The Taliban’s Minister for the Promotion of Virtue, Prevention of Vice, and Complaints Handling, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, has claimed that before the Taliban’s return to power, hundreds of Christian missionary centers were active in Afghanistan, but that all of these centers have since been eliminated following their return.
A Taliban-controlled state television outlet broadcast a roughly one-and-a-half-minute audio clip of Hanafi, but did not clarify when or where he made the remarks. Meanwhile, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue stated that Mohammad Khalid Hanafi held a coordination meeting on Sunday in the center of Kunduz province with religious scholars, tribal elders, influential figures, and local officials from the provinces of Badakhshan, Takhar, Baghlan, and Kunduz.
In his audio message, Hanafi said that a government in which the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice does not exist cannot be considered an Islamic system. According to him, the foundation of an Islamic system is based on the principle of promoting virtue and preventing vice.
He also claimed that prior to the Taliban’s return to power, there were hundreds of Christian missionary centers in Afghanistan, but that all of them have now been eliminated. He added that during the past twenty years there was not only a military presence, but also what he described as an “ideological and intellectual invasion,” during which, in addition to the promotion of Judaism and Christianity, people were allegedly offered financial incentives.
According to a press release from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue, the meeting discussed the implementation of the law on promoting virtue, the prevention of vice, and the enforcement of Sharia rulings. Hanafi told participants that if people remain unaware of religious rulings, officials will be held accountable before God, and he emphasized that the necessary facilities have been provided for the full implementation of Sharia.
Writer:Saeed Sameer
