It’s the Small Things | A Dog’s Life in Afghanistan
Why Read This
What Makes This Article Worth Your Time
Summary
What This Article Is About
John Butt, a graduate of Darul Uloom Deoband who ran a higher learning institute for madrasa graduates in Afghanistan, recounts leaving his beloved guard dog behind when departing in 2020. He sends quarterly remittances from his English state pension through hawala banking to his former office cook who adopted the dog. The narrative opens with an October 2025 attempt to send money, thwarted by the Islamic Emirate’s nationwide internet shutdown, and recalls a 2024 incident when authorities arrested both cook and dog for three days until a former student—now an Emirate official—recognized Butt’s name and immediately released them with apologies.
Butt explains his educational mission: establishing an institute in 2008 to provide madrasa graduates with contemporary skills from a Quranic perspective, enabling careers in fields like media. His dog, raised in “Islamic lifestyle” traditions—living in an outdoor kennel, never entering homes—spectacularly rejected placement with an international NGO CEO through defecation, urination, and biting incidents, forcing Butt to retrieve him. The piece concludes with ironic observation that the dog enjoys better circumstances than most Afghans, noting the absurdity of governments launching cyber-attacks against their own citizens, suggesting his institute didn’t teach enough political science.
Key Points
Main Takeaways
Transnational Dog Care
Butt sends quarterly remittances from his English state pension through hawala banking to support his former office cook caring for his dog in Afghanistan.
Unexpected Taliban Clemency
Islamic Emirate authorities who arrested the cook and dog for three days immediately released them with apologies upon learning the dog belonged to “Haji Sahib.”
Bridging Educational Worlds
Butt established a 2008 higher learning institute providing madrasa graduates contemporary education from Quranic perspectives, preparing them for media and professional careers.
Cultural Collision Comedy
The dog raised in Islamic traditions—outdoor kennel, never inside homes—rejected Western NGO placement through defecation, urination, and biting the CEO’s hand.
Internet Shutdown Reality
October 2025 nationwide internet disabling by Islamic Emirate prevents hawala banking transfers, exemplifying government-imposed infrastructure disruption affecting daily life.
Privileged Pet Paradox
Butt’s ironic conclusion: his dog enjoys better circumstances than most Afghans, highlighting absurdity of governments cyber-attacking their own citizens rather than enemies.
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Article Analysis
Breaking Down the Elements
Main Idea
Humanizing Afghanistan Through Personal Loss
The article uses a seemingly trivial subject—ongoing care for a left-behind dog—to reveal complex realities of contemporary Afghanistan: the continued functioning of informal financial systems like hawala, unexpected humanity in Taliban officials who respect Butt’s educational legacy, government infrastructure disruptions affecting daily life, and cultural misunderstandings between Islamic and Western lifestyles. The dog serves as narrative device for exploring how ordinary Afghans navigate authoritarian governance while maintaining human connections across borders.
Purpose
Complicating Taliban Narratives
Butt aims to nuance oversimplified Western perceptions of Taliban governance by demonstrating that personal relationships and educational credentials can trump rigid ideology—the official’s immediate reversal upon recognizing Butt’s name reveals how traditional respect systems persist. Simultaneously, he critiques the absurdity of the Islamic Emirate’s self-destructive policies like internet shutdowns, using gentle irony rather than outright condemnation. The piece humanizes all parties while highlighting governance failures through intimate personal narrative.
Structure
Present Crisis → Past Mishap → Background → Cultural Comedy → Ironic Conclusion
Opens with October 2025 internet shutdown preventing remittance, flashes back to 2024 arrest incident demonstrating official’s respect for Butt’s reputation, provides biographical context explaining his Deoband credentials and educational mission, recounts dog’s spectacular rejection of NGO placement as cultural collision comedy, and concludes with ironic observation about the dog’s privileged status compared to human Afghans. Structure moves from practical disruption through personal anecdote to broader political critique, using humor to soften serious observations.
Tone
Affectionately Wry & Self-Deprecatingly Ironic
Butt employs gentle humor and self-deprecation—describing his dog’s “indignation” and “scoffing,” admitting his institute didn’t teach enough political science—to address serious subjects like authoritarianism and infrastructure failure. The tone balances genuine affection for the dog, respect for Afghan resilience, and subtle critique of Taliban governance without descending into polemic. His insider status as Deoband graduate allows ironic distance unavailable to outside observers, creating voice that’s simultaneously warm, critical, and culturally informed.
Key Terms
Vocabulary from the Article
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Tough Words
Challenging Vocabulary
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Causing overwhelming astonishment or making someone unable to think clearly; inducing shock, bewilderment, or paralysis through surprise.
“He with his teeth, brute strength and stupefying terror-inducing powers in case we encountered any unwanted intrusions.”
Made something last by using it sparingly or with great effort; managed to make a living with difficulty from limited resources.
“I send quarterly remittances, eked out from my state pension, to help him look after my dog.”
Arabic phrase meaning “if God wills” or “God willing,” expressing hope for future events while acknowledging divine control over outcomes.
“We would manage, insha’Allah.”
Expressions of sympathy or pity, especially to someone who has experienced misfortune; condolences or sympathetic understanding.
“I gave him my commiserations, saying it was much more of a problem for him and his customers.”
Appeared as a shadowy, threatening, or large form; came into view in an impressively large or threatening way; approached as an impending event.
“As old age loomed, in 2008 I thought it would be a good idea to give other madrasa graduates the same type of career options.”
Walked with a proud, confident gait with the chest thrust forward; moved in a showy, self-important manner.
“He knocked me over and strutted up and down on top of me, partly in rebuke for leaving him.”
Reading Comprehension
Test Your Understanding
5 questions covering different RC question types
1The Islamic Emirate official who released the cook and dog from detention had previously studied at Butt’s higher learning institute.
2Why did Butt’s dog reject placement with the international NGO CEO?
3Select the sentence that best captures Butt’s ironic political critique of the Islamic Emirate.
4Evaluate whether each statement about Butt’s educational background and mission is supported by the article.
Butt graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband, a highly respected Islamic educational institution in South Asia and Afghanistan.
His institute aimed to prevent madrasa graduates from pursuing media careers, keeping them focused on religious teaching roles.
The institute provided contemporary education from a Quranic perspective to orient madrasa graduates toward diverse career fields.
Select True or False for all three statements, then click “Check Answers”
5What can be inferred about why Butt concludes with self-criticism about not teaching enough political science?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Hawala is an informal money transfer system based on trust networks, operating outside traditional banking channels. Widely used across South Asia and the Middle East, it enables rapid, low-cost international transfers particularly useful in areas with limited banking infrastructure or during crises. Butt uses hawala to send quarterly remittances from England to Afghanistan because it remains functional even when formal banking systems fail or face international sanctions. The system’s resilience is demonstrated when the October 2025 internet shutdown disrupts even hawala operations, showing both its technological dependence and its importance as alternative financial infrastructure for ordinary Afghans maintaining transnational connections.
The dramatic reversal occurred because the official had personally studied at Butt’s higher learning institute, recognizing the name “Haji Sahib” and immediately offering profuse apologies: “I am so sorry for the inconvenience we have caused you.” This demonstrates how personal educational relationships and traditional respect systems persist under Taliban governance, sometimes overriding rigid ideological enforcement. The incident reveals that Islamic Emirate authority operates through complex social networks where educational credentials and personal connections can trump doctrinal strictness. Butt’s Deoband credentials and work educating madrasa graduates—including current Taliban officials—created social capital that protected even his dog from enforcement actions.
Established in 2008 as Butt approached old age, the institute aimed to provide madrasa graduates—including Taliban members—with “contemporary education from a Quranic perspective,” enabling careers beyond traditional religious teaching. Having himself graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband and pursued media careers, Butt wanted to give other madrasa graduates “the same type of career options that I had enjoyed,” orienting them “towards careers in a range of fields, including the media.” This bridging mission attempted to connect Islamic educational traditions with modern professional requirements, creating pathways for religiously educated individuals to participate in contemporary Afghan society while maintaining their religious identity and framework.
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This is an Intermediate-level article requiring understanding of personal narrative structure, cultural context, and subtle political critique. Readers must follow the chronological shifts between 2025 present, 2024 past incident, and 2008 background; understand Islamic educational traditions and Afghan cultural practices; recognize irony and self-deprecating humor as rhetorical devices; and grasp how seemingly trivial personal stories reveal larger political and social realities. Success requires appreciating how Butt uses gentle humor to critique authoritarian governance, understanding the significance of educational credentials in Taliban-controlled society, and recognizing the article’s balancing act between warm memoir and political commentary without requiring specialized knowledge of Afghan politics.
The dog’s spectacular rejection—defecating and urinating in the NGO CEO’s office before biting staff members—illustrates fundamental incompatibility between Islamic and Western animal-keeping practices. Raised according to “Islamic lifestyle” traditions where dogs live in outdoor kennels never entering homes, serving guard functions rather than companionship, the dog had never been inside a human dwelling. When forced into the indoor NGO environment, his behavior communicated: “This is what I think of the place you have chosen for me to live.” The incident becomes comedic cultural collision, demonstrating how deeply ingrained practices—even in animals—resist transplantation into incompatible contexts, functioning as metaphor for broader challenges of cross-cultural transfer and adaptation in Afghan society.
The Ultimate Reading Course covers 9 RC question types: Multiple Choice, True/False, Multi-Statement T/F, Text Highlight, Fill in the Blanks, Matching, Sequencing, Error Spotting, and Short Answer. This comprehensive coverage prepares you for any reading comprehension format you might encounter.
