Taliban Controls Mosque Sermons to Enforce Women’s Restrictions

Taliban Controls Mosque Sermons to Enforce Women’s Restrictions
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The Taliban are exerting control over Friday sermons in mosques throughout Afghanistan, according to a report from amu.tv. Sources indicate that the Taliban-run Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs and security agencies are providing weekly topics to imams, who are no longer allowed to choose their own subjects.

The sermons, such as one delivered at the Abdul Rahman Khan Grand Mosque in Kabul, often focus on promoting the Taliban’s law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. In this particular sermon, an imam told worshippers that women should remain at home and cover their faces completely, with only one eye visible.

Residents have voiced concerns that this mandatory messaging has undermined the spiritual purpose of mosques, transforming them into platforms for “hatred and discrimination” against women. The article notes that the Taliban first codified their virtue and vice law in 2023, and morality enforcers have since been deployed to ensure compliance.

The report also highlights that the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has consistently urged clerics to support the full implementation of this law. The use of mosques to enforce these edicts is seen by rights groups as a way for the Taliban to use religion to cement their authority and strip women of their fundamental rights. International criticism has grown, with the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Akhundzada and Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani for crimes against humanity.