Qafi Federation

Qafi Federation اتحاد جبل قاف কাফ মাউন্টেন ফেডারেশন
Federal Flag Seal
Motto
"There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger."
Anthem
Chant of the Qafis
c.4005 photograph
Celestial Federation
Capital:	Hazrat Shahjalal (nominal)
Official languages:	Arabic, Bengali
Currency:	Qafi Dinar (ع.د)
Demonym:	Qafi
Politics
Government:	Disputed
Settled:	3057
Formation:	3540
Colours:	IGSA standard:              (Civil)              (Military)
Demographics
Population:	3.1 billion
Ethnic groups:	Bengalis, Punjabis, Qafis
National minorities:	Assyrians, Circassians, Druze, Cariocecians
Geography
Planet:	TRAPPIST-1e
System:	TRAPPIST-1 System
Avg. distance from Earth:	39.6 ly
Orbital period:	4 d
Rotation period:	Tidally locked
Moon(s):	0
Surface gravity:	0.930 g
[Source]

“	God helps those who fear Him.	”
–Abu Bakr

The Qafi Federation (Qafi Arabic: اتحاد جبل قاف; Qafi Bengali: কাফ মাউন্টেন ফেডারেশন; Martian English: Kaafredasan) is a federation of several nation-states and is the central political representation of the nations and peoples of the planet Qaf (also known as TRAPPIST-1e). Still relatively weak compared to most celestial federations, the Qaf Federation is still deeply divided on issues of religion and ethnicity with some nations in open conflict.

The Federation is largely comprised of Muslim peoples, which has heavily influenced the planet’s development and culture. The clash between the Federation’s religious and secular elements has been an ongoing issue for centuries. Although Qaf is most populous planet in the TRAPPIST-1 System, it has been unable to reach its full potential due to ongoing internal strife.

History

Early Settlement

Discovered around 2017 by the Spitzer Space Telescope, TRAPPIST-1e was among the three of the seven planets in the habitable zone of its system. Similar to Earth's mass, radius, density, gravity, temperature, and stellar flux, TRAPPIST-1e was determined to be one of the most potentially habitable exoplanets discovered. At a distance of thirty-nine light years from Earth, exploration of the the TRAPPIST-1 System (also known as the Trappist System) plans for an interstellar probe to be sent to the system were met with logistical concerns regarding the viability and lifespan of the vessel. It was only after the success of the Alpha Centauri, Barnard's Star and Luyten's Star probes that a mission was green lit for the TRAPPIST-1 system by the Indian Space Agency in 2249, on the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the star's discovery. The journey took 340 years, with the probe arriving in 2589. The automated probe undertook a ten year mission, collecting data on the seven planets within the system and broadcasting them back to Earth. The first messages from the probe were received by the United Governed Space Authority in 2628, prompting the TRAPPIST-1 system to be placed high up the priority list on systems suited for colonization.

Following on from the success of the colonization of the Luyten System in the 2900s, interest in establishment of extrasolar colonies brought the Trappist System to the fore, with the seven worlds considered desirable for sustainable long term habitation due to the accommodating gravitational accelerations of the six habitable planets being suitable for both Earthers and Martians. In the early 3000's the TRAPPIST Friendship Initiative was undertaken jointly between Earth and Mars. The joint initiative was done to encourage further cooperation between Earth and Mars, to test out new Martian terraforming technology, and to stem the damage of the ongoing humanitarian crisis on Earth as Bangladesh flooded with almost three hundred million people displaced as a result. The planets TRAPPIST-1d and TRAPPIST-1e were selected as targets for colonization, accommodating to the needs of the Martians and the Earthers respectively. The colony ships left the system in 3017 on the one thousandth anniversary of the discovery of the two planets.

Arriving in 3057, the worlds were settled concurently and in the early years of the TRAPPIST Friendship Initiative, the inhabitants of both planets moved freely between them, finding work where they were needed most. Motivated to build a better world the initial colonists eagerly charted out their new planet and built numerous dome settlements on the unlit side of TRAPPIST-1e. Athara, As-Saqar, al-Barzakh, and the Shiva Mountains all gained their names in this early colonial period. Qaf earned its name from the mysterious mountain renowned as the "farthest point of the earth" owing to its location at the far side of the ocean encircling the earth in Islamic mythology.

The government of Qaf in the early colonial period was Celestial Colony governed by the Interstellar Governed Space Authority with only limited representation for the colonists. This was in line with other extrasolar colonies such as Zhu Que Although the Bengalis and the colonial government were both largely secular and supported early efforts to combat extremism, they had their differences. The colonists did not necessarily want independence but after a few decades, a sort of nascent nationalism began to develop among some. Soon enough, a self-determination movement began to develop on Qaf. However, the different ethnic and religious groups led to no unified movement being formed.

Qaf's early development involved a great deal of oxygen farms and ice mining. All this happened on Athara, the unlit side of Qaf, and Hazrat Shahjalal quickly became the largest city on the planet. On As-Saqar, the lit side of Qaf, the early colonists explored the vast hemispheric ocean and charted out the few tiny islands there. In this early colonial period, the only development on As-Saqar were a few island outposts and underwater habitats.

In the early fourth millennium, Qaf's population grew at a much much quicker rate than than the Martian colonies on Cariocecus and Tezuka. This was a result of Qaf being the most habitable planet in the system and the Bengali colonists having an already higher birthrate than their Martian counterparts. Luckily for the IGSA administration, Qaf entered an era of economic prosperity in the 3300's that continued on for nearly a century.

A New Hegira

Events back on Earth would rock Qaf to its core. The climate crisis would bring another wave of migration soon enough. In the 3200's, a new wave of migration from Asia, mostly Punjabis, Indonesians, and more Bengalis, came to Qaf. The Bengalis and Indonesians integrated fairly well, but the Punjabis fared less well. Their culture differed greatly from the colonists and the other recent arrivals, and they were unused to secular governance. Before long, Islamist groups were forming on Qaf to advocate for further use of sharia in the planet’s governance as the vast majority of the inhabitants were Muslim. The IGSA colonial government, most of the Bengali colonists, and the few non-Muslims on Qaf rejected this assertion wholesale. Another problem brewing was on the topic of women and their modesty. Many of the original colonists no longer used burqa, the niqab, nor even the hijab, and this offended the sensibilities of the newer arrivals, particularly the Punjabis. Imams, most famously Anakh Basra, railed against immorality and immodest women, causing a headache for the IGSA administration. Many Bengalis wondered why these people even came to Qaf in the first place.

Even as social problems simmered and the Trappist System hit an economic downturn in the mid thirty third century, the IGSA continued to shovel more climate refugees into Qaf. Most of these migrants were Muslim or residing in a formerly Muslim region, as the IGSA saw Qaf as a natural fit for them off of Earth. This assumption proved to be a bit off.

These newer groups largely included the Albanians, the Assyrians, the Circassians, the Druze, the Kurds, and the Yazidis. The Albanians were the only group the integrated fairly well while the others caused trouble. Over the years, tensions only increased even as word came of unrest in the Solar System and the extrasolar colonies, particularly Zhu Que. As unrest continued, the IGSA colonial government began to realise that they would have to start actually involving their colonists in the government or they would have a full-scale rebellion on their hands. The IGSA administration originally just wanted to created a full representative democracy, but the Bengali colonists protested this fiercely. They insisted the anti-democratic nature and religious extremism of many of the newer migrants would lead to a state governed by sharia law with reduced freedoms for all. Eventually in 3251, the Bengali colonists managed to convince the IGSA colonial government to effectively hand most of the governance over to Bengalis, who still made up the vast majority of the population at the time.

The New Colonial Government

The reaction to this move was immediate. The Punjabis and Kurds especially protested their lack of a role in the new government, and some of these protests turned violent. The newly empowered Bengalis quickly moved to suppress these protests and limit further migration from Earth. This largely worked in regards to the Punjabis, but many of the smaller ethnicities reacted very negatively to the violence. The Kurds and Yazidis in particular, led by an Arab named Abu-Mohammed, made their dramatic exit from the dome cities of the Urban Core to instead settle in the isolated Shiva Mountains, far from government influence. In the following generations, other ethnicites such as the Circassians and the Druze also left the urban centers of Qaf to establish dome cities of their own. The Punjabis mostly stayed in the cities while still being dissatisfied. For the moment, the new IGSA regime was content with that.

There was then half a century where the these new isolated communities acted fairly autonomously from the New Colonial Government. The government meanwhile set about solidifying its rule in the city by liquidating dissent and training a army to crush any potential rebellion. This army was put the test a few times against early Islamist insurgents in the Urban Core and succeeded on all fronts. At the same time, the New Colonial Government spent more of infrastructure and further strived for better relations with its planetary neighbors.

In the 3300s, the Romani also arrived on Qaf and were quickly kicked out of any dome cities they arrived in. Their history would be cut short when the vast majority of the Romani on Qaf were massacred on the outskirts of the Urban Core by Islamist insurgents suspected to be working under the auspices of the New Colonial Government. Most on Qaf were happier because of it. The survivors of the massacre still range around Qaf today, though much more quietly than they did before.

The thirty fourth century was a turbulent time with the Bengali-run IGSA government, known as the Qaf New Colonial Government, consolidating its power over the planet and building up its power base. This was done for a large part with the establishment of the Qaf Peace and Justice Party, the political party that would soon become a constant fixture of the New Colonial Government. With the backing of the IGSA, Qaf was effectively transformed into a one-party state with the New Colonial Government slowly asserting its authority over all the extent communities on Qaf, leading to war eventually with the Albanians, Assyrians, and the Druze. The conflict between the planetary government and the Druze would not be resolved until many centuries later with the Druze effectively hiding out from aggressors in their many mountain strongholds and settlements. The New Colonial Government would however succeed in bringing the rest of the outlying communities to heel, and this would herald in more than a century of forced cooperation and development.

The New Colonial Government, the Peace and Justice Party, and the IGSA worked tirelessly to further develop Qaf to bring it line with other more advanced societies. The more religious and unique communities that had thrived in their brief isolation chafed under the new regime's direct control, and for the first time in nearly a millennium, Salafism made a return to the Muslim community. Many Punjabis and Kurds in particular felt that they were being unfairly targeted by a godless racialist regime, and their religion was the only escape they could find. This was worsened by the fact that the New Colonial Government frequently attempted to enforce its own laws over fiqh and sharia law in general. However, the Salafists did not make any moves or commit any violent acts in these early years, as they knew the odds would be stacked against them if they started a civil war.

At the same time, a controversy had slowly been growing within the Muslim community on Qaf. Ever since the worrying innovation of Christianislam, there had been calls among the Muslim community for another caliph to safeguard Islam against modernism. The process of selecting a new Caliph however was a controversy in of itself, and the process led to factionalism itself. Shia Muslims (particularly in regards to Twelvers) rejected any new caliphate in favor of waiting for the return of Muhammad al-Mahdi. Meanwhile, the Salafi Muslim camp in favor of the caliphate was divided while many other Salafis rejected the idea of a new caliph, as there had been no official caliphate since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the twentieth century and many felt there would be none until the return of the Mahdi. The Salafis in favor of a caliphate were divided into those who wanted a sayyid as caliph while other favored the idea that any Muslim could be the leader of the community, if he was morally irreproachable. This led to frequent arguments between the dueling camps as well as those who were opposed to the idea of a new caliphate on principle, while the New Colonial Government attempted to stem any dissent.

While all debate was ongoing, the situation off-world was progressing at a steady rate. The nearby planet Akash was first settled in a limited capacity in 3358, with the going being made difficult by the harsh conditions there. Meanwhile on the Martian colonies of Cariocecus, Kienen, and Tezuka, there was a feeling of unease as news came from the homeworld of the rise of the Martian Federation in 3492. The thirty fifth century would be the last years of peace for a long time as a tenseness settled over Qaf. The New Colonial Government had established its dominance over the whole planet of Qaf and was set on pacifying the Druze while also attempting to further settle Akash. Bengalis, Javanese, Sundanese, and Bataks were allowed to partake in government as they were "true Qafis" while other ethnicities were largely barred from government positions and the ballot for one reason or another. The only thing holding back the New Colonial Government from becoming a full oppressive police state was the faraway but very real threat of their IGSA overlords coming down on their heads. The IGSA in the Trappist System attempted to act as reasonable advisers to the New Colonial Government, encouraging them to not be to harsh to those they did not classify as "true Qafis". This advocacy gave the IGSA some degree of legitimacy to many on Qaf, as they were seen as misguided but at least well-meaning. All that would change at the dawn of the 3500s with the inauspicious arrival of some information and the fall of the old order.

The War of the Caliphate and Other Wars

Work in progress This section is currently unfinished. The author(s) apologise for the inconvenience.

Tsane Nazarov, a Circassian freedom fighter who acted as the unofficial leader of the Alliance for Democracy during the War of the Caliphate.

Geography

Habitability

A rocky, water-rich planet with a boosted atmosphere of natural oxygen, nitrogen and CO2 and a near-Earth comfortable surface gravity, Qaf is regarded as the most habitable planet in the Trappist System. The planet is tidally locked, with one side of its hemisphere known as As-Saqar permanently facing towards the star, while the opposite side known as Athara is shrouded in eternal darkness. As-Saqar is a vast hemispheric ocean with only a few islands while Athara is a frigid land of ice and soaring mountains. The terminator line, named al-Barzakh, is covered with almost perpetual storms which make the surface practically unlivable. The atmosphere is not breathable, but obtaining oxygen is not a problem on Qaf.

The living conditions of the population on the two hemispheres are radically different. Athara was settled first and contains the majority of the population. The Qafis in Athara live mostly underground or in dome cities, with most of the population centers being in clusters around water sources or important mining operations. The Urban Core, a vast urban sprawl based around the first spot of arrival on Qaf, is where the plurality of the planet lives. Meanwhile, Qafis in As-Saqar mostly live underwater in large, subterranean structures similar to those on Europa. The few islands in As-Saqar are home to numerous dome cities and very valuable to nation-states. The surface of As-Saqar, although always lit, is somewhat habitable because of the thick cloud cover that blunts the effects of the unyielding sunlight.

Government

Politics

Qafi Parliament (elected), as of the 4004 election. Key:      Social Freedom Party: 150 seats      Qaf Islamic Party: 80 seats      Federation Party: 110 seats      New Caliphate: 26 seats      Assyrian Democratic League: 21 seats      Kurdistan Islamic Party: 14 seats      Five Point Party: 17 seats

Qaf has two layers of government, planetary and national. These two layers butt heads and are often hostile to one another, but they mostly work together due to shared interests. These interests are most prominently the economy, defense, and representation within the larger interstellar community. The Qafi Federation is the celestial federation representing the planet and theoretically the upper layer of government. The government of the Qafi Federation is loosely modeled off of the ancient Westminster system with a Parliament, a head of state, a head of government, and a limited civil service. However, power does not really reside with the head of state or the head of government, but indeed with members of Parliament. Although nation-states have their own legislatures, the Qafi Parliament is a political assembly meant to represent local and regional authorities from across the many member states of the Qafi Federation. Made up of two houses, one appointed and one elected, the Qafi Parliament is a hotbed of intrigue and corruption.

Its main two parties are the Social Freedom Party, a far right authoritarian party that espouses secularism, rule of law, and autonomy, and the Federation Party, an economically center right liberal party that espouses secularism, pluralism, and centralisation. The Social Freedom Party has been the designated government for almost the last century while the Federation Party remains the official opposition. Following the first two parties is the Qaf Islamic Party, a Salafist Islamist party who proves to be controversial but popular, consistently winning around one fourth of the vote. That has led to current situation of a coalition government between the Social Freedom Party and the Qaf Islamic Party. Following that are mostly ethnic or religious parties such as the New Caliphate (Mujaddid Islamists), the Assyrian Democratic League (Assyrian ethno-nationalists), the Five Point Party (Druze ethno-nationalists), and the Kurdistan Islamic Party (splinter of the Qaf Islamic Party). These smaller parties generally side with the official opposition as a rule, with the notable exception of the Kurdistan Islamic Party who sometimes votes with the ruling coalition government. Unelected parties include the Trappist Liberty Party (classical liberal) and the Space Labor League (left-wing belter nationalists).

The various nation-states have their own radically different forms of government and quarrel with one another often. There are three types of countries most common on Qaf: liberal governments who follow liberal democracy/values, social republics who are authoritarian but secular in nature, and Islamic republics who enforce sharia. Exceptions to this norm include the confederation of the Druze, Muwahhidun, and the Shiva Emirate, effectively a warlord state within the vast Shiva Mountains. Nation-states are allowed to have their own courts and judges separate from the Supreme Court on Qaf, who rarely interferes with local affairs.

The constituent states are:

Qafi Federation constituent states

State	As-Saqar Confederation	Bangla Republic	Circassian Social Republic	Illyrian Social Republic	East Kurdistan Republic	Khmst Miah Islamic Republic	Neo-Aramea	Muwahhidun	Shiva Emirate	West Kurdistan Social Republic
Capital	Anak	Hazrat Shahjalal	Yinal	Hoxha	Melek Taus	New Lahore	Nineveh	Mughara al-Druze	Fatah al-Kufr	Simurgh
Current Head of State	Raharjo	Ahnaf Mukherjee	Batyr Tch'edykoy	Urtar Kartallozi	Areen Xemgîn	Chamkaur Kular	Diyana Ashouri	Faisal Hamzeh	Ejaz Mahtam	Azad Öcalan

In addition to these recognised constituent states, there are a handful of non-state actors who also operate on Qaf, mostly in Athara's more remote regions. These non-state actors can be divided into two groups: non-violent and violent. The non-violent are usually left alone by the Qafi Federation while the violent ones have to be dealt with.

Non-violent non-state actors used to be more common on Qaf when the Bengali regime ruled the planet with groups such as the Assyrians, Circassians, Druze, and Kurds actively working to live outside the boundaries of larger Qafi civilisation. These non-violent non-state actors would not often actively contest the rule of the regime in charge of the planet, but they would resist attempts to limit their autonomy. Nowadays with many different nation-states on Qaf, these non-violent non-state actors are now limited to a few Druze and Circassian clans who have still refused to assimilate to their "new nation-states".

Violent non-state actors are the more common variety currently with the main groups being Salafist insurgents, Mujaddid insurgents, and the Human Upliftment Army. All these groups explicitly challenge the Qafi Federation's rule and work to overthrow it in one way or another.

The Salafist insurgents, made up of jihadists and splinter groups from the Qaf Islamic Party, are the largest and most diverse group, with support stemming from sympathetic Muslims in Athara, elements of the Qaf Islamist Party, and the Shiva Emirate. They seek to one day overthrow the Qafi Federation in favor of a regime compliant with sharia law. These insurgents are centered in Athara's mountainous regions and control large swathes of territory, causing a big headache for the central planetary government. The relatively recent religious bloody split of the once united Kurdistan has only fueled further support for the Salafist insurgency. The Mujaddid insurgents are the second largest violent non-state actor group, though they owe their support more to the sizable Mujaddid religious minority in As-Saqar and Athara. These Mujaddid insurgents wish to reinstall the disempowered Mujaddid Caliphate by overthrowing the Qafi Federation to bring about a Caliphate that will ultimately usher in the End Times, the emergence of the Madhi, and the Day of Judgement. In As Saqar, this group mostly operates on large watercraft and small isolated islands near al-Barzakh, raiding passing ships and occasionally crossing into Athara to conduct raids to assist their brethren there. In Athara, Mujaddid insurgents are concentrated in the Valleys of the Prophet adjacent to the Shiva Moutains and al-Barzakh. The third and smallest violent non-state actor group is the Human Upliftment Army, who only arrived on Qaf in the last century or so. Radical transhumanists, HUA (as they are commonly called) contests the same lawless mountain territory in Athara as the Salafist insurgents and fights them more often than the Qafi Federation. Still, HUA's overall goal is to eventually overthrow the planetary government to abolish hierarchy and bring about a new age of enlightenment. HUA mostly draws its base from off-worlders and local Muslims jaded from religion as a result of the Salafist insurgency.

Departments

The Qafi Federation is recognised by IGSA to have rights to inner planets of the Trappist System including the planets of Jahannama and Akash. The Qafi Federation also lays claim to the area around TRAPPIST-1, the system's red dwarf, though this claim is not recognised by the IGSA and disputed by Cariocecus (though rarely with any real animosity).

Economy

Overview

The economy of Qaf differs between its two halves. Athara, the unlit side, relies heavily on ice mining, natural resource exploitation, and industry while As-Saqar, the lit side, relies on trade, services, and hydroponic agriculture. Trade on As-Saqar is conducted on the few islands present in the vast hemispheric ocean, and the Qafi there are looking to build more artificial islands to further facilitate trade. Meanwhile, trade is also present in dark Athara, but it is much less of a mainstay than on the other side of the planet, with resources sometimes being shipped by air between Athara and As-Saqar in the form of exports for off-world transportation and imports for consumption. This system is resented by many in Athara, who do not like being at the mercy of those they see as their lessers.

Qaf is an economic powerhouse, and it easily dwarfs the economies of the other planets in the Trappist System with the exception of Cariocecus. However, severe income inequality has stunted Qaf's growth and assisted in the further division of the planet. While As-Saqar is increasingly wealthy along with many elites in Athara, the vast numbers of the lower classes in Athara are still very poor. This has fueled anger against the governments of the hemisphere and further fueled the various insurgencies and wars there.

Health

The people of Qaf vary in their health, mostly based upon class. Quite simply put, the rich are fairly healthy while the poor are not, as a general rule. States within the Federation that have healthcare provided to its citizens generally have better than those that do not, most notably the Shiva Emirate and the more chaotic areas contested between other states and non-state actors. The differences between the health of Qafi states vary depending largely upon the fundamentalism of their state. For example, ectogenesis and abortion are illegal in Neo-Aramea while the Shiva Emirate bars male doctors from treating women and outlaws the access to hammam by women due to the ruler's strict Salafist beliefs. Also, the healthcare of the Bangla Republic is fairly shoddy due to the state's high population and its demand on the state's resources while the As-Saqar Confederation has state of the art healthcare for its citizens due to the state's prosperity and much lower population. As the member-states of the Federation are allowed to govern themselves with a large degree of autonomy, there have been few collective efforts to improve the state of affairs on Qaf.

Migration

With Qaf, there are frequent migrations both between states of the Federation. Internal migration has been an issue for many on Qaf as the larger population centers such as the Urban Core wield a significant demographic advantage (or even threat) over smaller states. So, several Qafi states have restrictive immigration laws that protect their ethnic and cultural integrity, to the chagrin of many of the more economically-minded on Qaf. The Social Freedom Party in particular emphasizes autonomy within the Federation along with many of the ethnic parties while the Federation Party and the Qaf Islamic Party are less concerned. Smaller states such as Muwahhidun, Neo-Aramea, and the East Kurdistan Republic are especially protective of their borders. The only states that really emphasize immigration are the As-Saqar Confederation and the Bangla Republic as the As-Saqar Confederation does not care about demographics and the Bangla Republic has an immense population that is hardly affected by demographic changes.

Migration between Qaf and other localities of the Trappist System and beyond has been a constant since the planet's colonization. The Qafi Federation sends immigrants to other planets within the Trappist System with the most common destinations being Akash, Purity, and Miyabi with the Martian strongholds of Cariocecus and Tezuka as lesser destinations. There are significant Qafi communities on Purity, Miyabi, and Cariocecus that have varying degrees of influence politically, culturally, and economically. Immigration to Qaf from the outside mostly comes from outside the Trappist System from Earth, with many of the migrants being adherents to Christianislam who lean towards the brand of orthodox Salafi Islam that much of Qaf follows. Other smaller immigrant groups include Martians from Cariocecus who mostly work as technicians and engineers in the Urban Core and wealthy Tranquilans who run businesses that employ many Qafis across the planet.

Energy

Qaf does not have a centralized power grid with each state having its own power grid and energy policy. Fusion reactors are the most common source of power for larger states while smaller states and non-state actors rely more on other nuclear energy sources and alternative energy sources such as solar power. More rural dome cities and underground settlements have less reliable power grids, with this being particularly true regarding the more disparate Druze clans and areas under the control of insurgents.

Science and technology

The technology level of the Qafi Federation varies throughout the planet, but it is generally on the level of the rest of governed space. The As-Saqar Confederation is the pinnacle of technological progress on Qaf while the Shiva Mountains have the lowest technological level.

Transport

The Qafi Federation has an expansive rail system both above-ground and underground that was built in the aftermath of the War of the Caliphate. Other smaller rail systems are also present on Qaf. Infrastructure has been improved on the state level since then, but there have been no planet-wide building projects related to transportation since. Private transportation is also fairly common on Qaf due to the large distances between inhabited areas.

Culture

Architecture

Since gravity on Qaf is very similar to Earth, building styles from Earth are more applicable. The most prominent Earther architecture style on Qaf is Islamic architecture, mostly for government buildings, mosques, and well-off residential areas. More utilitarian architecture styles are used by the lower classes and more isolated communities. Meanwhile, ethnic communities such as Assyrians and Bengalis have their own architecture styles that feature prominently within their states.

A rare thing to come across elsewhere that can be found on Qaf are the garden domes. Despite being quite much like dome cities, they contain very little human life or housing; instead, they contain forests, green plains, rivers, waterfalls and other natural phenomena - home to the myriad forms of wildlife. The first of these structures were built in 3601 by the Circassian Confederation, linked to the capital Yinal as a place of vacation and a means to reestablish the broken link between nature and Circassian lifestyle, meanwhile providing the city with a fresh scent of air as well. To be present in these garden domes were considered to be a tremendous luxury and initally only veterans and their close families were allowed into them, as well as high-ranking government officials and their families - discounting the maintenance crew. More of these garden domes were built in the following centuries and thus garden domes became more common and less of a luxury, open to the use of all law-abiding citizens. However, right to own residences in these domes were still exclusive to government officials, veterans and their families. The example was later followed by other authorities on Qaf as well.

Demographics

The demographics of Qaf differ from state to state with the Bangla Republic and the Khmst Miah Islamic Republic being the largest two states in terms of population. The majority of the population are concentrated in the Urban Core, the large urbanized area in Athara where Qaf's first settlements were built. The whole area stretches for thousands of kilometers in dome cities and underground habitats. Qaf maintains a stable population growth due to the cultural norms and continued high fertility in rural areas.

Ethnicity

On the lit and unlit sides of Qaf, ethnicity is regarded in almost completely different lights. Divided by al-Barzakh, two halves have vastly divergent cultures and histories with little overlap aside from a couple of nation states that hold territory in both. Even then, there are glaring differences between peoples on either side of al-Barzakh, even if they are obstinately the same ethnicity as one another.

The unlit side of Qaf (Athara) is a cold land of ice and mountains, and it was the first half of the planet to be settled. The first colonists on Athara and Qaf overall were Bengalis, who were Muslims, as reflected in their naming the planet Qaf, but were fairly secular in character. These original colonists were later followed by more Bengalis, Indonesians, and Punjabis during the height of the climate crisis. The Indonesians in particular were made up of Javanese, Sundanese, Malay, and a couple other smaller ethnicities. They would integrate well while the Punjabis would not. Over the next couple of centuries, a steady stream of migrants have come to Qaf from Earth with most of them being minorities displaced from their homelands on Earth, often Muslim as well. These groups include the Albanians, the Assyrians, the Circassians, the Druze, and the Kurds. Over time, these differing ethnicites began resenting one another and chafing under the IGSA administration and local Bengali rule. So when the IGSA administration collapsed and the supposed Qaf Caliphate was declared, Qaf was irrevocably broken into many squabbling nation-states. Neighbor fought neighbor with war crimes being committed on all sides. Things would only begin to come to a head with the fall of the caliphate. The squabbling ethnicities and religions of Qaf would eventually come to an uneasy peace with the establishment of the Qafi Federation, the final defeat of the Commonwealth, and the defense of Cariocecus against their avenging overlords. However, wounds from these wars remain especially among Bengalis, Druze, and Batak. Currently, Athara is home to the majority of Qaf’s population but is plagued by strife as various nation-states and non-state actors alike clash for control or settle old scores. The emergence of the pagan Yazdanis in the last century or so has only escalated the violence.

The lit side of Qaf (As-Saqar) is vast ocean with many underwater habitats lurking beneath the waves, a product of later settlement. The majority of those who live there are descended from Bengalis and various Indonesian ethnicities who initially settled there in the years prior to the IGSA collapse. Over time, the population has further homogenized into what is now known as "Qafis". Although all native inhabitants of Qaf are obstinately known as Qafis, Qafis specifically identify with the term as their ethnic group. Qafis are largely Salafi Muslim, speak Bengali or Indonesian, and are relatively well-off. More diverse varieties of peoples from off-world are also present in As-Saqar's island ports, but they are vastly outnumbered by the Qafis.

Holidays

There are six major national holidays in the Qaf Calendar (inspired by the older Hijri calendar), each either celebrating its religious and cultural roots:

• New Year: 1 Muḥarram, the day that marks the beginning of a new year and is the day on which the year count is incremented. The New Year is brought in by celebrations across the planet from not only Muslim communities but also other religious communities regardless of its Islamic origins.
• Mawlid an-Nabī: 12 Rabī‘ al-Awwal, the observance of the birthday of Islamic prophet Muhammad. Most denominations of Islam of Qaf approve of the commemoration of Muhammad's birthday, but Salafists disapprove of the celebration, considering it
• Ramadan: 1 Ramaḍān, a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community by Qaf's Muslims. A commemoration of Muhammad's first revelation, the annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days.
• Chaand Raat: 29 or 30 Ramaḍān, a time of celebration when families and friends gather in open areas at the end of the last day of Ramadan, which signals the arrival of the Islamic month of Shawwal and the day of Eid. Once localized to Punjabi and Bengali communities but now widespread across Qaf.
• Eid al-Fitr: 1 Shawwāl, a feast day celebrated by Muslims on Qaf that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
• Eid al-Adha: 10 Dhū al-Ḥijja, the holiest Islamic feast day honoring Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. In commemoration of this intervention, an animal is sacrificed ritually and divided into three parts. One share is given to the poor and needy, another is kept for home, and the third is given to relatives.

Language

Due to the numerous ethnicities that settled Qaf from Earth, the planet hosts a diversity of the languages with some new ones even arising since the planet’s settlement. The most common first language on Qaf is Bengali followed by Indonesian, Punjabi, the Kurdish languages, and Albanian with many smaller languages following them such as Syriac, the Circassian languages, and various forms of English.

The most significant language however is, for the most part, a second language, aside from among the Druze. That language is Arabic, the liturgical language of the religion of Islam, since the Quran and Hadith were written in Arabic. Arabic has maintained a sizable presence on Qaf despite its lack of native speakers due to successive generations of imams and mullahs who have relentlessly drilled the language into the vocabulary of the planet. As a result, Qafi standard Arabic is effectively considered the lingua franca on Qaf with the federation conducting much of its business in Arabic.

The language divide between the lit and unlit sides of Qaf is primarily between Bengali and Arabic. The lit side of Qaf with its underwater habitats has Bengali as its main language because most of the first people underwater were Bengali. Bengali's mix of Arabic, English, and Persian aids in its survival against the official use of Arabic. Meanwhile, the unlit side of Qaf uses Arabic as its main language because of its religious significance to the inhabitants.

Religion

Islam dominates Qaf, simply said. The religion persists in its orthodox form, mostly unaltered by syncretic influences aside from members of the Batak ethnic group. Islam’s influence is seen in the name of the planet itself, inspired by the near-mythical Mount Qaf mentioned in the Hadiths of the prophet Mohammed. The vast majority of Qaf practices Islam, with almost ninety percent of the population being Muslim. This is further split between Salafi and Mujaddid sects, often along sectarian lines. Salafi Islam makes up the vast majority with almost eighty four percent of Qafi Muslims on both sides of the planet being Salafis, with Mujaddids (ten percent of Muslims) and Shias (six percent of Muslims) being loathed minorities in most areas. The Mujaddids have largely been pacified after centuries of conflict with Salafis, but wounds remain behind from past conflicts with Mujaddids especially resenting their lack of a state of their own. Salafi Muslims see themselves as the rightful rulers of Qaf for the most part, and many Salafists hope to one day claim the entire planet for the true faith from heretics and heathens. Sufism has also survived on Qaf, though it faces steep opposition by many more hardline Muslims.

The remaining ten percent of Qaf's religious are mostly made up of the Assyrians and Yazdanis, each making up about three to six percent. The Assyrians follow Christianity, more specifically the ancient Church of the East, and they are tolerated and respected by their neighbors for being fearsome warriors. A small percentage of Circassians follow the Circassian Orthodox Church, who survived the rise of Christianislam as a part of the larger Eastern Orthodox Church. The Yazdanis, descendants of Kurds and Yazidis, are meanwhile not liked at all by many Muslims and are the frequent targets of Salafists and other remaining Kurds. Their religion claims to be the Cult of Angels worshipped by the Kurds' ancestors in days long past. The remaining religious minorities are made up of the Druze, various pagan movements, and a handful of Sufi-influenced messianic movements. The irreligious are also present, mostly among off-worlders and Albanians, but their opinions are not regarded as legitimate, even compared to heretics and heathens. A common stereotype of atheists on Qaf is sympathy for transhumanism and the recent HUA insurgency, a notion that has gotten many Qafis killed over the years.

The division between the religious and the secular tore Qaf apart in the past, and the divide remains into the present. Secularists welcome the influence of outsiders while usually maintaining their own faith and decrying further religious violence. Most governments of Qaf are nominally secularist to appeal more to off-worlders while more hardline regimes that adhere to sharia law do exist. The lit side of the planet is more secular while the unlit side is more religious. Athara, the unlit side, is also more religiously diverse with most of the planet’s non-Muslim population living in isolated communities there.

Literature

Due to the diversity of Qaf's inhabitants, the planet lacks a unified literary canon with the different cultures and nations having their own literature with histories often stretching back their time on Earth. However, there are some similarities that bear true for most Qafi literature. Poetry in particular is prevalent due to the long tradition of Arabic poetry that has continued on Qaf. The Quran and its hadiths also have a huge influence on Qafi literature due to the planet's highly religious nature.

Music

Music itself is somewhat a contested issue on Qaf, though mostly due the insistence of the Qaf Islamic Party and other Salafists that music is haram. Beyond Islamists, music is an accepted part of Qafi daily life and of the numerous cultures residing on the planet, many of them have their own musical styles, instruments, and even genres.

The music of Qaf is diverse, with the most popular non-traditional genres being Qafi pop, Sufi rock, and Muwashshah. Qafi pop has its basis in the popular music genres of the planet's first colonists from Bangladesh and Punjab. It is the largest musical genre in the Trappist System with popularity not only on Qaf but also on the other inhabited planets. Sufi rock is genre reborn after the recolonisation of Qaf, and it has a wide appeal among various religious communities, not all of them Muslim. Muwashshah is pre-existing secular music genre uses muwaššaḥ texts as lyrics, still in classical Arabic. This genre is especially popular among Islamists who tolerate music and other Muslims due to the genre's heavy use of Arabic.

National heroes

As a divided planet, Qaf has numerous national heroes for each state within the Federation with very little overlap between different states, peoples, and cultures. However, there have been a couple of Qafis that have risen above the petty sectariansim and have become known across the planet as national heroes to many different people. Still, many of these "national heroes" are controversial on Qaf among the population for any variety of reasons. The following is a list of notable Qafi heroes:

• Ahnaf Khan - Sufi poet of Bengali descent and a member of the Qadiri tariqa, politically influential in the era following the War of the Caliphate. His contributions to the Qafi literary canon are treasured throughout the Trappist System and even have earned him some prestige in the Solar System among ascetic societies.
• Dikshita Rahman - Bengali holography director who revolutionized the industry in As-Saqar, among the most prolific directors in Qafi history while mostly focused on familial stories and individual struggles. Her legacy is dogged by controversy for her avowed feminist views and enthusiastic support for the New Colonial Government.
• Ejaz Mahtam - Punjabi jihadist who recently established the Shiva Emirate after a protracted military campaign against a fragmented Kurdistan, controversial figure on Qaf but lionized by the Qaf Islamic Party and its sympathizers. Still the emir of the Shiva Emirate and rules the state with an iron fist.
• Fahad Mughal - Punjabi political demagogue and former leader of the Qafi Islamic Party who engineered the power-sharing alliance with the Social Freedom Party. Viewed with mixed feelings as a practical man who saved Qaf from civil war but also as something of a hypocrite by the more radical within his own party.
• Moksud Khondakar - Bengali general within the New Colonial Government Army and later Commander-in-Chief of the Qafi Free Army during the War of the Caliphate. Celebrated as the founder of the Qafi Federation and pivotal in the early history of the state. Somewhat controversial for his hatred of Islamism and his favoritism towards other Bengalis.
• Mujahid Chaudhari - Bengali brigadier general within the New Colonial Government Army and later the first caliph of the "Mujahid Caliphate" who served as the central figure within the War of the Caliphate. Renowned for his strength of ambition and military acumen but largely demonized by Qafis for his claim to the caliphate alongside his lust for power with the exception of the Muhajidd minority who glorify him.
• Salman al-Qasim - Druze freedom fighter who resisted all attempts to subsume the Druze by the New Colonial Government. Killed in battle against the New Colonial Government and celebrated as an early Qafi patriot, even though he fought for Druze independence specifically.
• Sharo Bet Youkhanna - Assyrian author and philosopher who first formulated the ideology of social freedom in response to the weakness he saw inherent in the Qafi Federation. Widely celebrated for his creation of the social freedom ideology but largely repudiated by fellow Assyrians for his avowed atheism.
• Sumon Khan - Bengali inventor and businessman who is currently one of the most influential oligarchs on Qaf, with deep connections in the Urban Core, As-Saq, and the Federation Party. Has something of a cult of personality surrounding him in the urban areas of Qaf and beyond in the Trappist System.
• Tsane Nazarov - Circassian freedom fighter who acted as the unofficial leader of the Alliance for Democracy during the War of the Caliphate, an early champion of secularism in the face of Islamism on all sides. A prominent leader within the early Qafi Federation and celebrated as an exemplary Qafi patriot.
• Zorav Heval - Kurd religious scholar, former imam, and politician who was key in the Yazdanism movement to unify the Kurds and the Yazidis. Controversial figure to say the least who was assassinated by Islamists but has a positive legacy among many within the Federation Party and the Yazdanis.

Philosophy

Several philosophical and religious schools of thought jostle for control on Qaf, with some being older imports from Earth and others being new native creations. The three current dominant contesting ideologies on Qaf are Islamism, humanism, and social freedom. These ideologies are not rigid and sometimes mix, especially in the case of humanism and Islamism in the form of Islamic democracy, a moderate ideology held by many on Qaf.

Islamism is without a doubt the oldest of the ideologies on Qaf, with its roots going back to the very foundations of the Islamic faith and the implementation of sharia in modern nation-states. The movement largely lost steam in the 21st century with the defeats of numerous Islamist non-state actors and the seeming discrediting of the movement. However on Earth, Islamism was dealt something of a second chance with the advent of Christianislam which perturbed many within the ummah. Many faithful Muslims saw Christianislam as the sign of a new jahiliyyah, and there were numerous armed conflicts on Earth due to this. That in turn gave fuel to an already existing movement: Salafism. Developed in Egypt in the late 19th century as a reaction against Western European imperialism, Salafists advocated a return to the traditions of the salaf, the first three generations of Muslims, which they preached as the unadulterated, pure form of Islam. This appealed to many Muslims in reaction to the sudden jolt that was Christianislam, and the movement experienced a resurgence in the late third millennium. So when Bengali colonists arrived on Qaf in 3057, there were already a few Salafists among them. However, the ideology only really took root with the arrival of more Kurdish and Punjabi refugees during the Climate Crisis on Earth, and it exploded in popularity during the contentious New Colonial Government. The War of the Caliphate and its following wars would bring Islamism and Salafism to the forefront of Qafi politics with adherents on several sides of the conflicts. However, Islamism ultimately ended up locked out of power for centuries by secular gatekeepers, who saw Islamists as extremists and an embarrassment. However, the Qafi Islamic Party, the standard-bearer of Islamism and Salafism on Qaf, stayed relevant and powerful even in opposition, and it eventually got ahold of partial power in the form of a new governing coalition with the Social Freedom Party. Islamism is still a strong political force, both in the softer form of Islamic democracy in the Federation Party and hard-edged Salafism in the Qaf Islamic Party, with states being governed by either present on Qaf. Salafi Islamism, though the norm, is not the rule of Qaf, with Mujaddid Islamism also being present on a more local level and within non-state actors such as jihadists in the Shiva Mountains.

Humanism is the second oldest of the ideologies on Qaf and takes inspiration from the Enlightenment, emphasizing the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence over acceptance of religious dogma or superstition. Embraced by many after the fall of the authoritarian New Colonial Government and the devastation of the War of the Caliphate, humanism came with the hope that it ended the violence of the previous years and the promise of a prosperous democracy for all Qafis. However, the rejection of a united Qaf by the Alliance for Democracy and the continued presence of Islamists threw a wrench in the plans of the more idealistic humanists. Nevertheless, humanism would become a large element of the Federation Party's platform and remains so today. However, the corrosive effects of neo-liberal capitalism and nepotistic corruption led to a rot within the Federation Party and harmed the reputation of humanism on Qaf as something of a hollow joke. However, humanism still remains very influential in the minds of many Qafis with significant pull in the larger states on Qaf such as the Bangla Republic and the As-Saqar Confederation.

Social freedom is the youngest of the dominant ideologies and only one formulated on Qaf itself. It is a nationalist ideology that promotes the development and creation of a unified secular Qafi state while maintaining cultural differences through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist government. The ideology's creator, Sharo Bet Youkhanna, was born into a society split between the increasingly impotent bloated centralizing force of the Federation Party and the fanatical Salafist goals of the Qaf Islamic Party. Youkhanna, an avid reader of Marx, saw both parties as a disease upon Qaf along with most other parties, and he dreamed of a something that could unite all groups on Qaf by playing to their self-interests. So, Youkhanna formulated the ideology of social freedom, taking elements from previous ideologies to create a new one unique to Qad. Social freedom preached enlightenment, a renaissance of culture, values, and society within states. It supports the creation of one-party states and rejects political pluralism in order to preserve Qaf's diversity in the long term, ironically enough. Social freedom took off in the generation after Youkhanna and quickly grew to be the ruling ideology of Qaf after a split within the Federation Party between those sympathetic to social freedom and those not. The Social Freedom Party has ruled Qaf for the last few centuries, but they are no closer to attaining their goal of a peaceful federation of nationalist states than they were out of power. Their authoritarianism and their alliance with the Qaf Islamic Party has alienated some from the party, but many on Qaf still prefer their strong leadership compared to the Federation Party while abhorring the Qaf Islamic Party's Salafism. The party has drawn comparisons to the historical Peace and Justice Party, but the Social Freedom Party has deflected the criticism through their lack of ethnic favoritism.

Aside from the three main ideologies, smaller ideologies are also present on Qaf. Ethno-nationalist parties are the most common, though the Social Freedom Party has bitten into their support base. Druze and Assyrians are particularly set in their ways, siding with the opposition perpetually due to historical disputes with all three main parties. Neo-liberalism is present among most of the upper classes on Qaf, but it is not as advocated for as humanism, just an understood part of society.

Leftism has an interesting history on Qaf. The left wing has a significant part within the Alliance for Democracy but was quickly folded into the larger Federation Party. Large sections of the Social Freedom Party were also sympathetic to leftism at their onset, but the progressive views of ideology's founder have mostly been forgotten with time. In the last few centuries, Hatchet has slowly expanded throughout the Urban Core, but it has been routinely suppressed by all three main parties. A more successful left wing group is the Human Upliftment Army, a transhumanist group that has established an insurgency in the Shiva Mountains. Hatchet and HUA currently draw much of their support from disaffected ex-Muslims and the secular bourgeoisie.

Stereotypes

As a diverse planet with many separate groups present, stereotypes flourish on Qaf. 'Qafis', non-sectarian inhabitants of Qaf or inhabitants of the planet's lit side, are seen as cosmopolitan, rich, and snobbish, wishing they were like their Tranquilan neighbors. Meanwhile, the inhabitants of Athara are mainly split into two categories: Islamists and Social Republicans. The Islamists are seen as rural fanatics and overly nostalgic for the early history of Islam, leaving them to be the staunchest Salafists in governed space. Their national identity is usually subsumed by their adherence to their religion. In contrast, Social Republicans are proud of their national origins and not overly religious, but they do not attempt to imitate any of their neighbors, though they do generally have warm regards for Cariocecus.

Symbols

Qafi symbolism is heavily influenced by the prior conditions of its cultures and peoples on Earth along with later developments.

Gallery

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  Chart detailing two Qafi starships in their IGSA-defined colours