RASC News Agency: In yet another chilling indication of the Taliban’s escalating repression, Mawlawi Bashir Ahmad Hanafi, a well-known religious scholar from Helmand, has been arrested by the Taliban regime following his return from Egypt. According to family sources who spoke to media, Taliban intelligence operatives detained Hanafi shortly after he arrived back in Afghanistan and have since held him in custody at the main prison in Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand province. Sources confirmed on Thursday, May 22, that Hanafi was arrested just one day after his return from Egypt, where he had been pursuing doctoral studies at Al-Azhar University in Cairo one of the world’s most prestigious centers for Islamic scholarship. He has now spent over eight days in Taliban detention without formal charges, and his case has been referred to the Taliban-controlled judiciary.
“We have no idea why he was arrested,” said one of Hanafi’s relatives. “But this is the second time the Taliban have detained him. He’s exhausted, both mentally and physically, and feels hopeless.” The relative added that Hanafi had previously been targeted by the Taliban, indicating a persistent campaign of harassment against critical religious figures. The timing of Hanafi’s arrest has raised suspicions that it may be linked to a recent interview he gave to BBC Pashto. In that interview, Hanafi discussed the legacy of Ibn Hibban al-Busti, a prominent 10th-century Shafi’i scholar who was unjustly ostracized by dogmatic clerics of his time. Hanafi emphasized the role of reason and learning in Islamic tradition and condemned the intellectual intolerance that led to Ibn Hibban’s persecution. Though historical in nature, his reflections were widely interpreted as a veiled critique of the Taliban’s rigid, anti-intellectual ideology.
The Taliban who claim to govern under Islamic principles have in practice demonstrated an extreme aversion to any form of scholarly debate or religious pluralism. Their crackdown on moderate clerics like Hanafi exposes their fear of theological dissent and their desire to monopolize religious authority by silencing more learned and inclusive Islamic voices. Hanafi’s family has expressed grave concern over the consequences of this detention. “He has important doctoral examinations in two weeks,” said a family member. “If he is not released in time, years of his hard work and academic achievement will be irreparably lost.”
Hanafi has been a vocal critic of the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education, frequently appearing in the media to demand the reopening of schools and universities for women. He also established a religious school for children in Lashkargah, earning respect among community members for his commitment to education and reform. Despite growing public concern, Taliban officials in Helmand have refused to provide any explanation for his arrest. Their silence underscores a broader policy of opacity and intimidation that the group has employed against journalists, educators, women, and now moderate clerics.
In a related development, sources close to another reformist scholar, Mawlawi Abdul Qadir Qanit, told media that Taliban intelligence forces recently raided his home in Kabul and detained him. Qanit is currently being held in the Taliban’s notorious Department 40, a facility known for extrajudicial interrogations and mistreatment. He was reportedly allowed a brief phone call with his family. These arrests are part of an accelerating campaign by the Taliban to eliminate any perceived challenge to their ideological authority even when that challenge comes from within the clerical community. Rather than fostering a culture of learning and critical thinking rooted in Islam’s scholarly heritage, the Taliban have weaponized religion to enforce conformity and suppress independent thought.
“These clerics represent a vision of Islam rooted in knowledge, compassion, and intellectual inquiry,” said a Kabul-based Islamic academic, who asked not to be named for security reasons. “Their detentions are not just personal tragedies they are part of a broader effort by the Taliban to erase centuries of Islamic thought that contradict their primitive and politicized version of the faith.” Under Taliban rule, Afghanistan continues to descend into an intellectual and moral vacuum, where even the most respected religious figures are not safe from state repression. The detention of Mawlawi Bashir Ahmad Hanafi serves as yet another grim warning: in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, truth itself has become a crime.
