麻豆影视

Skip to main content

Afghan women cannot pray loudly or recite in front of other women, says Taliban minister

Share
Islamabad -

Afghan women are forbidden from praying loudly or reciting the Quran in front of other women, according to a Taliban government minister.

It鈥檚 the latest restriction on women following morality laws that ban them from raising their voice and baring their faces outside the home. They are already excluded from education after sixth grade, many public spaces and most jobs.

Nobody from the Vice and Virtue Ministry was immediately available Wednesday to clarify the official鈥檚 remarks or confirm if the prohibition would also become part of the morality laws.

During an event in eastern Logar province on Sunday, Vice and Virtue Minister Khalid Hanafi said: 鈥淚t is prohibited for a grown woman to recite Quranic verses or perform recitations in front of another grown woman. Even chants of takbir (Allahu Akbar) are not permitted.鈥

He said that uttering similar expressions like 鈥渟ubhanallah,鈥 another word central to the Islamic faith, was also not allowed. A woman was not permitted to perform the call to prayer, he told the gathering. 鈥淪o, there is certainly no permission for singing.鈥

Audio of Hanafi鈥檚 remarks was shared on the ministry鈥檚 social media platforms but was later deleted. The ministry said Tuesday that a nationwide awareness program about the laws is underway involving ministry officials at provincial and district levels.

鈥淥rganising such programs will contribute to shaping public perception and increasing awareness of divine rulings,鈥 the ministry added.

Afghan provinces are already barring the media from showing images of living things, another controversial and widely criticized feature of the morality laws.

The Taliban set up the ministry for the "propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice鈥 after seizing power in 2021.

Since then, the ministry has enforced decrees issued by the Taliban leadership that have a disproportionate impact on women and girls, like dress codes, segregated education and employment, and having a male guardian when they travel.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

A South Frontenac Township man is facing charges, including impaired operation causing death, in connection to a boat crash that killed three people on Bobs Lake in eastern Ontario over the Victoria Day long weekend.

The mother of a 17-year-old victim in a mass slaying in Manitoba is suing a child welfare agency for allegedly failing to protect the girl.

Vanita Lindsay has been paid $8,816.20 for a job she has never worked.

Local Spotlight

A Halifax junk remover shares some of his company鈥檚 strangest discoveries.

When Leah arrived at work directing traffic around a construction site, she never expected to see a van painted in all sorts of bright colours, and covered in eclectic decorations, including a stuffed moose attached to its roof.

After 14 years of repairing and selling bicycles out of the garage of her home, a Guelph, Ont. woman鈥檚 efforts have ended 鈥 for now, at least.

Epcor says it has removed more than 20,000 goldfish from an Edmonton stormwater pond.

Witches and warlocks have been flocking to New Brunswick waterways this month, as a new Halloween tradition ripples across the province.

New Brunswicker Jillea Godin鈥檚 elaborate cosplay pieces attract thousands to her online accounts, as well as requests from celebrities for their own pieces.

A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.

He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.