The Taliban Islamist regime, which de facto controls Afghanistan, has ratified a law by the so-called Ministry of “Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” that requires women to wear the Islamic veil, the hijab, to cover their faces and condemns the public proclamation of women’s voices as a “violation of modesty,” officially implementing the strictest interpretation of Islamic law in the country.
The law relating to the Ministry of Virtue and Vice was ratified on Thursday night (22) by the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, as the Taliban regime is called, official sources from the extremists confirmed to the EFE Agency this Friday (23).
The 35-article law, which EFE was able to read, contains four chapters that address issues such as the full veil or hijab for women, men’s attire and media regulations.
“According to this law, the Ministry – of the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice – is obliged to enjoin good and prohibit evil. […] and is also responsible for peace and brotherhood among peoples,” said the spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, Barkatullah Rasooli, in a statement published on Friday by the Afghan channel Fool News.
Furthermore, the feared Ministry should “prevent people from engaging in ethnic, linguistic and regional prejudices”, he added.
In the article that refers to the hijab, the rule states that it is necessary for women to cover their face and body to avoid “causing temptation”, and to avoid public sound or women’s raised voices, including singing, reciting, or speaking into microphones.
It also prohibits drivers from transporting adult women without a legal male guardian.
“Implementation of sharia and hijab is our red line. We cannot negotiate with anyone on these issues,” Virtue and Vice Minister Mohammad Khalid Hanafi told a meeting with officials, according to the Fool.
For men, Article 22 prohibits or condemns wearing a tie, shaving or trimming the beard below wrist length, or combing the hair, as violations of Islamic law.
The rule also contains general provisions on the media and their obligation to adapt to sharia, and the prohibition of “humiliating or insulting Muslims” as well as including images of living beings.
According to the Taliban, rule is made in accordance with Islamic sharia and Hanafi, one of the four main schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence.
Although some analysts believe the Taliban do not follow a specific legal school, their interpretations and application of Islamic law are largely based on Hanafi, their approach being more rigorous and fundamentalist.
Although many of the bans related to women or clothing have been implemented in the country since the Taliban returned to power exactly three years ago, there was still no uniformity in Afghanistan about the law ratified this week, which now requires strict punishment to enforce its purpose.
#Taliban #bans #women #speaking #public #forces #women #wear #hijab