KABUL, Afghanistan – The reinstatement of the Taliban in the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice – which was abolished after the occupation of the United States – sent a collective shudder through many Afghans, who remembered her for her strict interpretation of Islamic law.
“The main purpose is to serve Islam. Therefore, it is mandatory to have a ministry of vice and virtue, “Mohammad Yousuf, who says he is about 32 years old and in charge of Afghanistan’s” central zone, “told me on Monday.” We will punish according to Islamic norms. let Islam guide us, we will punish accordingly. “
Measures will be taken against the “major sins of Islam,” such as sex outside of marriage, killing someone and stealing, he said.
“Islam has its rules for major sins. For example, killing someone has different rules. If you do it intentionally, if you know the person and intentionally kill him, he will kill you again. If it is not intentional, there could be another punishment such as paying a certain amount of money, “Yousuf continues.” If there is theft, the hand will be cut off. If there is illegal sex, the (offenders) they will be stoned. “
He claimed that both the wicked and the men would be executed in a draconian manner, although stoning has previously been the group’s mode of punishment for women. Yousuf says four witnesses are needed, and that these “should have the same story.”
“If there is a small difference in history, there will be no punishment. But if everyone says the same thing, in the same way and at the same time, there will be punishment, ”he says. “The Supreme Court will ignore all these issues. If they are found guilty, we will punish them. “
During the last reign of the Taliban, from 1996 to 2001, the ministry applied strict restrictions on women. They were forced to wear the burqa, never to leave home without a male relative and were banned from education beyond the sixth grade.
In addition, the ministry brutally imposed prayer times and ordered men to grow beards. He banned music, smoking and other forms of entertainment, including chess, dancing and kite flying. Bands of “moral police” were deployed in the streets and the offenders received harsh punishments ranging from flogging and amputations to stoning and public executions.
However, he also insists that the dreaded ministry will be “different from the last time”, stating that in the previous regime there were not many Islamic scholars to determine the rules and this time all regulations will be determined by the scholars once the new government is fully formed.
“The last time we used force to apply Islam and the rules, but this time it is not the same. We will guide people; we will help them understand what is good and what is bad, “he said.” We can use force, but first we will go with an open heart. But in case they (Afghans) do the same continuously (violations), we will use the force “.
Yousuf says there will probably be “moral police” once again, but “there will be fewer.” As for women’s dress and whether they can receive a full education and job, these issues will be determined soon.
In addition, it is committed to keeping school curricula as they are for now. However, issues that “go against the teachings of Islam,” such as those preached by other religions such as Christianity, will be removed.
Yousuf himself comes from Baghlan province and says he went to regular school until the ninth grade. After that, he underwent Islamic studies for 13 years and continued to preach knowledge of Islam for the past decade, but promised that he had never been subjected to military training and that he had never fired a bullet.
“We just want a peaceful country with Islamic rules and regulations,” he said. “Peace and Islamic sentences are the only wishes we have.”
Yousuf also points out that the resurrected Vice and Virtue Ministry, now led by Mohamad Khalid, is likely to move to the Interior Ministry building, headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, headed by the US government. has awarded a $ 5 million reward.
Meanwhile, the incorporation into the newly appointed cabinet within the Ministry of Hajj and Associated Religious Affairs took place last Thursday morning, following the announcement of the new interim government.
As a woman, I was not allowed to join my photographer Jake at the opening ceremony, which was filled to the brim with passionate sermons and dozens of devout religious elders and revered people, including member Abdul Hakim Haqqani. of the Afghanistan Steering Committee.
Noor Mohammad Saqib, the Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs, led the ceremony inside a room full of openings on Afghanistan’s freedom and independence, the implementation of Islamic norms and regulations, and construction and development. of the besieged nation. Saqib, 57, was born in Samangan province and studied Islamic both inside and outside the country. He says he has been a member of the Taliban for 26 years.
Instead, a young Taliban in long flowing robes brings me water and a cracked leather chair to sit alone in the shade and in front of the flags flying the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, his rifles always few meters. After a while, another Taliban member in a baby blue Afghan dress leads me to a circular room with pillows and sun staring through the gaps in the curtains as the sounds of the ceremony take off quite close.
Although the leaders did not want him to be seen talking to a woman in front of his devotees, Hafiz Habib, Hajj’s deputy minister of religious affairs, accepted an interview in a private room, where he is sitting nearby and never looks in the direction.
Still, he speaks softly and receives me as a guest in his country. According to Habib, the punishments in the new era will be determined by Islamic lawyers.
“The Department of Justice will be responsible, we will have judges and they will make a decision,” he says, adding that they do not yet have full knowledge of what the legal code will entail.
He also assures me, somewhat vaguely, that Islam allows “full women” to women.
“Women can go to the office, even if they have a job. And a woman can wear whatever she wants, “Habib says, adding that a burqa was no longer necessary and a hijab (headscarf) would suffice.” They should go to education. “
He also states that school curricula will continue with subjects such as science and math and that they will “add Islamic subjects”. Only the final sentence should be handed down for all things, including the woman’s affairs.
Habib also notes that the ministry will call on a “jirga” – a set of Islamic leaders to make decisions under Pashtunwali’s instruction – to develop a final “document”. He claims that women will only be included in the meeting if they have “reached the highest level of Islamic knowledge” and that “they should be a complete scholar of Islam.”
However, critics argue that the binding religious codes within the group have made it impossible, however, for women to reach the top levels. This justification will potentially be used to explain why there are no female faces sitting at the table.
Habib also echoes the sentiment of many Taliban leaders in recent days, who have “implemented a general amnesty” and whose members are banned from harming or taking revenge on any Afghan. He promised that any Taliban who finds themselves disobeying orders will be “completely punished.”
“One of the best features of Islamic law is that everything is the same,” he continues. “People can go to a place and file their complaints and they will be taken care of. Each location has a leader responsible for everything.
Despite previous proclamations that the new Islamic emirate of Afghanistan would be diverse and inclusive, it only included strong Taliban supporters and there were no women or ethnic minorities. And it seems that the Ministry of Women has dissolved.