The reality in Afghanistan has taken a 180 degree turn with the return to power of the Taliban. After two decades of the fall of his regime of terror, this weekend the insurgents have entered Kabul, the capital of the country. As they have assured, they will respect the rights of women within the ‘Sharia’ or ‘Islamic Law’, although no one trusts their words .
But what exactly is ‘ Sharia ‘? According to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, it is the “Islamic religious law that regulates all public and private aspects of life, and whose follow-up is considered to lead to salvation .”
It is not a manuscript that reflects all that Muslims can do, as the Qur’an is. It basically consists of a series of texts that are subject to the subjective interpretation of each school . Therefore, depending on who reads the texts, ‘Islamic Law’ applies in one way or another.
The ‘Sharia’ is based on four sources: the Hadith (‘narration’), the Ijma (‘consensus’), the Qur’an (‘recitation’) and the Ijtihad (‘effort’) . The vast majority of Muslims understand ‘Islamic Law’ as the word revealed by Allah as it began to take shape right after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.
Countries like Iran or Saudi Arabia apply ‘Sharia’ very strictly, while in others like Turkey or Egypt only some aspects of the lives of citizens are based on ‘Sharia’.
The ‘Islamic Law’ contemplates different types of crimes, the harshest being the ‘Hadd’, whose punishment must be decided by a judge: sexual relations outside of marriage, adultery, homosexuality, alcohol consumption and robbery . The types of punishment range from flogging to stoning to amputation.
Women and girls in Afghanistan
One of the main concerns after the coming to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan is the rights of women and girls. If the ‘Sharia’ is applied strictly, these are considered second-class citizens, object of provocation for man and subjected to his will .
For this reason, a series of norms are imposed on women: they cannot work outside the home or go out without the company of their “guardian”, they cannot study, they are required to wear a burqa , the use of cosmetics is prohibited, they are not allowed to allowed to laugh out loud or wear high heels …
