The Taliban’s Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has intensified restrictions on citizens, particularly women, to enforce their new law. The group’s Morality Police in some provinces have instructed men not to send their wives to the market. According to these Morality Police, women, when haggling with shopkeepers, lead men astray as their voices are heard by unrelated men. The Taliban have emphasized that women should shop without speaking or bargaining. Multiple reports from various provinces indicate that the Morality Police have increased violence and repression to enforce their new laws. In a recent incident, the Taliban’s Minister for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, during a visit to Ghazni Province, did not allow journalists to film.
Citizens have expressed serious concerns over the implementation of the Taliban’s “Law of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.” They claim this law has fostered an environment of oppression, retaliation, repression, and widespread abuse. According to these citizens, the Taliban use this law as a pretext to humiliate, insult, and arrest their critics and opponents.
A local source from Baghlan Province told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that a Taliban Morality Police in a mosque in central Baghlan informed worshippers not to send their wives and daughters to the market and instead handle household shopping themselves. This Morality Police claimed that if women go to the market and haggle with male shopkeepers, their voices reach unrelated men, causing “temptation and corruption” among them. According to the Taliban’s directive, women must wear gloves and completely cover their faces.
The source, quoting the Taliban Morality Police in this district, stated that women without male relatives at home may go to the market, provided they adhere to Taliban guidelines, but they must not haggle over the price of goods. Under these guidelines, women must cover their entire bodies, including their faces, and are prohibited from speaking to shopkeepers. Instead, they should hand over the money and take the goods.
The source noted that such instructions are problematic. How is it possible to buy goods without discussing their specifications or price with the seller? The source added that the Taliban exploit this situation, harassing women under the pretext of speaking to unrelated men.
Additionally, after the announcement of the “Law of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,” the Taliban have imposed even stricter restrictions on citizens, especially women. Many men and women opposing the Taliban report that in most Friday sermons and mosque speeches, Imams insult women and their social presence, speaking in ways that are demeaning to women’s individual and social status.
Another source, who preferred to remain anonymous, expressed shock at a sermon by a Taliban Imam in a mosque in northern provinces of Afghanistan, who was also a Morality Police. According to the source, the Morality Police claimed that women’s presence in society causes “temptation and corruption” and that women should not carry mobile phones. He further alleged that women who own phones engage in “corruption.”
This Taliban Morality Police, speaking from the mosque’s pulpit, declared that women should walk slowly, refrain from laughing, and not speak loudly. According to the source, many of these Taliban members fabricate stories in mosques and public settings to campaign against women’s presence in society.
Meanwhile, Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s Minister for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, during his visit to Ghazni Province, stressed the full implementation of the “new law of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.” Hanafi said the purpose of his trip to Ghazni was to oversee and enforce this “new law.” He also prohibited journalists from photographing or filming his meetings.
Before Hanafi’s trip to Ghazni, all Morality Police and mosque Imams from the provincial center and districts gathered for three days at the Islamic Cultural Center in Ghazni. During these meetings, they discussed the implementation of the Taliban’s new law, emphasizing that it must be explained to the public, and no one is permitted to disobey it. According to their resolution, if people do not comply with this law, Morality Police and Imams will resort to military force.
Simultaneously, Taliban Morality Police warned all healthcare workers in government hospitals in Ghazni province that they would be dismissed and punished if they shaved or trimmed their beards. The group has instructed health workers to choose between performing their duties and trimming their beards.
In Kandahar, Taliban Morality Police have warned residents to grow their beards and cut their hair short or face punishment. According to local sources, the Taliban have stopped young men at city intersections, issuing warnings. Following a directive from the Morality Police, the state television broadcasts in Kandahar have been halted due to the display of images of living beings.
A source from Badakhshan, who wishes to remain anonymous, reported that Taliban Morality Police closely monitor all barbershops in the city, ensuring men do not trim their beards or hair. According to this source, people are frustrated by these Morality Police. The source added that the Taliban’s interactions are extremely violent and primitive, and citizens endure the situation out of fear, knowing that protesting could cost them their lives.
While the Taliban have banned photography and filming for citizens and deemed women’s voices “Awrah,” they record and release videos of their meetings daily and even meet foreign women without a male guardian, treating them with full hospitality.
Numerous Afghan women and girls have shared photos of Taliban officials meeting foreign women, most of whom are UN representatives, asking why the Taliban exploit religion. They question: “In the Taliban’s version of Islam, are foreign women considered close relatives, or does their religion suspend when it comes to money and benefits?”
The Taliban’s “Law of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,” consisting of 1 introduction, 4 chapters, and 35 articles, was approved by Hibatullah Akhundzada. The law is applied to all institutions and public places and everyone living in Afghanistan, without exception.
According to this Taliban law, women’s voices are deemed “Awrah,” and women are only allowed to go out for essential needs with their faces covered, and they must not raise their voices. The law also prohibits listening to women’s voices and music from homes and bans drivers from transporting women without a male guardian. Furthermore, the law prohibits all forms of games and entertainment, including marbles and dice games, declaring them forbidden. Styling hair in a Western fashion is likened to the behavior of infidels, and men are required to grow their beards, trimming them no shorter than a fist-length.
This Taliban law also bans the wearing of ties, calling them a symbol of the cross. All traders, business owners, and farmers are forced to pay Zakat and a tithe to the group in addition to taxes. The use of living things in advertising is prohibited, and Morality Police are authorized to imprison individuals for 1 to 3 days.
This law grants the Taliban Morality Police the authority to intervene in the most private aspects of citizens’ lives, inspecting their phones and computers for photos and videos containing living images.
It is noteworthy that this Taliban law has faced widespread domestic and international condemnation, including from human rights organizations. Several political figures, cultural personalities, and human rights activists have described the law as an insult to the human dignity of the country’s citizens. Some cultural figures have called the Taliban law a “manifesto of horror,” claiming it blatantly disrespects human dignity.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
«قانون امر به معروف و نهی از منکر» طالبان در عمل؛ زنان با دکانداران چانه نزنند | روزنامه ۸صبح
