New Delhi: Afghan Women’s voices while praying must not be heard by other women, the Taliban regime has announced in the latest of its several prohibitions restricting women’s freedom. Taliban minister Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, handling the department of propagation of virtue and prevention of vice, has issued an order instructing women to refrain from reciting the Quran audibly when around other women, according to Afghan news channel Amu TV.
Hanafi explained this restriction, stating that a woman’s voice is considered “awrah” — something that must be concealed — and should not be heard in public, even among women. He further emphasised that if women are not allowed to call Takbir or Azan, the Islamic call to prayer, they are likewise forbidden from singing or listening to music.
Giving logic behind the prohibition, he said a woman’s voice is considered “awrah,” meaning it should be concealed and not heard in public, even among other women. This new restriction has raised concerns among experts, who worry it could stifle women’s freedom of expression and further marginalize them from public life.
Taliban’s free speech prohibitions
This decree marks yet another oppressive measure imposed on Afghan women since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. In August, the regime mandated that women wear full-body coverings, including face veils, in public.
Female healthcare workers—among the few Afghan women still allowed to work outside the home—are also prohibited from speaking publicly, especially with male relatives. A midwife in Herat shared with Amu TV that they are barred from speaking at checkpoints en route to work or discussing medical issues with male relatives in clinics.
Though it is uncertain if the latest decree has been formally enforced or what its full impact may be, it aligns with the Taliban’s broader agenda to curtail women’s rights and freedoms. With such restrictions steadily increasing, the situation for Afghan women becomes ever more precarious, raising serious concerns among human rights advocates worldwide.
