The clandestine realm of bribery, veiled under the Taliban’s purported implementation of Islamic Sharia laws, is escalating. Officials and members of this group, under various pretexts, coerce citizens into paying bribes for permissions, such as playing and broadcasting music at wedding salons in Kabul, operating women’s beauty salons, engaging in drug sales, and even obtaining permits for public prostitution. Investigations conducted by RASC News Agency expose that the Taliban’s “Propagation of Virtue” officers, ostensibly tasked with enforcing Islamic laws and preventing what they term as “evils” and inappropriate activities, accept monetary bribes to issue permits. Individuals paying these bribes gain the freedom to partake in activities previously prohibited by the Taliban, all under the guise of implementing Islamic Sharia laws.
The Taliban, enforcing a ban on music during wedding events in both homes and wedding salons, deploy their officers at night to these locations, coercing organizers into paying bribes. They insist on payment to authorize the inclusion of music in wedding and engagement ceremonies. Failure to comply with the monetary demand results in the destruction of all musical equipment at the events. Four Credible sources in Kabul, comprising wedding salon owners, have attested to RASC News Agency that officers of the “Propagation of Virtue” demand a standard bribe of six thousand Kabuli rupees for any gathering where music is played, subsequently providing permission.
Ahmad Daryoush Ebrahimi, who organized his brother’s wedding ceremony in a Kabul wedding salon last week, discloses that he paid the Taliban for permission to play music. He consulted the hotel owner beforehand, who advised paying the “Propagation of Virtue” officers; otherwise, they would not permit music. He states, “After the Taliban officers arrived around seven in the evening, I gave them six thousand Kabuli rupees, and only then did they allow the music to be played.”
On the contrary, the revelations in this report suggest that the Taliban group permits specific women beauticians, who offer bribes, to deliver services to their clientele within their residences. This maneuver circumvents the prohibition on women’s beauty salons in Kabul and throughout the nation. Operating under the guise of Islam and ostensibly curbing what they label as “evils,” the Taliban has enforced the closure of all women’s beauty salons in Kabul and the provinces. Despite the organized efforts of women beauticians, marked by various processions, the Taliban has refrained from granting approval, leading to the closure of their establishments.
In a recent development, members of this group have authorized certain women’s beauty salons to render services to their clients within homes subsequent to receiving bribes from salon proprietors. However, the country’s citizens, while denouncing the Taliban’s exploitative use of Islam’s name and their growing corruption, express, “For the Taliban group, Islam has morphed into an economic instrument, reminiscent of the Middle Ages when Christian popes and ‘churches’ engaged in selling salvation and pardoning sins for a fee from their followers.” Afghanistani citizens express discontent, asserting that the Taliban’s implementation of Islamic laws has led solely to economic harm and increased income for the group. They argue that if ten thousand Kabuli rupees were spent in a women’s beauty salon previously, this amount has now more than doubled, as half of the beauticians’ income goes to the Taliban for permission and bribes.
The Taliban, self-proclaimed custodians of Islamic values, have, despite their two-decade-long effort to attract illiterate and undereducated individuals under the guise of Islam, persisted in moral corruption and bribery since seizing control of Afghanistan. Their avowal to uphold Islamic Sharia laws acts as a veneer, obscuring their involvement in ethical misconduct and various crimes. Earlier, RASC News Agency acquired information indicating that the Taliban endorse the activities of morally corrupt women in different neighborhoods of Kabul, stating, “Officials and members of the Taliban support certain women engaged in moral corruption and prostitution, exploiting them for sexual favors.” Multiple sources corroborate that Taliban authorities and members establish secure residences for indulging in moral corruption, utilizing luxurious vehicles equipped with weapons and military gear to traverse between these locations during the night until the early morning.
Religious scholars assert that over the past two decades, the Taliban has committed unforgivable crimes, including suicide bombings, targeting Muslims, mosque explosions, and numerous other atrocities, by disseminating deceptive interpretations of the sacred Islamic faith. During their two-year rule over Afghanistan, this exploitation extended into ethical and social domains, casting shame and disgrace upon all Islamic scholars. These religious scholars underscore that the sole antidote to the Taliban’s exploitation is to consistently remind people not to judge Islam based on the behavior, actions, and ethics demonstrated by the Taliban group and its members. They emphasize that Islam fundamentally differs from what the Taliban has portrayed to the people of Afghanistan and the world, resulting in widespread aversion and disdain.
