According to an Al Jazeera TV report, the Taliban’s religious police will be conducting inspections of wedding halls in Kabul, Afghanistan, to enforce a ban on playing music that they believe contradicts Islamic rulings on such celebrations. The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, in an online statement, instructed hall owners that music should no longer be allowed at wedding parties. This move signifies a stricter enforcement of a previous advisory issued by the Taliban last year, which recommended business owners to avoid music at public gatherings but was not heavily enforced at the time.
The manager of a festivities hall in Kabul questioned the rationale behind banning music at weddings, asking what the difference would be between a wedding ceremony and a funeral ceremony without music. Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, many artists and musicians have fled Afghanistan and sought asylum in Western countries.
The Taliban holds the view that music is against the teachings of Islam. According to their strict interpretation, only the human voice should produce music, and that too, only in praise of God. During their previous rule from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban banned numerous seemingly harmless activities in Afghanistan, including kite flying, watching TV soap operas, having fashionable haircuts, and playing music. Although these activities made a comeback after the Taliban’s ousting following a United States-led invasion, the reintroduction of Taliban rule has led to increased crackdowns.
Afghan women and girls have faced the most restrictions, including bans on attending high schools and universities, as well as holding many types of jobs. In April, a women-run radio station in Afghanistan’s northeast was shut down because, according to Taliban officials, it was playing music during the holy month of Ramadan, which they deemed a violation of the “laws and regulations of the Islamic Emirate.”
