Taliban Orders Afghan Mosques to Dedicate Friday Sermons to the “Importance of Growing a Beard”

Taliban Orders Afghan Mosques to Dedicate Friday Sermons to the “Importance of Growing a Beard”
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The Taliban-run Ministry of Guidance, Hajj and Religious Affairs has issued a formal directive instructing all mosque imams across Afghanistan to dedicate the Friday sermon on 20 November to the topic of the “importance of growing a beard.”

According to the directive, shaving the beard is described as “imitating women” and therefore “forbidden,” and the ministry claims that “a man’s adornment is his beard.” The letter further states that men who shave their beards “resemble Christians.”

As reported by Shia Waves Agency, citing the BBC, the ministry referenced the hadith “Trim the moustache and let the beard grow,” noting that for the past four years it has assigned a single mandatory topic for every Friday sermon nationwide. Clerics are not permitted to deviate from these weekly themes.