Taliban Enacts New Ban on Women ‘Hearing Other Women’s Voices’ During Prayer in Afghanistan
The Taliban has introduced a new decree banning Afghan women from “hearing other women’s voices” during prayer, adding to the extensive restrictions already placed on women’s rights and freedoms under the regime’s strict interpretation of sharia law. Khalid Hanafi, the acting minister of the Vice and Virtue Ministry, made this announcement in a voice message shared via the ministry’s social media, though the message has since been removed.
In the announcement, Hanafi specified that “an adult female must not pray loudly enough for another female to hear,” reportedly disallowing even religious phrases like “subhanallah” (meaning “Glory be to Allah”) if they are in the presence of other women. Recitations, Quranic verses, and chants of takbir (such as “Allahu Akbar”) are also reportedly banned. This new decree extends previous restrictions, which already prohibited women from engaging in public call-to-prayer, speaking in public, and requires them to be fully veiled, including covering their faces.
This ban aligns with the Taliban’s larger policy aimed at “preventing temptation,” which has led to sweeping measures controlling women’s behavior. Since returning to power, the Taliban has enforced laws that restrict Afghan women from appearing in public without a male guardian and has penalized those who defy these mandates with arrests and imprisonment.
Women’s rights groups and international bodies have raised concerns over the severe consequences of these policies, which many view as an assault on fundamental freedoms and an escalation of gender-based repression in Afghanistan.