Taliban bar Yahya Anabi from delivering Friday sermons and preaching from the pulpit.
Sources close to Yahya Anabi, the imam and Friday prayer leader of the Anaba Grand Mosque in Panjshir province, say that the Taliban have prohibited him from delivering sermons and preaching during Friday prayers, as well as from going to the pulpit of the mosque.
According to the sources, the Taliban’s intelligence agency warned Yahya Anabi that he would be arrested if he returned to the pulpit. The sources said the warning was delivered to him directly.
Several local residents also confirmed that Anabi has not gone to the pulpit or delivered the Friday sermon at the Anaba Grand Mosque in recent weeks.
Yahya Anabi has been one of the more prominent and controversial religious figures who has previously supported some Taliban policies and actions, particularly restrictions imposed on women.
However, Anabi has also criticized Taliban policies and conduct on several occasions. His statements and positions in recent years have drawn mixed reactions from the public and social media users.
Anabi has previously been temporarily detained by the Taliban several times. Most recently, reports emerged that he was detained in late Saratan of the current solar year.
The Taliban have not yet officially commented on the reported ban preventing Yahya Anabi from going to the pulpit and delivering Friday sermons, nor on the reported warning by the group’s intelligence agency that he could be arrested.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
