Several residents in Herat city and its districts say that despite the Taliban paying salaries to mosque imams, money and both cash and non-cash contributions continue to be collected from the public for them. These Herat residents say this practice has placed additional pressure on families amid difficult economic conditions. According to them, mosque imams’ salaries currently start at 7,000 Afghanis and, depending on the area, the amount can go even higher. Herat residents stress that collecting money for mullah imams, despite the Taliban paying their salaries, has increased economic pressure on families.
Omid (pseudonym), a resident of Herat’s Injil district, says the house where the mosque imam lives was built at the expense of residents, and the imam lives there without paying any rent. According to him, water and electricity costs for the house are also covered by the people, and in addition, 40 Afghanis are collected each month from every member of the household for the mosque imam.
This Herat resident adds: “Most families in the village are large. When money is taken from every person, it adds up to a significant amount, and this cost is high for many people.”
Sohaila, a 10-year-old child who receives religious instruction at one of Herat’s mosques, says she and her classmates must pay a sum of money to the mosque imam every Thursday to attend religious lessons, and if they have no money, they must bring wheat or bread instead. She says, “All the children do this. If we don’t have money, Mullah Sahib tells us to bring bread or wheat.”
Some other Herat residents say these compulsory payments are not limited to monthly contributions for mosque imams; sums are also paid to imams during marriage ceremonies, funeral prayers, Quran completion gatherings, prayer readings, and other religious occasions.
At the same time, some farmers in the villages of Herat also claim that at the end of the harvest season, they hand over a portion of their wheat or other agricultural produce to the mosque imam as “the mullah’s share.”
Likewise, in some areas of Herat, during Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, sweets, food items, and gifts are collected from people’s homes and given to the mosque imam. According to residents, this custom has increased the burden on low-income families.
One resident of Herat city says, “In Friday prayer sermons, instead of addressing the problems of the people, the Taliban Supreme Leader is praised. Yet a significant portion of the expenses related to mosque imams is still covered by the people. We expect that the mosque imam should also be the voice of the people.”
Meanwhile, Taliban officials have announced in recent years that millions of Afghanis have been allocated for the construction, renovation, and equipping of mosques and religious madrasas across the country.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Information, Hajj, and Endowments has stated that these programs are part of the process of formalizing the structure of mosques and expanding religious education across the country. The ministry has also reported on the training and graduation of thousands of imams, preachers, and religious instructors under its official programs.
Herat residents emphasize that amid difficult economic conditions and the rise in poverty and unemployment, mosque imams, alongside receiving salaries from the Taliban, are imposing additional costs on poor families by collecting money and aid from the public. They say that when the Taliban are paying salaries to mosque imams, no money or additional payment should be taken from the people as well.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
جمعآوری پول برای امامان مساجد در هرات؛ باشندهگان از فشار اقتصادی شکایت دارند
