Afghan barbers under pressure to ‘cut’ beards

Barbers in Afghanistan have been accused of flouting the law under the Taliban regime. They are being punished for ‘cutting’ Afghans’ beards. Last month, the Taliban’s Ministry of Ethics and Morality said that beards longer than a fist are now ‘mandatory’. According to an AFP report, the new guidelines introduce a rule that beards should be ‘double’ the length of the previous guidelines.
“The government’s responsibility is to ensure that everyone dresses according to Sharia law (Islamic law),” said Khalid Hanafi, the minister in charge of the ministry. He said that officials in the ministry are obliged to implement Islamic rules in all areas.
Ministry officials have already started patrolling cities to ensure this. Several Afghan barbers spoke to AFP about the matter, but they declined to be named for security reasons.
Both barber and customer in trouble:
A 30-year-old barber in the southeastern Ghazni region says he was detained for three nights. The barber claims that a worker at his salon cut a customer’s hair “in the Western style” and was arrested by officers after learning he had been detained.
“They first locked me in a cold room. After I demanded my release, they transferred me to a cold shipping container,” he said. He was later released without any formal charges. He still works, but he said he hides when he sees patrols.
“The thing is, no one can question their activities or argue with them,” the barber said. “Everyone is afraid of them.” He added that in some cases, both the barber and the customer have been detained. However, in most cases, the customer is released but the barber is detained.
According to a UN report, three barbers in Kunar province were sentenced to three to five months in prison last year for violating the ministry’s laws.
Instructions from the Ministry of Religion:
In addition to the Ministry of Morality, strict instructions have also come from the Taliban’s Ministry of Religion. In November, an eight-page instruction was sent to mosque imams. It instructed imams to describe beard trimming as a “major crime.” They were also ordered to mention the issue during prayer sermons.
The minister of religion argued that by trimming beards, men were trying to “dress like women.”
The instruction was also sent to universities. It is worth noting that Afghan women were not allowed to study at universities during the Taliban regime. A 22-year-old from Kabul University “The lecturers warned us. If our dress is not Islamic, they will lower our exam marks,” the student said.
The Islamic dress code is mainly focused on beards and head coverings, the student said. “Young people want to keep their beards short,” lamented a 25-year-old barber in the capital, Kabul. “But there are many restrictions on this,” he said.
“Barbers run their businesses privately.” “How long or short a beard is is a personal matter for each person. No one should interfere,” he added. Ethics Minister Hanafi dismissed the argument. He said last month that there would be no objection to beards “according to Sharia law.” Personal preference is completely irrelevant.