The Taliban in Afghanistan has made a new rule that says women cannot pray out loud when they are with each other. This rule was announced by Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, who is in charge of promoting what the Taliban calls virtue and preventing vice. He stated that women should not read the Quran loudly when they are together. This rule has caused worry because it shows that women are facing more restrictions on their rights and freedoms in Afghanistan.

Concerns over women's rights and public speech

Hanafi justified the new rule by saying that a woman’s voice is considered “awrah,” which means it should be concealed and not heard in public even by other women. He added, “When women are not allowed to call Takbir or Azan (the Islamic call to prayer), they certainly cannot sing songs or enjoy music.” Experts worry that this directive could limit women’s ability to speak freely in public and push them further out of society.

The new rule is part of a series of restrictions that the Taliban has placed on women since they took control again in 2021. One of these rules requires women to cover their whole bodies, including their faces when they go outside. There are also reports that women are now not allowed to speak in public.

A midwife in Herat shared that female healthcare workers cannot talk in public, especially with male family members. She stated, “They don’t even allow us to speak at checkpoints on our way to work, and in clinics, we are instructed not to discuss medical issues with male relatives.”

It is still not clear how widely this new rule has been put into action. Since the Taliban took control, they have made strict rules that greatly limit women's freedoms and rights in Afghanistan.

According to Amnesty International, the regime has prevented girls from attending secondary school, restricted women’s access to work and education, enforced strict clothing guidelines, and arbitrarily detained women for "moral corruption." This has led to an increase in child marriages and other forms of gender-based oppression.