Roshaniya of Afghanistan, page 1

From a source:

... the powerful society of Afghanistan in ancient times called the Roshaniya--illuminated ones. The major tenets of this cult were: the abolition of private propety; the elimination of religion; the elimination of nation states; the belief that illumination emanated from the Supreme Being who desired a class of perfect men and women to carry out the organization and direction of the world; belief in a plan to reshape the social system of the world by first taking control of individual countries one by one, and the blief that after reaching the fourth degree one could communicate directly with the unknown supervisors who had imparted knowledge to initiates throughout the ages. Wise men will again recognize the Brotherhood.

...The Roshaniya also called themselves the Order. Initiates took an oath that absolved them of all allegiance except to the Order and stated, "I
bind myself to perpetual silence and unshaken loyalty and submission to the Order... All humanity which cannot identify itself by our secret sign is our
lawful prety." The oath remains essentially the same to this day. The secret sign was to pass a hand over the forehead, palm inward; the counter-sign, to hold the ear with the fingers and support the elbow in the cupped other hand. Does this sound familiar? The Order is the Order of the Quest.

...The Roshaniya took in travelers as initiates and then sent them on their way to found new chapters of the Order. It is believed by some that the Assassins were a branch of the Roshaniya. Branches of the Roshaniya or
the "illuminated ones" or the Illuminati exists and still exist everywhere. One of the rules was not to use the same name and never mention "the Illuminati." That rule is still in effect today. I believe that it is the
breaking of this rule that resulted in Adam Weishaupt's downfall.

Now, I don't see a direct progression from Roshaniya to Weishaupt's Illuminati within Freemasonry in Bavaria in 1776, and I suspect FreeMason could say more about the coincidence of that year for founding of the Illuminati with New World kinds of things (and probably has)... but I do see some of the tenets as being unique to this Afghan group and not replicated since.

Much of it, if it has progressed and been actively passed down, has been bastardized by secret societies besides Freemasonry, especially in the abolition of private property and the elevation of personal greed - and in the tolerance of branded religious faith.

[Edited on 29-7-2003 by MaskedAvatar]