The Taliban-led government has asked businessmen and shopkeepers in Pul-e-Alam, Logar, to offer their daily prayers in congregations and mosques. The Department of Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil has also instructed the barbershops in the city of Pul-e-Alam that taking money and shaving the beard is forbidden and should be avoided.
Noor-ur-Rehman Abed, Logar’s director of Enjoining the good and forbidding the bad, told Hasht-e Subh that they had asked businessmen and shopkeepers in the province to perform their daily prayers in congregations and mosques per a timetable. The official in charge of Enjoining the good and forbidding the bad in Logar says that in addition to inviting people to congregational prayers, they have asked the hairdressers in the city of Pul-e-Alam to refrain from taking money for shaving because this money is forbidden. Abed added that hairdressers should be careful in shaving the peoples’ beards and convince their customers not to shave according to Islam. He pointed out that these are not their orders, but a religious matter and a divine command.
Meanwhile, some Pul-e-Alam residents welcomed the Taliban’s move in Logar, saying that Afghanistan was an Islamic country and that no citizen has a problem praying in congregation.
Salim is one of the businessmen in Pul-e Alam city. Speaking Hasht-e Subh, he said that the Taliban’s directorate had urged them to adhere to prayers, and at the same time asked all businessmen, shopkeepers and car dealers not to forget the five congregational prayers.
Meanwhile, the head of a barbershop in the province, speaking on the condition of anonymity, praised the Taliban on the one hand. However, he was concerned about his daily income. He fears that after this, he may face a serious confrontation with Taliban members in Logar, or he may lose his job. For the past twenty years, he has been trimming the hair and beard of his clients in the city of Pul-e-Alam. He provides for his family of ten by cutting hairs. According to him, after the fall of the previous regime, his income has been reduced by 50%.
Logar’s recent decision to direct the good and forbid the bad has worried this man. He says that without shaving the beards of his clients, he may not be able to continue working and will eventually be forced to leave the country and emigrate.
Baryali, a shopkeeper in Pul-e-Alam, worries that the Taliban will treat the people more harshly than they did in the 1990s. He fears that people will be punished for shaving and not praying in the congregation. He advises those in charge of enjoining what is good and forbidding what is bad in Logar to be cautious in their dealings with the people. He stressed that the Taliban must use the principle of governance in front of the people and the nation, because, according to him, this nation has been the victim of war and misery for more than forty years.
Meanwhile, Taliban officials are assuring the people of the province that they will not be mistreated in any way. According to them, their duty is not to punish and mistreat people, but social awareness and the implementation of Islamic culture in society.
Earlier, Taliban-led government officials in some provinces had asked hairdressers not to shave their customers’ beards or trim their hair in a modern way.
[box type=”info” align=”alignleft” class=”” width=””]Zubair Abbasi, Hasht-e Subh Persian[/box]
