The Taliban, a militant Islamic organization, has had de facto control of the government of Afghanistan twice, from 1996-2001 following the Afghan civil war that broke out once the Soviets were expelled, and then since August 2021, when troops from the United States, which had been in the country since the defeat of the Taliban government by them in 2001, left Afghanistan. Both times a nasheed (an Islamic chant, often religious in nature, but can be cultural, that is usually sung a cappella) titled “This Is the Home of the Brave” has been used as the de facto national anthem. (During the first Taliban rule, no specific national anthem was officially declared as an anthem, however “This Is the Home of the Brave” has been heard at the beginning of Taliban radio broadcasts and at the opening of Taliban representative offices when the flag is raised.[1]) Even when not in government, the Taliban continued to use the nasheed in this capacity.
As mentioned, nasheeds, including “This Is the Home of the Brave”, are often a cappella, but are sometimes accompanied by minimal musical accompaniment like drums. However, the Taliban’s particular interpretation of religious law says that musical instruments are forbidden and thus it is assumed that it is always performed a cappella in official government settings. Thus it is often erroneously reported that Afghanistan had/has no anthem under Taliban rule; it is more true that they don’t have an anthem as traditionally used by countries, and not one that can be played by instruments alone, as anthems are often represented (including most sound files on this site). “This Is the Home of the Brave” is a call-and-response type nasheed, where one or two lines are sung out and the line or lines are repeated by the listener. The lyrics as presented could have slightly different arrangement with the verses, how many times they are repeated, etc.
Taliban rule is not recognized by most other governments, and there are also resistance groups in Afghanistan that work against the Taliban rule. One of the most prominent, the Northern Alliance, use the 1992-2006 anthem as their anthem, and even when they have reformed to battle the second Taliban government in 2021, they continue to use that anthem. The government the Taliban ousted in 2021 continue to use their anthem in exile.
Sources:
[1]“Afghan peace plans in limbo after opening of Taliban office,” YouTube, June 21, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QVAAvYE3PY