Barbers in Afghanistan have been accused of flouting the law under the Taliban regime. They are being punished for \u2018cutting\u2019 Afghans\u2019 beards. Last month, the Taliban\u2019s Ministry of Ethics and Morality said that beards longer than a fist are now \u2018mandatory\u2019. According to an AFP report, the new guidelines introduce a rule that beards should be \u2018double\u2019 the length of the previous guidelines.
\n\u201cThe government\u2019s responsibility is to ensure that everyone dresses according to Sharia law (Islamic law),\u201d said Khalid Hanafi, the minister in charge of the ministry. He said that officials in the ministry are obliged to implement Islamic rules in all areas.
\nMinistry officials have already started patrolling cities to ensure this. Several Afghan barbers spoke to AFP about the matter, but they declined to be named for security reasons.
\nBoth barber and customer in trouble:
\nA 30-year-old barber in the southeastern Ghazni region says he was detained for three nights. The barber claims that a worker at his salon cut a customer\u2019s hair \u201cin the Western style\u201d and was arrested by officers after learning he had been detained.
\n\u201cThey first locked me in a cold room. After I demanded my release, they transferred me to a cold shipping container,\u201d he said. He was later released without any formal charges. He still works, but he said he hides when he sees patrols.
\n“The thing is, no one can question their activities or argue with them,” the barber said. “Everyone is afraid of them.” He added that in some cases, both the barber and the customer have been detained. However, in most cases, the customer is released but the barber is detained.
\nAccording to a UN report, three barbers in Kunar province were sentenced to three to five months in prison last year for violating the ministry’s laws.
\nInstructions from the Ministry of Religion:
\nIn addition to the Ministry of Morality, strict instructions have also come from the Taliban’s Ministry of Religion. In November, an eight-page instruction was sent to mosque imams. It instructed imams to describe beard trimming as a “major crime.” They were also ordered to mention the issue during prayer sermons.
\nThe minister of religion argued that by trimming beards, men were trying to “dress like women.”
\nThe instruction was also sent to universities. It is worth noting that Afghan women were not allowed to study at universities during the Taliban regime. A 22-year-old from Kabul University “The lecturers warned us. If our dress is not Islamic, they will lower our exam marks,” the student said.
\nThe Islamic dress code is mainly focused on beards and head coverings, the student said. “Young people want to keep their beards short,” lamented a 25-year-old barber in the capital, Kabul. “But there are many restrictions on this,” he said.
\n“Barbers run their businesses privately.” “How long or short a beard is is a personal matter for each person. No one should interfere,” he added. Ethics Minister Hanafi dismissed the argument. He said last month that there would be no objection to beards “according to Sharia law.” Personal preference is completely irrelevant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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