Quarterly Journal of Political
Research in Islamic World

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This article primarily focuses on the methodological challenges associated with the religious identity of Muslims in the contemporary world. The litewrature review clearly indicates the fact that Muslims have been in forefront attention of a substantially growing body of studies in the more recent years. This article has highlighted the main socio-economic and demographic characteristics of Muslims both globally and regionally including the Islamic countries, Europe, the US and the Pasific. The underlying conclusion of this analysis emphasizes the key methodological strategy that as Muslims are substantially heterogeneous populations, their varying socio-economic contexts must be considered in our studies in order to avoid providing misleading knowledge. This methodological strategy tends to particulary apply to Muslims who are the world's fastest-growing population.  

 

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After the Islamic Revolution of Iran, the issue of Afghanistan has always been one of the most important issues of Iran's foreign policy due to various reasons such as geopolitical features, cultural-civilizational commonalities and the presence of a large number of Afghan immigrants in Iran. The recent developments in Afghanistan that led to the fall of Ashraf Ghani's government and the re-formation of the Islamic Emirate; It doubled the attention of all experts and analysts to the issue of Afghanistan. "Islamic Emirate" is the name that the Taliban government uses to introduce itself. The first period of Taliban rule in Afghanistan was between 1996 and 2001. In 2021, the second period of Taliban rule in Afghanistan has begun. Therefore, the Taliban regaining power in Afghanistan has led to the presentation of different views in the political and security fields. Some thinkers see the reappearance of the Taliban as a threat, while others see it as an opportunity for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Investigating the fundamental developments of Afghanistan and getting to know the ideological characteristics of the Taliban can be an opportunity for the Islamic Republic of Iran to make the most of the emergence of an Islamic ideological movement in its neighborhood. The main question of the article is what are the major challenges that the Taliban government is facing and how will these challenges affect the relations between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and Iran?