Afghanistan Research Paper

Afghanistan has many cultures and traditions based on their religions. All of the religions pray five times each day facing the city Mecca or Mekkah. The religions are Sunni Muslim with eighty percent, Shi’a Muslim with nineteen percent and other religions equal one percent. Most of the Afghans follow the Islam religion; it dominates most of the personal, political, economic and legal lives. The men and women do not shake hand or even look at the eyes. Fridays are holy days, most of the shops and offices are closed.The two official languages are Persian (Dari) with fifty percent and Pashtu with thirty-five percent, other languages equal fifteen percent. The most popular ethnic groups are Pashtun with forty-two percent, Tajik with twenty-seven percent, Hazara with nine percent , Uzbek with nine percent also, Aimak with four percent, Turkmen with a three percent, Baloch with two percent and all the minor groups together equal four percent.

The biggest festivals of Afghanistan are in August 19, their Independence Day it is called Jeshyn-Afghan, and Ramadan, it is when Allah their god delivered the Quran to Mohammed. Ramadan is considered a month of sacrifice and purity. The people fast from dawn to dusk and they only work six hours a day until it is over. Then when Ramadan is over they wear new clothes and do prayers, the end of Ramadan is called Eid Al Fitr. Then the next holiday or festival is called Nowruz, is the Persian New Year, it is also one of the biggest celebrations the Afghans make. The government makes a formal dinner and a celebration. Nowruz starts on the first day of spring the word means “a new day”, this is an ancient Persian tradition. This celebration has been since 1957, when they adopted the Persian calendar. Then there is the Eid-e-Qurban, it is the day for the preparation of Hajj. They slaughter a sheep or a goat as a sacrifice instead of slaying Abraham’s son