Taliban replacing civil laws with Islamic ones

Afghanistan's new rulers- Taliban have launched a "purification" campaign across the country to replace civil laws with Islamic ones, writes Susannah George in The Washington Post When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the group quickly launched what officials called a "purification" campaign aimed at stripping the country of civil laws and institutions to build an entirely Islamic society.

A year and a half later, the Taliban has gutted the country's justice system by scrapping the constitution and replacing the legal code with rules based on a draconian interpretation of Islamic law, said Georges. The Taliban has filled prisons to overflowing, deprived men and women of basic civil rights, and eroded social safety nets meant to protect the most vulnerable Afghans.

It is also seeking to transform the media, using it to promote its vision for the country and restricting content deemed un-Islamic, including music and the presence of women, reported The Washington Post. Critics say that this effort has replaced a social order based on rights with one maintained by fear and intimidation. Taliban officials and some Afghans credit the campaign with improving security and eliminating corruption, reported The Washington Post.

"We have returned humanity to the country," said Mawlewi Ahmad Shah Fedayii, a prominent imam with close ties to the Taliban, speaking outside his mosque in Afghanistan's second city of Kandahar. Taliban judges said they either burned the books containing laws from the previous government when they moved into abandoned courthouses after the 2021 takeover.

Within recent months, the purification campaign has escalated further, with the Taliban formalizing these legal and policy changes, said George. Moreover, the Taliban's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, has become more vocal about subjecting alleged criminals to Islamic law, and this has translated, for instance, into more frequent public beatings.

"The rulers are compelled to make efforts to create an Islamic sharia system and bring reforms to [Afghan] society," a deputy Taliban spokesman, Qari Muhammad Yousef Ahmadi, told The Washington Post. He said imposing the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic law "is a blessing for the government, the people, and it pleases God."

So far, the Taliban's purification campaign has yet to reprise the brutality of the group's earlier tenure, such as the widespread stoning of women for alleged adultery. But recent changes suggest that the Taliban could be moving in that direction, said George. Since taking power, the Taliban has also severely restricted female access to education and barred women from working for humanitarian organizations.

The rulings sparked global outrage and initially forced many aid groups to halt operations delivering assistance to millions of Afghans struggling to keep their families warm and fed. The Taliban has said that other countries should not interfere with its domestic affairs, and, on balance, the international backlash has been relatively modest.

While rulings stripping women of their rights have further undermined the Taliban's reputation on the international stage, inside Afghanistan the group is overhauling the media to promote a positive image of the emirate, its new leadership and ultraconservative beliefs. Television programs that the group deems immoral have been outlawed. Afghan films are no longer allowed to include women or music.

And Afghan news outlets that broadcast critical stories are routinely threatened with legal action, forcing dozens to shutter, according to former employees.