Shia Muslims in Afghanistan, predominantly Hazaras, face systematic eradication and numerous restrictions on their religious practices. Over the past three years, the Taliban have intensified their pressure on Hazaras, particularly Shia Muslims. Additionally, ISKP has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks on Shias and Hazaras in the provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan, Kabul, and Kandahar, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries. Most recently, ISKP claimed responsibility for an attack on 13 Hazaras from Daykundi province, which has triggered widespread domestic and international reactions. Amid escalating attacks on Shias, the Taliban have described their laws as “100% Sharia-compliant” based on Hanafi jurisprudence, warning that anyone criticizing their laws will face punishment. According to a directive from the Taliban Supreme Leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, a committee has been established within the group’s Ministry of Justice to review laws and align them with Hanafi jurisprudence. Despite the Taliban’s promises to respect the rights of followers of other sects, pressure on them has increased over the past three years.
In the past three years, the Taliban have escalated their attacks on Shia Muslims, particularly the Hazaras. The group has also removed Jafari jurisprudence from university curricula. In a recent move, the Taliban have begun confiscating Shia religious books from pilgrims returning from Karbala at the Islam Qala border crossing in Herat province. Returning pilgrims expressed concern about the Taliban’s seizure of their religious books at the Islam Qala border.
Sources told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that at the Islam Qala border, the Taliban thoroughly inspected the pilgrims’ luggage and confiscated religious books and prayer manuals, prohibiting their entry into Afghanistan. The pilgrims reported that the Taliban insulted them during the confiscation of these books, using offensive language and disrespecting Shia beliefs.
In a recent incident, a convoy of Hazara pilgrims returning from Karbala was attacked in the border region between the provinces of Ghor and Daykundi. In this attack, 13 Hazara residents of Daykundi and a Sunni resident of Ghor were brutally shot in the Qerodal Mountain Pass, and ISKP later claimed responsibility for the attack. Residents claimed that the gunmen initially identified themselves as Taliban security forces. This attack has sparked widespread domestic and international reactions and has been described as a “horrific crime, a crime against humanity, and a war crime.”
The Taliban’s Ministry of Education, continuing its restrictions on Afghanistan’s pluralistic society, has ordered the removal of any books deemed to contradict Sunni beliefs and Hanafi jurisprudence from educational institution libraries, with a report to be sent to the ministry.
On Monday, September 9, 2024, Habibullah Agha, the acting Taliban Minister of Education, instructed the group’s education officials to collect books that contradict Hanafi jurisprudence. According to the Taliban Ministry of Education, Habibullah Agha, speaking via video conference with the group’s education officials in the provinces, emphasized that all educational institution libraries must be thoroughly inspected, and strict oversight must be implemented. However, the ministry’s statement did not specify which books are considered contrary to Sunni beliefs and Hanafi jurisprudence.
Previously, in a letter dated November 13, 2023, signed by Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education, all universities were instructed to purge their libraries of books related to Salafism, Tahrirism, Shiism, political parties, and the republic, replacing them with “good books on the prophet’s biography.”
In a speech at Kunar University, Neda Mohammad Nadeem denied the existence of sects in Afghanistan, claiming that “there are no sects in Afghanistan, and all Afghans follow the school of Imam Abu Hanifa.” Furthermore, Noor Mohammad Islamjar, the Taliban governor of Herat province, in a book titled «مباحث فی العقیدة الماتریدیة المسمى معتمد ماترید من معتقد ماترید» which roughly translates to “Discussions on Maturidiyyah Doctrine Named Māturīdism Believers from Maturidisms.”, described Shias as “infidel sects” and “historically collaborators with infidels.”
Over the past three years, in addition to imposing restrictions on Shia religious ceremonies and removing Jafari jurisprudence from educational curricula, the Taliban have deliberately attempted to convert Ismaili Shia Muslims to Sunni Islam. The group forced one Shia individual to recite the “Shahada” (the Islamic declaration of faith), a practice typically reserved for converts from other religions to Islam.
Moreover, the Taliban’s statements about civilian casualties among Shias and Sunnis have varied. In the ISKP attack on employees of the “Directorate of Decree Monitoring and Enforcement,” Taliban spokespersons referred to the victims as “martyrs.” However, in a tweet regarding the Daykundi attack, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid stated that 14 people had died, refraining from using the term “martyrs” for the Hazara victims.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) previously reported in a document titled “Religious Freedom and Women’s Rights in Afghanistan” that under Taliban rule, religious freedom in Afghanistan has been severely restricted.
Additionally, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) has announced that the Taliban have completely restricted the religious freedom and beliefs of Shias. Moreover, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in a report to the Security Council, noted that the Taliban did not allow large Shia gatherings during the Ashura period, and during last year’s Ashura ceremony in Ghazni City, four people were killed.
Rejection of Jafari Jurisprudence and Emphasis on Taliban Lawmaking
After approving the Taliban’s “Law on the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice”, Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered that all Taliban-controlled institutions draft their legislative documents according to Sharia principles based on the group’s interpretation. The order states that government departments are required to form committees composed of clerics and experienced employees to draft the initial versions of legislative documents, which will then be sent to the Ministry of Justice for review and religious oversight.
According to this decree from the Taliban Supreme Leader, the group’s Ministry of Justice has been tasked with extracting the initial drafts of legislative documents from the Quran, Sunnah, and authoritative legal texts and aligning them accordingly. To carry out this task, Hibatullah Akhundzada has formed a committee titled “Committees of Honorable Scholars, Muftis, and Elders” within the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the group’s laws are aligned with Sharia based on the Taliban’s interpretation.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Justice has declared that the group’s laws are “100% Sharia-compliant,” and any criticism of their legislative documents is considered a criticism of Sharia, which is unacceptable to the Taliban. The ministry warned that anyone who criticizes the group’s legal documents in the media or other forums will face religious consequences and be referred to the group’s courts.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Justice has described opposition to the group’s laws as “prejudice and an attempt to undermine the Taliban’s system.” The statement noted that criticism of Taliban legislative documents with the intent to destroy or due to animosity is punishable.
Meanwhile, the Taliban have recently enacted their “Law for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice”. According to this law, the Taliban consider a woman’s voice to be “awrah” (inmate part of a woman) and have widely excluded women and girls from public life. They have also imposed numerous restrictions on men, including mandating that men may only trim their beards to a fist-length and declaring many forms of entertainment as forbidden and banned.
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