In the realm of law, the concept of “social inclusion” is discussed as the cornerstone of overcoming barriers to the full and equal participation of all citizens in civil society and collective decision-making. Participation in civil society and collective decision-making can take various forms, such as working, voting, or engaging in grassroots and religious institutions. The barriers that prevent various segments of society from participating are primarily rooted in historical patterns and traditional stereotypes. These patterns and stereotypes propose criteria for marginalizing certain groups and segments of society, suggesting that if these groups and segments do not meet these criteria, they are excluded from social processes and subjected to social ostracism. Gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and religion are among the criteria that have historically been used in many societies to deprive certain members of society of their natural rights. Even today, some governments use criteria such as gender, race, and religion to restrict citizens from participating in social processes and unabashedly engage in marginalization. The Taliban government is one such regime that has a long history of depriving citizens of their fundamental rights and categorizing citizens under various titles. Women, who constitute half of every society, are the most important social group subjected to systematic discrimination by the Taliban and have been deprived of most of their fundamental rights. How does the Taliban justify this?
Repressive and narrow-minded rulers, to facilitate the exclusion of specific groups and segments of society, are inevitably compelled to use tricks. One of these tricks is dehumanizing the victims. Since its inception, the Taliban have relied on religious texts to portray the suppression and deprivation of women as a natural order. We know that the people of Afghanistan are religious and traditional, and deceiving them with religious slogans and symbols is one of the most common practices among rulers. Even communists, who were fundamentally anti-religious, were forced to use religion in Afghan society. Nevertheless, according to the Taliban’s religious interpretation, women are considered deficient in intelligence and should always be subordinate to men. The Taliban claims that religious texts place women below men and do not allow them to pursue education and work outside the home. Insulting and dehumanizing women under the guise of being deficient in intelligence and being the tillers of men is, in fact, a socio-psychological mechanism through which anti-women groups justify and interpret their incorrect and regressive actions.
The Taliban have a ministry called the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which is a broad organization that has employed thousands of illiterate and uneducated individuals. It holds a powerful presence in all sectors of the Taliban regime, both civilian and military, and also has an extensive presence in the streets and alleys, monitoring citizens’ clothing and behavior. According to Ahmed Rashid, a well-known Pakistani journalist, the Taliban’s Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice is modeled after a governmental organization in Saudi Arabia. However, after the rise of Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the organization’s role was replaced by the “General Entertainment Authority” and has virtually ceased its activities. Over about three years, the Taliban’s Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has been consistently engaged in restricting citizens’ livelihoods and creating pressure and suffocation in people’s daily lives. Most of the laws and regulations passed and communicated to the public by this ministry have been related to restricting women. Thanks to the activities of this ministry, now twenty million people in the country are living in the iron cage of restrictions, deprived of work, education, and leisure.
In the midst of all this, the main problem is the backwardness and intellectual bias of the Taliban. They consider orders issued by figures like Mullah Hibatullah or the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice as equivalent to divine decrees and do not allow anyone to question them from the perspective of a contemporary Muslim. While some Western scholars also have fair judgments regarding Islam and its history and acknowledge Islam as a major factor in the advancement and social, economic, and political presence of women in the early centuries of Islam, the Taliban do not allow for broader interpretations and religious interpretations. They arrogantly declare that only their government is the true executor of Sharia law at present, and other governments in the Islamic world are secular and deviant governments.
Due to the contemptuous view that the Taliban hold towards women, considering them inferior to ordinary humans, they endeavor to incapacitate them and prevent their empowerment. By depriving women of employment and education, the Taliban essentially render half of society idle, futile, and dependent on family members’ assistance or aid from international charitable organizations. Unfortunately, the marginalization of women from employment, education, and learning impedes women’s participation in social processes and exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The Taliban, seemingly unfamiliar with modern governance, are either unaware of or disregard this issue. The ideological and tribal delusions of the Taliban inflict irreparable human damage on society. In the 1990s, Ahmed Rashid met with Bebi Zohra in a bakery in Kabul. This bakery was established with the assistance of a World Food Program. Bebi Zohra said to Ahmed Rashid: “Look at my face: don’t you see the tragedy of our lives and our country that has been cast upon it? With every passing day, conditions worsen. We have become beggars dependent on the United Nations to survive. This is not the Afghan way. Women are tired, discouraged, and hopeless.” (Taliban, Ahmed Rashid, p. 223)
In some Islamic countries, including Gulf countries, allowing veiled women to participate in social, political, and economic activities has led to a significant increase in women’s presence in society. Meanwhile, the Taliban, under the pretext of observing the hijab, have effectively excluded women from all spheres of society. With their peculiar interpretation of Islamic hijab, the Taliban are imposing regulations that have no precedent anywhere in the world. Although the Taliban identify themselves as followers of the Hanafi school of thought, they do not adhere to the straightforward views of Imam Abu Hanifa regarding women’s attire and freedoms. The definition of hijab and chastity in the Hanafi school not only does not prevent women from work and activity but also grants them the right to actively participate in society alongside men. Because the Taliban have emerged from the most backward villages of Afghanistan, their interpretation of Islam bears no resemblance to the prevailing interpretations of Islam globally. They are casting aside the Islamic veil of culture and tribal honor and presenting a destructive and negative image of Islam.
One of the Taliban’s propaganda tactics to justify the oppression and suppression of women is to resort to propaganda about the era of the republic. They portray that during those years, urban women were subjected to various forms of sexual harassment and coercion, and were dragged into obscenity and immorality due to the invasion of Western culture, resulting in women removing their hijabs and causing discord and corruption. This move can also be considered an attempt at dehumanizing women. However, testimony from individuals who have experienced both the era of the republic and have traveled to other Islamic countries indicates that Afghan women were among the most veiled in Islamic countries during that period, and the majority of them adhered to the customary and conventional hijab with acceptance and willingness. Furthermore, there is credible evidence that the level of obscenity among women during the Taliban era has not only not decreased but has also increased. Many women, out of desperation and poverty, engage in such activities. By adopting misguided policies, the Taliban have made women even poorer than before and pushed them towards more corruption and indecency.
During the two decades of the republic era, although anti-women interpretations of Islam did not disappear, they were marginalized, and the trend of dehumanizing women did not gain momentum. However, with the fall of that regime, all achievements were suddenly lost. Now that the Taliban have all the power, they are striving to return women to the past era and turn them into commodities, reducing them to second-class citizens whose duty is confined to childbirth and serving their husbands. The establishment of so many girls’ religious schools, where the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam is preached, and the closure of schools and universities to girls, is done so that the Taliban can keep women ignorant. They prefer women who accept the Taliban’s patriarchal interpretation of religion and life, obediently submit, consider themselves inferior, and do not dare to protest. Generally, girls’ religious schools have emerged to suppress women softly. Taliban leaders know that within modern education lies the potential for rebellion and revolt against entrenched values and traditions. They fear protesting, informed, and updated women and are willing to commit any crime to silence their voices.
You can read the Persian version of this analysis here: