Afghanistan faces a crisis of faith
An Associated Press article late last month reported on Christian missionaries' plans to enter Afghanistan. "Muslim for a millennium, this prostrate land now looks from far-off pulpits like a God-given opportunity for missionary work," Charles J. Hanley wrote. However, Hanley reported, it might not be as easy as they think. "Resistance would be formidable. To many traditional Afghans, proselytizing threatens the fiber of daily life where religion is an intrinsic part."

Now comes a report on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle that says religion may not be as intrinsic a part of daily life as thought. "Now that the hard-line movement's strong grip on Afghan society has been released—even in the countryside, where support for it was strongest—some people are not sure they want to be Muslim at all," writes Anna Badkhen. Mosques where hundreds once joined together in prayer daily are now empty. "Few pray five times a day, as the Koran instructs," writes Badkhen. "In cities like Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif, muezzins' calls for evening prayer now go virtually unnoticed as men gather in restaurants for dinner instead of going to the mosque." Even Muslim clerics are disillusioned. Hamir Jan, 82, tells the paper, "When the Taliban came, they defamed the name of Islam. They beat everyone; they forced people to pray. People became disillusioned in Islam because of the Taliban."

There's even an undercurrent of the democratization of Islam. "Muslim people of Afghanistan are each their own religious leader," a Pashtun leader says.

This crisis of faith could present a huge opportunity for missionaries, especially as Afghans wonder exactly what it is they believe.

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