塔利班；神学士(Taliban)
阿富汗的政治宗教教派，拥有军事力量，曾在1990年代中期执掌阿富汗政权。塔利班的波斯语意为「学生」，因该组织成员主要皆来自回教神学学生而得名。1989年苏联势力撤出阿富汗（参阅Afghan Wars）之後，他们因不满全国陷入混乱而展开反抗行动，在奥马尔（Mullah Mohammad Omar）的领导下，1994至1995年间，塔利班的势力由仅仅据有一个城市，扩张到几乎控制了半个国家，并在1996年攻陷首都喀布尔（Kabul），建立严苛的回教政权。在1999年以前，塔利班控制了几乎整个阿富汗，但却未能获得国际承认，原因在於统治政策粗暴（例如几乎完全禁止妇女在公共场所活动）以及他们为回教极端分子提供掩护，这些极端分子包括阿拉伯籍流亡在外的宾拉登（Osama bin Laden），也就是据传涉及多起国际恐怖活动的回教军事网络的领导人。2001年9月11日美国世贸大楼及五角大厦发生恐怖攻击後，塔利班拒绝美国交出宾拉登的要求，遭到美国及盟国的军事报复。亦请参阅fundamentalism, Christian。
English version：
Taliban
Political and religious faction and militia that came to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. Following the Soviet Union's 1989 withdrawal from Afghanistan (see Afghan Wars), the Taliban (Persian: "Students")－whose name refers to the Islamic religious students who formed the group's main recruits－arose as a popular reaction to the chaos that gripped the country. In 1994-95 under the leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban extended its control in Afghanistan from a single city to more than half the country, and in 1996 it captured Kabul and instituted a strict Islamic regime. By 1999, the Taliban controlled most of Afghanistan but failed to generate international recognition for its regime because of its harsh social policies－which included the almost complete removal of women from public life－and because it provided a haven for Islamic extremists, including an expatriate Saudi Arabian, Osama bin Laden, the alleged leader of a network of Islamic militants accused of numerous acts of international terrorism. The Taliban's refusal to extradite bin Laden to the United States following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon prompted a military confrontation with the U.S. and allied powers. See also Islamic fundamentalism.