The Complex Reality Of Hijab In Afghanistan

In May 2022, the Taliban decreed that all Afghan women must cover themselves from head to toe in public, with their faces covered entirely, except for the eyes. The order, which is to be enforced by women's male relatives, has been criticised by women's rights activists and the United Nations as a betrayal of the Taliban's pledges to respect gender equality. While the Taliban justifies these moves as being in accordance with Islam, they contradict Islamic tradition and Afghan culture.

The Taliban's hijab decree contradicts Islamic tradition and Afghan culture

The hijab decree contradicts Islamic tradition as the Quran and other Islamic texts and traditions do not include the face, hands, and feet as part of required forms of Islamic dress. The Taliban's decree is also contradictory to the spirit of Islam, as the Quran clearly states in Chapter 33:33 that staying at home was an option for women in the Prophet's household, not for all Muslim women.

The hijab decree also contradicts Afghan culture, as the burqa is a relatively modern and foreign phenomenon in Afghanistan. Over the past several decades, Afghan women have rejected the narrative that the burqa is a part of an Afghan traditional dress code for women. Afghanistan is an agriculture-centred country, and loose clothing and headscarves have been worn by women to allow them to work on farms, forests, and with livestock. The Taliban's hijab decree undermines Afghan culture and imposes a type of hijab that was foreign to a majority of Afghan women before the 1990s.

The Taliban's decree has been criticised by women's rights activists

The Taliban's hijab decree has been widely criticised by women's rights activists, both in Afghanistan and internationally. The decree, which requires women to cover themselves from head to toe, has been described as a violation of women's rights and a form of "gender apartheid".

Women's rights activists argue that the decree is a continuation of the Taliban's misogynistic policies and a way to erase women from public spaces. They also point out that the Taliban's interpretation of Islam is contradictory to the spirit of the religion and that their rules are not based on universal Islamic law. The Taliban's decree has also been met with international condemnation and has been called a "blatant violation of the right to freedom of choice and movement".

The decree has had a devastating impact on Afghan women, limiting their access to education, employment, and basic freedoms. It has also led to an increase in domestic violence and abuse against women and girls. Women's rights activists have faced surveillance, harassment, assault, arbitrary detention, and exile for opposing the Taliban's abuses.

The international community's response to the crisis has been criticised as disorganized, apathetic, and un-feminist. There is a sense that the world has turned a blind eye to the suffering of Afghan women and girls, and that the lack of an effective response sets a dangerous precedent for women's rights globally.

The Taliban's decree has been criticised by the United Nations

The Taliban's decree on the hijab has been criticised by the United Nations, which described it as a betrayal of the group's pledges to respect gender equality. The UN's position is that the decree is another restriction on women's freedoms, which is part of a system of controls that activists have attacked as "gender apartheid".

The decree has been called a cruel twist as it makes women's relatives and employers the enforcers. If a woman's face is seen in public, her male "guardian" will be fined, then jailed. If the woman or her relative works for the government, they must be fired. The decree suggests that women should not leave their homes at all if possible, which imposes the extreme traditions of conservative rural areas on all women.

The UN's independent human rights experts have expressed concern over reports of arbitrary arrests, detention, and ill-treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan. They have called on the de facto authorities to comply with Afghanistan's human rights obligations, including under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

The Taliban's hijab decree has been met with widespread international condemnation. UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, tweeted: "I'm alarmed by today's announcement by the Taliban that women must cover their faces in public and leave home only in cases of necessity."

The decree has been criticised by some Islamic law scholars, who repudiate the Taliban's claim that enforcing the hijab is their Islamic obligation. They argue that the Taliban's treatment of women, including gender-specific dress codes, is inspired by rural Afghan traditions.

The Taliban's decree has been described as nonsensical by Shkula Zadran, an Afghan women's rights activist, who said: "I think [the Taliban’s] entire Jihad was evolving against women... Afghanistan is already a Muslim country and women have always observed the hijab."

The Taliban's decree has been criticised by the UK Foreign Office

The UK Foreign Office has criticised the Taliban's decree, stating that the group will have to "live up to their obligations" on the rights of women if they want international acceptance. The Foreign Office spokesperson said: "Responsibility for what happens in Afghanistan lies with the Taliban. We will judge them by their actions, not their words. If they want international acceptance, they must live up to their obligations and commitments, particularly on the rights of women and girls."

The Taliban's decree has been criticised by Afghan women

The Taliban's decree has been described as gender apartheid by the United Nations, and has been criticised by the international community for betraying their promises to respect gender equality. The decree has also been criticised for contradicting Islamic tradition and Afghan culture, and for resurrecting the full control the Taliban had over women and girls when they ruled in the 1990s.

Afghan women have been left feeling hopeless, with their dreams and aspirations crushed. They have been left with no choice but to comply with the Taliban's rules, or risk punishment. The Taliban's decree has also put women in danger of domestic violence, with Afghan women reporting that they feel unsafe and that their male relatives will be forced to comply with the Taliban's rules.

Afghan women have also been left feeling betrayed by the international community, who they believe have abandoned them. They have called for urgent action to be taken, and for the international community to not sit idly by.

Frequently asked questions