Afghan Biographies

Erfani, Ustad Qurban Ali Orfani Arfani Irfani


Name Erfani, Ustad Qurban Ali Orfani Arfani Irfani
Ethnic backgr. Hazara
Date of birth 1941
Function/Grade Ex Wolesi Jirga Member 2010 MP MNA Kabul
History and Biodata

Alhaj Ustad Qurban Ali Urfani
Mobile: 0799249450, 0700278131, 0776129174

2. Previous Functions:
Deputy of Hezb-e-Wahdat Islami Afghanistan (led by Abdul Karim Khalili) (1996)
Advisor to the president in ethnic and tribal affairs (2001-2005)
Meshrano Jirga Member 2005 appointed MP MNA Bamian Bamyan Bamiyan,
Wolesi Jirga Member 2010 MP MNA Kabul,

3.Biodata:
urfani_ustad_qurban_aliUstad Qurban Ali Urfani, son of Ibrahim, was born in 1941 (other source says 1944) in the district of Yakawlang in Bamiyan province. He received a religious education and studied under the respected scholar Sheikh Musa Kalani. He completed his higher education between 1968 and 1977 at the Alemia Najaf-e-Ashraf in Iraq, where he earned a bachelor of arts in Islamic education. After his studies, he served as a teacher of Islamic sciences and preacher in Afghanistan. Urfani worked alongside the mujahideen and in 1980 he founded the first military-political organization of its kind, Sazeman-e-Nasre Afghanistan.

Erfani is a member of both the Islamic Brotherhood Council in Afghanistan and the Shia Scholars’ Council. He is also the head of a cultural organization called Baqir Ul-Ulom, which is based in Kabul.

In 1988, after the establishment of Hizb Wahdat, he served as a prominent member of the central council of the party. In 1995, he was selected as the first deputy. During the Taliban regime, Sen. Urfani served as a member of the leadership council of Afghanistan Islamic United Front (Resistance Front), which was chaired by Ustad Rabbani.

After the Bonn Agreement, Urfani performed his national duty and served as an advisor to the president in tribal affairs. Urfani has published various books on a variety of political, social, religious and historical topics. His books include Enjoining Good, Preventing Evil, Patience from a Quranic Perspective, A Review of Political, Social and Historical Transitions in Bamiyan, Hizb Wahdat: From Congress to Congress and Islamic Ethics: A Series of Lessons Learned from the Jihad.

He founded the Baqir-ul-Ulum Mosque and the Mosque's cultural organization in 2004. He is the founder of the Mosque and director of the organization. The religious and cultural center is located in Char Qala-e-Chardehi along Darulaman Road in Kabul. The cultural center offers courses on the Quran, geography, language and religious ethics. Students of this center include both girls and boys. The center also has a public library.

He is close to Khalili and Mohaqeq.

Urfani has traveled on political missions to the United States and several Asian and European countries, including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Switzerland and Japan. He headed a delegation of the Islamic United Front for negotiations with the Taliban. These trips took place between 2000 and 2001.

He is currently the chair of the Islamic Unity Party of the Afghan Nation. He was appointed to the Meshrano Jirga 2005 by the President and in 2010 elected Wolesi Jirga Member. Urfani is a member and the Secretary of the Religious Affairs, Culture, Education and Higher Education Committee 2010.

Commission (2012): Justice, Administrative Reform and the Fight against Corruption

He is married and has 12 children.

Urfani speaks Dari, Pashto and Arabic.

Last Modified 2012-07-23
Established 2009-10-13