Last update:October 30, 2024, 1:57 p.m. IST

The new decree, issued by the Taliban minister for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice, states that women cannot pray aloud in the presence of each other.

For now, the decree is limited only to prayers, but experts fear it could have broader implications. (Image: AFP/File)

Women have reportedly been barred from “hearing their voices” in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, in another move aimed at curbing basic freedoms. The new decree states that women cannot pray out loud in each other’s presence, according to a report by a Virginia-based Afghan news channel.

According to Amu TVThe order was issued by Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, who is the Taliban Minister for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV). He said women should avoid reciting the Quran out loud when in the presence of other women.

“When women don’t have the right to call takbir Or azaan (the Islamic call to prayer), they certainly cannot sing songs or enjoy music,” the report was quoted as saying.

A report published by The telegraph Hanafi said, emphasizing that a woman’s voice is considered “awrah” – something that should be hidden – that is, it should not be heard in public, even by other women.

For now, the decree is limited only to prayers, but experts fear it could have broader implications. Women are already not allowed to speak in public. Even health workers – among the few Afghan women allowed to work outside the home – cannot speak to their male relatives.

“They don’t even allow us to talk at checkpoints on the way to work, and in clinics we are instructed not to discuss medical issues with male relatives,” said a midwife from Herat . Amu TV.

This order adds to other restrictions imposed on women under the Taliban regime which returned to power in 2021. In August, a rule was introduced for women requiring full body coverage, including the face, when out ‘outside.

It also comes just days after the Taliban banned images of “living beings.” Journalists from across Afghanistan said AFP that the Ministry of Morale is gradually introducing a ban on images of living beings in the media, with several provinces announcing restrictions and some Taliban officials refusing to be photographed or filmed.

Since mid-October, the PVPV has increased its meetings with journalists from one province to another. They informed media professionals that the ban on taking and publishing images of living beings – namely people and animals – resulting from a recent law on “vice and virtue”, will be gradually implemented. artwork.

Under the Taliban’s previous mandate, from 1996 to 2001, television was completely banned, but this measure has not yet been imposed since their return three years ago. Enforcement of many sections of the “Vice and Virtue” law, which codifies the Taliban government’s strict interpretation of Islamic law and includes ambitious codes of conduct, has been uneven.

But journalists expressed concern about the possibility of an all-out crackdown that would make Afghanistan the only Muslim-majority country to impose such bans.

(With contributions from the agency)

Location :

Kabul, Afghanistan