National anthem of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

The "Afghan National Anthem" was the national anthem of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan used from 2006 to 2021. The lyrics were written by Abdul Bari Jahani, and the music was composed by German-Afghan composer Babrak Wassa. It was replaced by "This Is the Home of the Brave" after the Taliban takeover in 2021.

History

After the end of Taliban rule in 2001, a new national anthem was created for the "New Afghanistan", which, according to the 20th article of the new Afghan constitution, was to contain the names of the various ethnic groups of Afghanistan, and the formula "Allāhu Akbar" ("God is the greatest") had to be included. After a competition, "Millī Surūd" was declared the official national anthem in May 2006.

After the Taliban takeover on 15 August 2021, it was replaced by "This Is the Home of the Brave". Due to the lack of international recognition of the Taliban government, the anthem is still used in sports setting such as the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup in October–November, along with the flag of the internationally recognized Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The Islamic Republic anthem and flag were also used in the 2022 CAFA U-19 Futsal Championship.

Lyrics

An abridged version of the anthem is often performed by military bands which omits the third and fourth stanzas for brevity (see audio sample), or the second and third stanzas for saving time to memorize all the country's ethnic groups. The Olympic Games uses a version of the anthem which includes all the stanzas.