: اسلامستان) literally means Islamland
or land of Islam
. The term is Persian (also used in Pashtu and Urdu) and refers to the concept of Dar-ul-Islam
In Afghanistan in the early 1980s, anti-Soviet factions came together to try to present a united front for the country. Some of these groups suggested that the name of Afghanistan be changed to Islamistan.
In 1949 the president of Muslim League in Pakistan said in a speech that the country would bring all Muslim countries together under Islamistan.
Daniel Pipes quotes Hafeez Malik of Villanova University who writes that: "Pakistanis have started to speculate that Pakistan's natural habitat includes Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and the Central Asia Republics." Pipes then writes that "Sometimes called Islamistan, this region gets counterpoised against the Arabic-speaking south."
Some suggest that Imam Khomeini in Iran also spoke of a united Shia Islamistan with Iran as the capital.
The use of the term " Islamistan
" was coined by Omar Mahfoudhias
a response to a question commonly asked of Muslims
who are undistinguishable by ethnic origin or national association. When asked "where are you from?” one would respond by saying: "Islamistan" suggesting allegiance to an Islamic Identity and not to a particular nation or country as exists today. This response is also used to diffuse any attempt to associate preconceived notions about ones personality or nature based on their national heritage or ethnic origin. 4
- Shu'ubiya, movement of non-Arab Islamic civilisation