The Islamic Revolutionary Movement of Afghanistan (Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami, ) is a traditionalist Islamist political party. It was once one of the biggest

Afghan mujahideen The Afghan ''mujahideen'' (; ; ) were Islamist militant groups that fought against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War and the subsequent Afghan Civil War (1989–1992), First Afghan Ci ...

factions fighting against

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

forces during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi (; 1920–21 April 2002) was an Afghan politician and mujahideen leader who was the founder and leader of the Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami ( Islamic Revolution Movement) political party and paramilitary group. He served as ...

was the leader of the group at the time.

History

The movement was one of the seven Peshawar parties. As a mujahideen group, it operated in the southern and eastern Afghan provinces of

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 18 ...

Uruzgan Uruzgan (Pashto: ; Dari: ), also spelled as Urozgan or Oruzgan, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Uruzgan is located in the center of the country. The population is 436,079, and the province is mostly a tribal society. Tarinkot ...

Ghazni Ghazni (, ), historically known as Ghaznayn () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana (), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategica ...

Paktika Paktika (Pashto: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000 residents, who are mostly ethnic Pashtuns but smal ...

, and Wardak. However, it was not as strong or influential a group as

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, and former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so called after Mohammad Yunus Khalis spl ...

's Hezb-i-Islami or

Ahmad Shah Massoud Ahmad Shāh Massoud (2 September 19539 September 2001) was an Afghan militant leader and politician. He was a guerrilla commander during the resistance against the Soviet occupation during the Soviet–Afghan War from 1979 to 1989. In the 19 ...

's forces. It became recognized as the second most important of the seven parties in 1981 (after

Jamiat-i Islami Jamiat-e-Islami (also rendered as Jamiati Islami; ), sometimes shortened to Jamiat, is a predominantly Afghan Tajik political party and former paramilitary organisation in Afghanistan. It is the oldest and largest functioning political part ...

), but support was eroded by 1984. The group lacked a clear political aim other than Afghan traditionalism and Islamism. During the 1990s the group fell into decay. Initially it joined the government of

Burhanuddin Rabbani Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistan, Afghan politician and teacher who served as the sixth president of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, and again from November to December 2001 (in exile from 199 ...

, but in 1993 left and forbade its members from taking part in the ongoing battles. When the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

emerged, Mohammadi dissolved the group and urged its members to join it.https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/political-landscape/ Some of its members had international inspirations, going to

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

to fight against

Ba'athist Iraq Ba'athist Iraq, officially the Iraqi Republic (1968–1992) and later the Republic of Iraq (1992–2003), was the Iraqi state between 1968 and 2003 under the one-party rule of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, Iraqi regional bra ...

during the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. The movement was also weakened by the founding of the breakaway National and Islamic Prosperity Party of Afghanistan, formed by Maulawi Muhammad Osman Salekzada, which captured much of the HIIs following in northern Afghanistan. After the death of its leader, Mohammed Nabi Mohamadi, in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, the leadership of the movement was taken over by his son Ahmad Nabi Muhammadi. Under its new leadership the name of the movement was changed to Islamic and National Revolution Movement of Afghanistan (''Harakat-e Inqilab-e Islami wa Melli-ye Afghanistan''). In April 2005, it joined the National Understanding Front of Afghanistan, a coalition of 12 opposition parties. The front did however not last long. In 2015, the party named a new leader: Mawlawi Qalam U Din Mohmand. Harakat members created public attention when it held a gathering to commemorate the late Taliban founder,

Mullah Omar Muhammad Umar Mujahid (196023 April 2013), commonly known as Mullah Omar or Muhammad Omar, was an Afghan militant leader and founder and the first leader of the Taliban from 1994 until his death in 2013. During the Third Afghan Civil War, the T ...

(who was a Harakat member during the Soviet-Afghan War), provoking a wave of outrage. The party has been relaunched a few times, and in its latest interviews emphasised "peace" as the party's priority. A member of Harakat's ulema council asked the Taliban to leave the traitorous and hypocrit cl country of Pakistan."

References

{{Political parties in Afghanistan 1978 establishments in Afghanistan Anti-Soviet factions in the Soviet–Afghan War Islamic political parties in Afghanistan Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen Political parties established in 1978 Political parties in Afghanistan Sunni Islamic political parties