Religion

The overwhelming majority of Pashtuns follow Sunni Islam, belonging to the Hanafi school of thought. A tiny Shi'a community of Pashtuns exists in the northeastern section of Paktia province of Afghanistan and in neighboring Kurram Agency of FATA, Pakistan. The Shias belong to the Turi tribe while the Bangash tribe is approximately 50% Shia and the rest Sunni, who live mainly in Kohat and the Orakzai Agency of FATA, Pakistan.

A meeting after a religious shura in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which was attended by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to offer peace talks with the Taliban.

Studies conducted among the Ghilzai reveal strong links between tribal affiliation and membership in the larger ummah (Islamic community). Afghan historians believe that Pashtuns are descendants of Qais Abdur Rashid, who is purported to have been an early convert to Islam and thus bequeathed the faith to the early Pashtun population.^{[19][54][128]} The legend says that after Qais heard of the new religion of Islam, he traveled to meet Muhammad in Medina and returned to Afghanistan as a Muslim. He purportedly had four children: Sarban, Batan, Ghourghusht and Karlan. It is believed that some Pashtuns may have been Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Hindus and Jews before Islam was introduced to them in the 7th century. However, these theories remain without conclusive evidence.
A legacy of Sufi activity may be found in some Pashtun regions, especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area, as evident in songs and dances. Many Pashtuns are prominent Ulema, Islamic scholars, such as Muhammad Muhsin Khan who has helped translate the Noble Quran, Sahih Al-Bukhari and many other books to the English language.^[129] Like other non Arabic-speaking Muslims, many Pashtuns are able to read the Quran but not understand the Arabic language implicit in the holy text itself. Translations, especially in English, are scarcely far and in between understood or distributed. This paradox has contributed to the spread of different versions of religious practices and Wahabism, as well as political Islamism (including movements such as the Taliban) having a key presence in Pashtun society. In order to counter radicalisation and religious social issues, the United States began English classes in Afghanistan so that Pashtuns there are able to read the English translation of Quran instead of listening to misinformed religious scholars. Many Pashtuns find it disturbing that the West views them as terrorists. They want to reclaim their identity from being lumped with the Taleban and as perpetrators of terrorism and suicide bombings, which was imported to their region from Iraq in the last decade.
Lastly, little information is available on non-Muslim Pashtuns as there is limited data regarding irreligious groups and minorities, especially since many of the Hindu and Sikh Pashtuns migrated from Pakhtunkhwa after the partition of India and later, after the rise of the Taliban. There is, however, an affirmed community of Sikh Pashtuns residing in Peshawar, Parachinar, and Orakzai Agency of FATA, Pakistan. The origins of the Sikh Pashtuns are unclear. Various speculations about their origins state that they are either the descendants of Pashtun converts made by the 16th century Sikh missionary, Bhai Gurdas during his travels to Kabul, offspring of those Pashtuns whom Guru Nanak met on his voyages west of the Indus River, or the legacy of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s huge 19th century empire, which in his own words, extended to the ‘limits of the Afghans’