In a stark reminder of the Taliban’s intensifying restrictions on women, a senior cleric during Friday prayers in Kabul declared that women should not see the road with both eyes when outside the home. According to him, Islamic law only permits a woman to keep one eye open to see her path, while the rest of her face must remain covered.
The cleric, who also holds a senior advisory role in the Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees, claimed that it is forbidden for a woman to leave her house without a male guardian. He cited religious texts to argue that a woman without a male escort is “cursed by God, angels, and all beings of the earth and heavens.”
These remarks come amid a sweeping crackdown on women in the Afghan capital. Witnesses report that young women, many of whom were wearing traditional hijab, have recently been detained violently by the Taliban’s so-called “morality police.” The crackdown is reportedly being carried out under direct orders from the group’s top leadership.
Under newly enforced regulations, women are required to cover their entire bodies and faces in public. The law also considers a woman’s voice — including singing, reciting poetry, or speaking loudly in public — as something that must be concealed. The rules mandate that even if a woman must leave her home for essential needs, she must hide her voice, face, and body entirely.
Enforcement officials are authorized to stop and punish any woman or girl who does not comply with the strict dress codes.
These developments have raised alarm among rights activists, who warn of a return to the Taliban’s most oppressive policies and the continued erasure of women from public life in Afghanistan.
