The Most Famous
RELIGIOUS FIGURES from Afghanistan
This page contains a list of the greatest Afghan Religious Figures. The pantheon dataset contains 3,187 Religious Figures, 4 of which were born in Afghanistan. This makes Afghanistan the birth place of the 62nd most number of Religious Figures behind Ecuador, and Armenia.
Top 5
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Afghan Religious Figures of all time. This list of famous Afghan Religious Figures is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Abu Dawood (817 - 888)
With an HPI of 71.20, Abu Dawood is the most famous Afghan Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages on wikipedia.
Abū Dāwūd (Dā’ūd) Sulaymān ibn al-Ash‘ath ibn Isḥāq al-Azdī al-Sijistānī (Arabic: أبو داود سليمان بن الأشعث الأزدي السجستاني), commonly known as Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī, was a scholar of prophetic hadith who compiled the third of the six "canonical" hadith collections recognized by Sunni Muslims, the Sunan Abu Dāwūd.
2. Ibrahim ibn Adham (718 - 782)
With an HPI of 63.15, Ibrahim ibn Adham is the 2nd most famous Afghan Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Ibrahim ibn Adham also called Ibrahim Balkhi and Ebrahim-e-Adham (Persian: ابراهیم ادهم); c. 718 – c. 782 / AH c. 100 – c. 165 is one of the most prominent of the early ascetic Sufi saints. The story of his conversion is one of the most celebrated in Sufi legend. Sufi tradition ascribes to Ibrahim countless acts of righteousness, and his humble lifestyle, which contrasted sharply with his early life as the king of Balkh (itself an earlier centre of Buddhism). As recounted by Abu Nu'aym, Ibrahim emphasised the importance of stillness and meditation for asceticism. Rumi extensively described the legend of Ibrahim in his Masnavi. The most famous of Ibrahim's students is Shaqiq al-Balkhi (d. 810).
3. Khwaja Abdullah Ansari (1006 - 1089)
With an HPI of 60.24, Khwaja Abdullah Ansari is the 3rd most famous Afghan Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.
Abu Ismaïl Abdullah al-Harawi al-Ansari or Abdullah Ansari of Herat (1006–1088) (Persian: خواجه عبدالله انصاری) also known as Pir-i Herat (پیر هرات) "Sage of Herat", was a Sufi saint, who lived in Herat (modern-day Afghanistan). Ansari was a commentator on the Qur'an, scholar of the Hanbali school of thought (madhhab), traditionalist, polemicist and spiritual master, known for his oratory and poetic talents in Arabic and Persian.
4. Ali Hujwiri (1009 - 1072)
With an HPI of 51.63, Ali Hujwiri is the 4th most famous Afghan Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Abū ʾl-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. ʿUthmān b. ʿAlī al-Ghaznawī al-Jullābī al-Hujwīrī (c. 1009-1072/77), known as ʿAlī al-Hujwīrī or al-Hujwīrī (also spelt Hajweri, Hajveri, or Hajvery) for short, or reverentially as Shaykh Sayyid ʿAlī al-Hujwīrī or as Dātā Ganj Bakhsh by Muslims of South Asia, was an 11th-century Sunni Muslim mystic, theologian, and preacher from Ghaznavid Empire, who became famous for composing the Kashf al-maḥjūb (lit. 'Unveiling of the Hidden'), which is considered the "earliest formal treatise" on Sufism in Persian. Ali Hujwiri is believed to have contributed "significantly" to the spread of Islam in South Asia through his preaching, with one historian describing him as "one of the most important figures to have spread Islam in the Indian subcontinent." Khwaja Gharib Nawaz stayed at Ali Hujwiri's mausoleum and quoted a tribute to him as a narration; گنج بخش فیضِ عالَم مظہرِ نورِ خدا ناقصاں را پیرِ کامل ، کاملاں را راہنما Ganj Bakhsh-e-Faiz-e-Alam Mazhar-e-Nur-e-Khuda, Na Qasaan-ra Pir-i Kamil, Kamilaan-ra Rahnuma. In the present day, Ali Hujwiri is venerated as the main wali of Lahore, Pakistan by the traditional Sunni Muslims of the area. He is, moreover, one of the most widely venerated saints in the entire South Asia, and his tomb-shrine in Lahore, popularly known as Data Darbar, is one of the most frequented shrines in South Asia. At present, it is Pakistan's largest shrine "in numbers of annual visitors and in the size of the shrine complex," and, having been nationalized in 1960, is managed today by the Department of Awqaf and Religious Affairs of the Punjab. The mystic himself remains a "household name" in the daily Islam of South Asia. In 2016, the Government of Pakistan declared 21 November to be a public holiday for the commemoration of the commencement of Ali Hujwiri's three-day death anniversary.
5. Abdul Rahman (b. 1965)
With an HPI of 40.20, Abdul Rahman is the 5th most famous Afghan Religious Figure. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Abdul Rahman (Dari: عبدالرحمن; born 1965) is an Afghan man whose arrest and trial in February 2006 sparked widespread controversy among the international community. Rahman had been arrested by Afghan authorities for apostasy and subsequently threatened with the death penalty. He had converted to Christianity from Islam while providing medical assistance to Afghan refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan. On 26 March 2006, under heavy pressure from foreign governments, the Afghan court returned his case to prosecutors, citing "investigative gaps"; Rahman was released from prison and remanded to his family on the night of 27 March. On 29 March, Abdul Rahman arrived in Italy after being offered asylum by the Italian government. Representatives within the Afghan government and many Afghan citizens continued to call for Rahman's execution, and his wife divorced him shortly after his conversion, leading to an unsuccessful custody battle for their two children. The case became a cause célèbre internationally, and particularly throughout the Western world. Harsh condemnation came from the United States and the United Kingdom, both of which were the world's leading donors of international aid to Afghanistan at the time. The Afghan government's integrity was called into question, as it had recently been established under the aegis of the War in Afghanistan, shortly after an American-led military coalition overthrew the country's Taliban government.
People
Pantheon has 5 people classified as Afghan religious figures born between 718 and 1965. Of these 5, 1 (20.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Afghan religious figures include Abdul Rahman. The most famous deceased Afghan religious figures include Abu Dawood, Ibrahim ibn Adham, and Khwaja Abdullah Ansari. As of April 2024, 1 new Afghan religious figures have been added to Pantheon including Ibrahim ibn Adham.
Living Afghan Religious Figures
Go to all RankingsDeceased Afghan Religious Figures
Go to all Rankings
Abu Dawood
817 - 888
HPI: 71.20
Ibrahim ibn Adham
718 - 782
HPI: 63.15
Khwaja Abdullah Ansari
1006 - 1089
HPI: 60.24
Ali Hujwiri
1009 - 1072
HPI: 51.63
