1. **Manhood or chivalry** (). A Pashtun must demonstrate courage. A turban is considered a symbol of chivalry.
1. **Country** (). A Pashtun is obliged to protect the land of the Pashtuns and the traditional customs.
## References
## References
1. Rzehak, Lutz. (2011). ["Doing Pashto: Pashtunwali also known as Afghaniyat as the Ideal of Honourable Behaviour and Tribal Life Among the Pashtuns"](https://books.google.com/books?id=q3ummgEACAAJ). *Afghanistan Analysts Network*.
2. Banting, Erinn. (2003). ["Afghanistan the People"](https://archive.org/details/afghanistanpeopl0000bant). *Crabtree Publishing Company*.
3. ["Archived copy"](http://www.uob.edu.pk/journals/takatoo/Volumes/English-Jan-Jun-2012.pdf).
4. (15 January 2014). ["Beyond Strategies: Cultural Dynamics in Asian Connections: Cultural Dynamics in Asian Connections"](https://books.google.com/books?id=vUi6DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT98). *KW Publishers Pvt*.
5. Shane, Scott. (December 5, 2009). ["The War in Pashtunistan"](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/weekinreview/06shane.html). *[[The New York Times]]*.
6. (March 2023). ["Great Muslim Leaders: Lessons for Education"](https://books.google.com/books?id=YdG4EAAAQBAJ&dq=pashtunwali+before+islam&pg=PA293). *Information Age Publishing, Incorporated*.
7. Pirzada, Hafsa. (April 11, 2022). ["Islam, Culture, and Marriage Consent: Hanafi Jurisprudence and the Pashtun Context"](https://books.google.com/books?id=HgxqEAAAQBAJ&dq=pashtunwali+before+islam&pg=PA108). *Springer International Publishing*.
8. Margolis, Maxine L.. (October 10, 2019). ["Women in Fundamentalism: Modesty, Marriage, and Motherhood"](https://books.google.com/books?id=u_qwDwAAQBAJ). *Rowman & Littlefield Publishers*.
9. (1969). ["Afghan and Afghanistan"](http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Afghan_and_Afghanistan.htm). *alamahabibi.com*.
10. Yassari, Nadjma. (2005). "The Sharīʻa in the Constitutions of Afghanistan, Iran, and Egypt". *Mohr Siebeck*.
11. Leonard Schonberg, Morgen's War (2005) p. 218.
12. ["Human Geography in the Afghanistan - Pakistan Region: Undermining the Taliban Using Traditional Pashtun Social Structures"](https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a502894.pdf).
13. (1963). ["The Story of Swat"](https://books.google.com/books?id=0x8PAQAAIAAJ&q=swat+war+british+empire). *Ferozsons*.
14. (2017-02-17). ["Malalai Joan of Arc of Afghanistan and the Victors of Maiwand: The Second Anglo-afghan War 1878-1882"](https://books.google.com/books?id=Oc19AQAACAAJ). *Xlibris Corporation LLC*.
15. Amato, Jonathan N.. (May 2012). ["Tribes, Pashtunwali and How They Impact Reconciliation and Reintegration Efforts in Afghanistan"](https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/553438/amatojonathan.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y). *BiblioBazaar*.
16. Schultheis, Rob. (2008). ["Hunting Bin Laden: How Al-Qaeda Is Winning the War on Terror"](https://archive.org/details/huntingbinladenh00schu/page/14). *Skyhorse*.
17. Hussain, Rizwan. (2005). "Pakistan and the Emergence of Islamic Militancy in Afghanistan". *Ashgate*.
18. (2015). "The Lion of Sabray: The Afghan Warrior Who Defied the Taliban and Saved the Life of Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell". *Simon & Schuster*.
19. (8 November 2013). ["The Afghan Village That Saved Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell"](https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-afghan-village-that-saved-navy-seal-marcus-luttrell).
20. Junaid, Muhammad. (March–June 2011). ["Poetics of Identity: On Entrepreneurial Selves of Afghan Migrants in Pakistan"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334431864). *Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry*.
21. Junaid, Muhammad. (March–June 2011). ["Poetics of Identity: On Entrepreneurial Selves of Afghan Migrants in Pakistan"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334431864). *Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry*.
22. (2014-08-19). ["I am Malala"](https://books.google.com/books?id=bIdwAwAAQBAJ&q=Killing+of+women+is+prohibited+by+the+Pashtun+code&pg=PT41). *Hachette Children's*.
23. (2014-11-13). ["I am Malala"](https://books.google.com/books?id=tRUCBQAAQBAJ&q=crime+rate). *Orion*.
24. (12 June 2012). "International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology".
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