Taliban imposes head-to-toe covering law
If Afghan women ignore burqa requirement, government warns their male relatives could be jailed
This is not a restriction on women but an order of the Qur'an. It is the order of Allah ... ” Taliban official Akif Muhajir
ISLAMABAD — Muslim women in Afghanistan must cover from head to toe in public, including their faces, according to a Taliban ruling announced Saturday, the latest move to constrain the lives of women since taking control of the country last year.
“This is not a restriction on women but an order of the Qur'an,” said Akif Muhajir, a spokesman for the ministry of virtue and prevention of vice, referring to the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islamic law.
“It is the order of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad.”
The Taliban's treatment of women has been a key point of contention as the group has pushed for formal international recognition and increased aid money to address the country's spiralling economic crisis.
When asked for greater engagement with the Taliban, the international community has repeatedly requested the group demonstrate greater respect for women's rights, among other things.
Women may choose to wear the head-to-toe covering called a burqa, or a cloth veil covering their face paired with a head scarf and long robe called an abaya, said Muhajir, a spokesman for the ministry of virtue and the prevention of vice.
Women who appear in public without following the new guidelines on dress will first be issued warnings, the ministry's announcement stated.
If women continue to disregard the ruling, their homes will be identified and their male relatives will be summoned for punishment that could include prison sentences, the Taliban said at a news conference Saturday.
The ministry called on the media and mosques to encourage women to comply. Muhajir said “Muslim women are not worried,” about the new ruling on dress. he said, Taliban leadership has spent recent months travelling the country convincing Afghans at the local level that such a law is in line with Islamic teachings.
While not legally required under the previous government, most Afghan women traditionally cover their hair in public. When the Taliban controlled Afghanistan in the 1990s, all women were required to wear head-to-toe coverings.
But after the group was ousted, face coverings became less common in urban parts of the country.
Since the Taliban takeover in August, the group has imprisoned dozens of women's rights activists, restricted access to education for women and girls, and blocked women from international travel without a male guardian.
Many women have also been barred from the workplace under Taliban rule due to guidelines forbidding men and women to work in proximity.