afghanistanIslamic taboos meant medical students could not dissect cadavers. The
establishment of the first women’s hospital posed even greater logistical
and theological problems, for Afghanistan had only one semi-qualified
woman doctor, yet male doctors were forbidden to see, let alone examine,
female patients. The following year a French couple started a nursing and
midwifery school, which covertly functioned as a girls’ school, but it was
more than a decade before this institution was officially recognized as the
Lycée Malalai.
One of the main intents of the 1931 Constitution was to give legitim-
acy to the Musahiban dynasty: Article 5 stated that ‘the Afghan nation in
general’ recognized Nadir Shah as ‘a fit and worthy king’ and continued
with a rambling justification of why the ‘crown of Afghanistan’ should
be ‘transferred to the family of this king’. The Constitution established
a National Assembly, the Majlis-i Shura-yi Milli, which consisted of 105
members all selected by, and from, the membership of the Loya Jirga.
An Upper House, the Majlis-i Ayan, was composed of 44 ‘intelligent and
farseeing’ individuals, all handpicked by the king. Government minis-
ters and the president of the National Assembly could hold sessions in
camera, form secret committees and pass legislation without the consent
of the full House. Furthermore, any law passed by the National Assembly
‘must not contradict the true faith of Islam and the policy of the kingdom’,
and the king and/or the Council of ‘Ulama’ had the right to veto any of
the Assembly’s legislation. Nadir Shah referred to both Lower and Upper
Houses as consultative, not legislative bodies, and they were essentially
toothless institutions designed to rubberstamp legislation preapproved
by the king and his brothers.
Despite the Loya Jirga having no basis in Islamic law, this assembly,
which had been instituted during the reign of ’Aman Allah Khan, was
retained. Under the Musahiban dynasty, however, it became an exclu-
sively Pushtun club for government-appointed khans and religious elites.
The Loya Jirga appointed the National Assembly from among its own
constituents and it could veto any measures passed by the Lower and the
Upper House, an arrangement that provided another means whereby
the Executive could circumvent any attempt by the Legislature to curtail
its powers.
While the 1931 Constitution created a veneer of democracy, its inten-
tion was to reinforce the absolute powers of the king and the supremacy
of Islamic law. Since many of its clauses were contradictory and could be
overridden by the Council of ‘Ulama’ on the grounds that they were incon-
sistent with Islamic law, the result was an uncomfortable and ultimately