Is knowing Pashto a requirement to be a Pashtun?

[Shayesta]

I can agree with you, but I personally feel that by calling yourself PAshtun and not speaking Pashtu is abusive.

Well, let's say it this way; Those who don't speak their language are Pukhtoons but since they don't bother to learn their language, they just ain't proud enough of their heritage because there is a difference between 'Pukhtoon pride' in words and 'Pukhtoon pride' by action. What say?

I am yet to face someone who is Pashtun and hates Pashtu.

Then I guess you still haven't met huge number of Pukhtoons.

[Badlun]

Personally I think that Pashtun is Pashtun by family or ancestryor blood. Pashtun is Pashtun when born to Pashtun parents. Then it is important that he or she may speak Pashto and practise Pashtunwali but the basic pre requisite is blood. A Pashtun who cant speak Pashto because of any reason cant be disqualified to be Pashtun if he or she is Pashtun by blood but if a Punjabi or Tajik learns Pashto and practise Pashtunwali cant become racially or ethnically a Pashtun.



Pashtuns defined

Among historians, anthropologists, and the Pashtuns themselves, there is some debate as to who exactly is a Pashtun. The most prominent views are:
Pashtuns are predominantly an Eastern Iranian people, speakers of the Pashto language, and live in a contiguous geographic location across Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the generally accepted academic view.
Pashtuns are Muslims, follow Pashtunwali and meet other criteria.
In accordance with the legend of Qais Abdur Rashid, the figure traditionally regarded as their progenitor, Pashtuns are those whose related patrilineal descent may be traced back to legendary times.
These three definitions may be described as the ethno-linguistic definition, the religious-cultural definition, and the patrilineal definition, respectively.

Ethnic definition

The ethno-linguistic definition is the most prominent and accepted view as to who is and is not a Pashtun. Generally, this most common view holds that Pashtuns are defined within the parameters of having mainly eastern Iranian ethnic origins, sharing a common language, culture and history, living in relatively close geographic proximity to each other, and acknowledging each other as kinsmen. Thus, tribes that speak disparate yet mutually intelligible dialects of Pashto acknowledge each other as ethnic Pashtuns and even subscribe to certain dialects as "proper", such as the Pukhtu spoken by the Yousafzai and the Pashto spoken by the Durrani in Kandahar.These criteria tend to be used by most Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Cultural definition


Bollywood superstar, Shahrukh Khan, is a non-Pashto-speaking Indian of Pashtun descent.
The religious and cultural definition is more stringent and requires Pashtuns to be Muslim and adhere to the Pashtunwali code.This is the most prevalent view among more orthodox and conservative tribesmen who do not recognize anyone of the Jewish faith as a Pashtun, even if they themselves claim to be of Hebrew ancestry as some tribes do. Pashtun intellectuals and academics tend to be more flexible and sometimes define who is Pashtun based on other criteria. Pashtun society is not homogenous by religion: Majority Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims, while there is at least one Shia tribe (Turi) in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. Pakistani Jews and Afghan Jews, once numbering in the thousands, have largely relocated to Israel and the United States.

Ancestral definition

The patrilineal definition is based on an important orthodox law of Pashtunwali which mainly requires that only those who have a Pashtun father are Pashtun. This law has maintained the tradition of exclusively patriarchal tribal lineage. This definition places less emphasis on what language one speaks, such as Pashto, Persian, Urdu or English. For example, the Pathans in India have lost both the language and presumably many of the ways of their putative ancestors, but trace their fathers' ethnic heritage to the Pashtun tribes. One example is Bollywood superstar, Shahrukh Khan, who is a non-Pashto-speaking Indian of Afghan (Pathan) descent.
Pashtun people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[khyaal]

Personally I think that Pashtun is Pashtun by family or ancestryor blood. Pashtun is Pashtun when born to Pashtun parents. Then it is important that he or she may speak Pashto and practise Pashtunwali but the basic pre requisite is blood. A Pashtun who cant speak Pashto because of any reason cant be disqualified to be Pashtun if he or she is Pashtun by blood but if a Punjabi or Tajik learns Pashto and practise Pashtunwali cant become racially or ethnically a Pashtun.



Pashtuns defined

Among historians, anthropologists, and the Pashtuns themselves, there is some debate as to who exactly is a Pashtun. The most prominent views are:
Pashtuns are predominantly an Eastern Iranian people, speakers of the Pashto language, and live in a contiguous geographic location across Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the generally accepted academic view.
Pashtuns are Muslims, follow Pashtunwali and meet other criteria.
In accordance with the legend of Qais Abdur Rashid, the figure traditionally regarded as their progenitor, Pashtuns are those whose related patrilineal descent may be traced back to legendary times.
These three definitions may be described as the ethno-linguistic definition, the religious-cultural definition, and the patrilineal definition, respectively.

Ethnic definition

The ethno-linguistic definition is the most prominent and accepted view as to who is and is not a Pashtun. Generally, this most common view holds that Pashtuns are defined within the parameters of having mainly eastern Iranian ethnic origins, sharing a common language, culture and history, living in relatively close geographic proximity to each other, and acknowledging each other as kinsmen. Thus, tribes that speak disparate yet mutually intelligible dialects of Pashto acknowledge each other as ethnic Pashtuns and even subscribe to certain dialects as "proper", such as the Pukhtu spoken by the Yousafzai and the Pashto spoken by the Durrani in Kandahar.These criteria tend to be used by most Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Cultural definition


Bollywood superstar, Shahrukh Khan, is a non-Pashto-speaking Indian of Pashtun descent.
The religious and cultural definition is more stringent and requires Pashtuns to be Muslim and adhere to the Pashtunwali code.This is the most prevalent view among more orthodox and conservative tribesmen who do not recognize anyone of the Jewish faith as a Pashtun, even if they themselves claim to be of Hebrew ancestry as some tribes do. Pashtun intellectuals and academics tend to be more flexible and sometimes define who is Pashtun based on other criteria. Pashtun society is not homogenous by religion: Majority Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims, while there is at least one Shia tribe (Turi) in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. Pakistani Jews and Afghan Jews, once numbering in the thousands, have largely relocated to Israel and the United States.

Ancestral definition

The patrilineal definition is based on an important orthodox law of Pashtunwali which mainly requires that only those who have a Pashtun father are Pashtun. This law has maintained the tradition of exclusively patriarchal tribal lineage. This definition places less emphasis on what language one speaks, such as Pashto, Persian, Urdu or English. For example, the Pathans in India have lost both the language and presumably many of the ways of their putative ancestors, but trace their fathers' ethnic heritage to the Pashtun tribes. One example is Bollywood superstar, Shahrukh Khan, who is a non-Pashto-speaking Indian of Afghan (Pathan) descent.
Pashtun people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Btw, Pashtun traitors must not be considered as Pashtuns, because, as we know all those traitors who were otherwise ethnically, linguistically and culturally Bengalis, like the Al-Shams and Al-Badr squads who sided with Pakistani/Punjabi Army against their own Bengali nation, after the independence of Bangladesh were put to trial or were kicked out of Bangladesh many of whom now live as beggars in the streets of Karachi.

[ijaz yousafzai]

If a Pashtun by blood is unable to speak Pashto, he is a Pashtun but he is like a Muslim who does not know how to pray.