The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has banned playing music in wedding ceremonies and other festivities across the capital Kabul
In a statement on Sunday, the group said that officials from the ministry had met banqueting hall owners in the city and instructed them to no longer allow music be played during ceremonies.
Playing music, the statement said, is “against Islamic law” and should be replaced with prayers during wedding ceremonies.
Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the country’s music scene tilters on the edge of silence as playing and listening to music has been severely restricted across the country, with sermons or recitations of the Koran replacing the melodies once heard at weddings.
Fearful of Taliban retaliation, most musicians and singers have fled the country and those remaining have quit playing music or singing at concerts or public events or refuse to show up in such events amid a climate of fear and uncertainty.
