Taliban introduce Sharia punishments in Afghanistan

Sharia punishments are being introduced in Afghanistan. Photo: Al Jazeera

On November 14, 2022, Afghanistan’s leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, ordered judges to enforce Sharia law, including punishments such as public executions, stoning, flogging and amputation for certain crimes, The Guardian reports.

According to Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister of Information and Culture Zabihullah Mujahid, the country’s leader instructed judges to “carefully examine the cases of thieves, kidnappers and rebels” and apply Sharia law to offenses falling under the categories of hudud and qisas.

Hudud and qisas are concepts in Islamic law. Under Islamic jurisprudence, a criminal act may violate the rights of Allah, the rights of an individual, or the rights of Allah together with those of an individual.

Hudud offenses are those regarded as violations of the rights of Allah or of the rights of Allah combined with those of an individual. They include heresy, apostasy, rebellion, robbery, theft, adultery, falsely accusing someone of adultery, drinking alcohol, kidnapping and slander.

Qisas offenses are those that violate the rights of an individual or the rights of Allah together with those of an individual. They include murder and bodily injury. Such crimes are subject to retribution in kind – essentially, an eye for an eye. However, the injured party may choose the punishment: execution, forgiveness of the offender or acceptance of blood money, known as diyya.

Videos and photographs have repeatedly appeared in the media showing Taliban fighters administering corporal punishment to people accused of offenses. The Taliban have also publicly displayed the bodies of alleged kidnappers whom they said were killed in shootouts. There have also been reports of adulterers being flogged in rural areas after Friday prayers.

As the UOJ previously reported, the Taliban banned women in Afghanistan from traveling without a male companion.

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