Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation there after the Taliban takeover. Here, a young lawyer reports on a new Taliban decree issued Saturday on the wearing of hijabs by Afghan women. For privacy and security reasons, we are withholding our correspondent’s name. The text has only been lightly edited to respect the author’s voice.

Here is a translation of the first and second pages of the Taliban government’s new ruling on “religious Hijab”. According to this ruling, it is “obligatory” on all “mature and noble” women in Afghanistan to cover all parts of their bodies, including their faces, except for their eyes. This is the most extremist interpretation of the hijab in the Islamic world that the Taliban intend to apply to Afghan women.

Translation:

Short explanatory and comparative plan for religious hijab

Despite the fact that for a long time, there have been regular and continuous programs in the country to make women unveiled, fortunately, 99% of the zealous women of the Mujahideen nation observe the hijab in accordance with the principles of Sharia and Afghan tradition. For others, since there are no excuses or obstacles, they must abide by this obligatory Shari’a ruling.

• The ruling on hijab
– It is obligatory for adult and noble Muslim women to observe the religious hijab

• Definition of hijab
– Any garment that covers the body is considered a hijab, but this garment should not be too thin to be seen on the body or it should not be so tight as to show the protrusions of the body parts.

• Types of hijab

Chador / burqa, which has been a part of Afghan dignified culture in the country for centuries, is the best type of religious hijab.
– A black dress and chador called hijab is also a religious hijab, but it should not be tight and sticky
– Without causing you to leave the house is the first and best sign of observing the hijab

• Cases of observing hijab
– Women who are not old or young in terms of life, when facing non-mahram men, due to the possibility of sedition according to the religious guidelines, except for their eyes, they should definitely cover their faces.

• Benefits of observing hijab

– The religious hijab is the command of God Almighty and its observance is obedience to His command
Hijab is the privilege of Muslim and noble women
– Women are safe from the veil of disobedience and sin
– Have dignity and dignity
– The corrupters are safe from evil and corruption
– Hunting of seditionists and conspiracy theorists are not allowed.

• Methods and steps of applying hijab:

(１) persuasion

– Promoting the ruling, importance and benefits of hijab and the harms of not wearing hijab through the media and pulpits
– Writing persuasive sentences and installing billboards about hijab in markets, parks and other public places

(1) Punishment and intimidation

– If the hijab is not observed, the house of the woman without hijab will be marked for the first time and her guardian (Muharram man) will be advised and punished.
– If it is repeated a second time, but (Muharram man) will be summoned to the relevant department
– If it is repeated for the third time, Vali (Muharram man) will be imprisoned for three days
– If it is repeated for the fourth time, but (Muharram man) will be introduced to the court and will be sentenced to the appropriate punishment
– Women who work in the institutions of the Islamic Emirate and do not observe the hijab should be fired
– If the wives and daughters of government officials and officials do not observe the hijab, their duties will be suspended.