On Thursday, November 18, a Taliban spokesperson said that their ‘supreme leader’ Haibatullah Akhundzada has recently ordered Afghan judges to fully execute Sharia law provisions such as public executions, stoning, flogging, and amputation of limbs of persons guilty of specific offences. The spokesperson said offences such as robbery, kidnapping and sedition must be punished in line with the group’s interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
Taliban’s chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had also taken to Twitter on Sunday, November 13, to inform that Haibatullah Akhundzada met with Taliban judges a few days ago and instructed them to implement Sharia law in their rulings.
“Carefully examine the files of thieves, kidnappers and seditionists,” Mujahid quoted Akhundzada as saying.
عالیقدر امیرالمؤمنین د قاضیانو په یوه غونډه کې:
— Zabihullah (..ذبـــــیح الله م ) (@Zabehulah_M33) November 13, 2022
ــ د غلو، انسان تښتونکو او فتنه ګرو دوسیې په ښه ډول وڅېړئ.
ــ هغه دوسیې چې د حد او قصاص ټول شریعي شرایط یې پوره کړي وي مکلف یاست چې حد او قصاص ورباندي جاري کړئ، ځکه دا د شریعت حکم او زما امر دی او فرض ده ترڅو ورباندي عمل وکړئ.
The Tweet written in the Pashto language further quoted Haibatullah Akhundzada as saying, “Those files in which all the sharia (Islamic law) conditions of hudud and qisas have been fulfilled, you are obliged to implement. This is the ruling of sharia, and my command, which is obligatory.”
The Taliban has not specified the exact offences and punishments, but one religious leader in Afghanistan told the BBC that under Sharia law, penalties might include amputations, public lashings, and stoning.
Hudud offences include adultery and falsely accusing someone of it, consuming alcohol, theft, kidnapping and highway robbery, blasphemy, and insurrection, according to Islamic Sharia law. Qisas, on the other hand, includes murder and intentional injury among other things but also permits victims’ families to take compensation in lieu of punishment.
After regaining control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban promised a softer version of the brutal rule that characterised their previous stint in power, but Taliban 2.0 has, instead, pushed down harder on the freedoms and rights of the natives of Afghanistan.
Only yesterday (November 17), in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province, a young couple were arrested and publicly lashed 39 times each for allegedly having an extramarital relationship. A local resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal revealed that he had gone to the Shaheed Mazari stadium where the punishment was administered. Hundreds of locals watched but were prohibited from taking photographs or filming, according to the resident.
Last week, the ruling Taliban banned Afghan women from entering any public parks in the country. According to a Taliban spokesperson, women have also been barred from using public pools and gyms because they violate Sharia law.
It may be recalled that soon after the forcible takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, the latter had promised to govern the country differently under Taliban 2.0, however, only a month later the Jihadi organization declared that the country will be governed by laws of ‘Holy Sharia.’
In fact, a then-released policy statement attributed to Taliban Supremo Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada read, “Based on this principle, in the future, all matters of governance and life in Afghanistan will be regulated by laws of the Holy Sharia.”
