The Taliban has enacted a new rule in Afghanistan prohibiting women from praying aloud, reciting the Quran, or chanting religious expressions like “takbir” (Allahu Akbar) in the presence of other women. This ban, reportedly announced by Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, marks another restriction in the Taliban’s ongoing imposition of strict controls over women’s public and religious lives in Afghanistan.
Hanafi conveyed in a message that women are not allowed to let their voices be heard while reciting the Quran or performing religious expressions if another woman is nearby. “It is prohibited for a grown woman to recite Quranic verses or perform recitations in front of another grown woman,” Hanafi said, emphasizing that even commonly spoken phrases such as “subhanallah,” meaning glory be to God, are forbidden in these settings. Hanafi stated that this extends to barring women from engaging in any form of public singing or call to prayer (adhan).
This announcement follows an August decree requiring women to be fully covered in public, including their faces, and barring them from public speaking that could be overheard from outside their homes.
The Taliban government has intensified restrictions on women since reclaiming power in 2021, with policies that critics say isolate women from public life. Women are already forbidden from working in most sectors, barred from secondary and higher education, and heavily restricted from public spaces unless accompanied by a male guardian. The latest ban, part of the Taliban’s interpretation of sharia law, includes a provision labeling women’s voices as “awrah,” or something that should not be heard publicly, even by other women.
The United Nations and human rights organizations have previously condemned the Taliban’s treatment of women, stating that such measures violate fundamental human rights. In 2022, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan warned that these policies could amount to crimes against humanity.
Expanded Coverage:
