Afghanistan International: The Shia Ulema Council of Afghanistan, in a statement, urged the Taliban to take necessary measures to ensure security during the month of Muharram and to prevent any disruption and insecurity. Last year, the Taliban asked Afghan Shias to refrain from erecting scaffolding and large religious flags in the city. The Taliban also
8am: Some followers of the Shia faith in the country criticize the Taliban’s ban on the entry of Jafari jurisprudence books into the country and the collection of such books from state and private university libraries. According to them, access to religious information is the right of every citizen, and the Taliban’s restrictions on the
Michael Hughes: The Taliban’s archaic interpretation of Sharia has been a useful tool in crushing civil society despite the fact such discourse is in line with Islamic principles, a new research report from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute argued, as the radicals in Kabul look to eradicate opposing voices from the country. The study by researcher M. Abul
By Faiza Ibrahimi and Sana Kakar Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 12, 2024 Ramadan is usually a time of compassion, charity, and celebration. But the Islamic holy month has been overshadowed in Afghanistan, the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, by rising hunger, poverty, and joblessness. As some in the Muslim world break their fast with nightly
AP: DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Officials saw the crescent moon Sunday night in Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, marking the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan for many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims. The sacred month, which sees those observing abstain from food and water from sunrise
Khaama: In a concerning move, the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has issued a directive to private universities in Afghanistan to purge their libraries of non-Hanafi Islamic texts, including Shia and other minority religious books. This mandate represents an intensification of the Taliban’s effort to enforce a singular Sunni Hanafi Islamic perspective across educational institutions.
8am: Afghanistan is recognized for its diverse social, linguistic, and religious structure. The country encompasses multiple Islamic sects, various ethnic groups, and diverse languages, each with its believers and advocates. The religious freedoms of the Afghan people were officially acknowledged in the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Still, since the Taliban’s return to
Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 13, 2023 The education of girls and women is universally accepted in more than 200 countries and territories, including nearly 50 Muslim-majority nations. But Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers have banned teenage girls from attending school after the sixth grade since they returned to power two years ago.
8am: The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) urgently calls for coordinated international action to protect the Shia and Hazara communities in Afghanistan. In their statement, the organization highlights that the Afghan Shia, primarily comprising Hazaras, face systematic discrimination, targeted attacks, marginalization, harassment, and severe restrictions under the Taliban’s rule. The report reveals