Taliban Enact "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" Law; Women’s Voices Considered 'Awrah'

This law, consisting of a preamble, four chapters, and 35 articles, was published in the official gazette on Wednesday (August 21).

According to this law, covering the entire body of women is mandatory, and covering the face is considered necessary to "prevent fitna". Additionally, women's voices are deemed "awrah" and the Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, along with its enforcers, are responsible for implementing this law in accordance with Sharia and Hanafi jurisprudence.

Article 13 of the law is dedicated to the provisions related to women's hijab and includes clauses that emphasize the "necessity of covering the entire body of women" and that "women's voices (singing loudly, reciting naats, and recitation in public) are awrah." This article also states that women are obligated to conceal their bodies and faces from unrelated men and that the use of thin, short, and tight clothing is prohibited for them.

In this article, "a mature man looking at the body and face of an unrelated woman, and a mature woman looking at an unrelated man" is deemed haram (forbidden).

The law also addresses the provisions related to men's dress and emphasizes that "the awrah of men is from the navel to the knees" and that men are obligated to "dress in a way that conceals their awrah when engaging in leisure activities and sports, provided that the clothing is not too tight and does not reveal the shape of their limbs."

In addition, the new Taliban law gives the enforcers of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice the responsibility to compel the media to publish content that does not contradict Sharia and does not contain images of living beings. Furthermore, playing music in vehicles, transporting unveiled women, and transporting women who do not have a sane and mature male guardian are prohibited.

This law also considers Nowruz and Yalda Night, fireworks, shaving beards, wearing ties, haircuts that contradict Islamic Sharia, women's voices being heard outside the home, and watching pictures and videos of living beings on computers and mobile phones as "specific vices," and enforcers are obligated to prevent them.

Various punishments, including advice, verbal threats, fines, and imprisonment, have been prescribed for those who violate this law.

The publication of this law comes as the Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has imposed widespread restrictions on the basic freedoms of citizens, especially women, over the past three years, and has repeatedly arrested women and young girls from the streets on charges of immodesty.

According to reports from the United Nations Human Rights Office and human rights organizations, this ministry, along with the General Directorate of Intelligence and Taliban security commandos, is primarily responsible for the suppression of women, journalists, human rights defenders, and ethnic and religious minorities.