The Strict, Unchanging Salafi Creeds of the Taliban

The return of the Taliban, a word meaning “students," to control in Afghanistan marks the return of a top-down set of strict beliefs unlikely to evolve with the times, scholars who have studied the group say. The Taliban say they follow the tradition-bound Salafi school of Sunni Islam that hews to the teachings of the first three generations of Muslim believers, beginning with the Prophet Muhammad’s generation.