Uğurcan Kaymaz

In the journal Sırâtımüstakîm (Sebilü’r-Reşad), one of the important publications of the Second Constitutional Era (1908-1922), many political, social and economic issues were discussed. In this article, the point of view of the journal and the writers on Afghanistan and the people of Afghanistan is discussed in the articles about Afghanistan. II. The spread of the Islamism policy, which was at its peak during the reign of Abdulhamid (1876-1909), also to the media organs, caused the articles discussed to focus on Islamic countries. One of the important representatives of the Islamic Union, Sırâtımüstakîm has become a journal containing these writings. Afghanistan, which has been trying to survive as an independent state in the middle of the Anglo- Russian struggle in South Asia for many years, was handled by Ottoman intellectuals in Sırat-ı Müstakim and evaluated within the framework of the situation they were in that day. Although the majority of the articles are about the political life of Afghanistan, the modernization efforts that started to achieve remarkable success during the reign of Habibullah Khan (1901-1919) also have an important place. It is seen that the writers who act with the thought of Islamism in political issues, study Afghanistan in comparison with other Islamic countries, see Afghanistan and Afghans as a part of the Islamic unity, and are in expectation of situations that benefit both the Ottoman Empire and Afghanistan. Especially in the period leading up to the First World War (1914-1918), Afghanistan, which was seen as a new front against the British in Asia, was always seen as a sister country where there was a magnificent development. In this article, Afghanistan and Afghans are discussed by making use of the copies of the aforementioned journal in the Islamic Studies Center digital archive and the transcription text of the journal published as a book.

Keywords: Sırâtımüstakîm (Sebilü’r-Reşad), Afghanistan, Afgans, Amir Habibullah Khan, Unity of İslam.