Photo: Social Media

Taliban Leader: Establishing a Purely Islamic Regime

Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzadeh, the leader of the Taliban, is found saying that the group will review all the regulations and the bills passed in the last 20 years and create a ‘purely sharia-based system,’ in an audio file newly surfaced on social networking sites on Thursday, October 13, 2022.

Mullah Hebatullah says that he hopes that a “hundred percent Islamic system” will be established in Afghanistan. He adds that he will cancel the regulations and bills against Sharia and instead will create a “system based purely on Sharia.” According to him, there is ongoing work in this field.

He further adds that despite foreign pressures, the Taliban do not allow anything against Sharia. He says that the Taliban interacts with the world within the framework of Sharia law and the “nation’s interests.” Currently, unlike other Islamic countries, the Taliban have deprived girls of education and prohibited women from working and doing activities outside without male attendants. According to the sources, the decision to ban girls’ education was made by the Taliban leader.

Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s Minister of the Propagation of Virtue and the Prohibition of Vice, considered one of the group’s key ministries, said a while ago that it is permissible to learn modern sciences. He is previously heard saying, “Education is discussed everywhere. Education is a permissible act, and this is a scientific statement. Worldly education is a permissible act. However, when there is a conflict between what is permissible and the orders of the Amir, the ruling of Amir takes precedence.”

Hanafi made these statements in response to Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Taliban’s foreign ministry Deputy for Political Affairs. Speaking at the World Tourism Day event, Stankzai said no religious grounds existed to close girls’ schools. He called the pursuit of sciences an “absolute obligation.”