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The Taliban’s Ministry of Justice announced that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the group, has enacted the “Law for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.”.

The 114-page, 4-chapter, and 35-article laws seek to empower the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to “enjoin the good and forbid the evil in accordance with Islamic Sharia and Hanafi jurisprudence.”.

The ministry is to be at the frontline of regulating personal conduct, administering punishments like warnings or arrest if enforcers allege that Afghans have broken the laws, the AP News reported.

“Inshallah, we assure you that this Islamic law will be of great help in the promotion of virtue and the elimination of vice,” said ministry spokesman Maulvi Abdul Ghafar Farooq on Thursday.

The new law, among other things, prohibits the playing of music, the transportation of women without a mahram [guardian] or without a hijab [cover], and the mixing of women with men in vehicles.

For instance, Article 13 relates to women. It says it is mandatory for a woman to veil her body at all times in public and that a face covering is essential to avoid temptation and tempting others. Clothing should not be thin, tight, or short.

Women are obliged to cover themselves in front of non-Muslim males and females to avoid being corrupted. A woman’s voice is deemed intimate and so should not be heard singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public. It is forbidden for women to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage, and vice versa.

Article 17 bans the publication of images of living beings, threatening an already fragile Afghan media landscape.

Article 19 bans the playing of music, the transportation of solo female travellers, and the mixing of men and women who are not related to each other. The law also obliges passengers and drivers to perform prayers at designated times.

According to the ministry website, the promotion of virtue includes prayer, aligning the character and behaviour of Muslims with Islamic law, encouraging women to wear hijab, and inviting people to comply with the five pillars of Islam.

It also says the elimination of vice involves prohibiting people from doing things forbidden by Islamic law.

According to this law, if a person ignores the instructions of the Taliban morality police for the promotion of virtue, he will be punished “from one hour to three days in public prisons and ultimately a punishment that is deemed appropriate” by the morality police.

The Taliban’s Ministry of Virtue announced on Tuesday, August 21, that it had arrested more than 13,000 people in the past year for “immoral acts.”.

The ministry said that during this period, it has also dismissed more than 280 members of its security forces for not growing beards.

Source: AP News and Afghanistan International