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The rise of Taliban control
In many ways, the Taliban had an easy road to power. War-weary Afghans eager for an end to corruption and crime welcomed the Taliban's heavy hand. Many towns simply handed power over to the Taliban.

Currently, the militia controls between 90 and 95 percent of the country. The Taliban (or the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as it calls itself) is opposed only by the National Islamic United Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan. The United Front was formed in 1996 as an alliance of other mujahedin, and led by minister of defense Ahmad Shah Massoud, but this Iran- and Russia-backed group does not stand a chance in their fight.

The Taliban is now pushing the international community for diplomatic recognition, but only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates endorse it as Afghanistan's official government.

Strict laws and harsh punishments
To crush corruption and crime, the Taliban has enforced Islamic (or Shari'ah) law and added increasingly draconian rules. Shari'ah law, at least as interpreted by the Taliban, dictates that adulterous couples are stoned to death, prostitutes are hanged in public, and women in the company of men (who are not blood relatives) are executed. Earlier this month, four men convicted of bombing Kabul were hanged from steel cranes in the middle of the city. The Department for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice metes out most punishments in the sports stadium.

Over the years, the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omarhas, has added to a long list of innovations "against the Shari'ah." Seeking to avoid "frivolity," distraction from holy living, and graven images, the Taliban has thus far banned: television, music, cinema, fireworks, statues, lipstick, neckties, white socks, alcohol, chess, pictures of animals, greeting cards with photos of people, fashion catalogs, satellite TV dishes, musical instruments, caged birds, kites, cassettes, computer discs, pig fat products, the printing of verses from the Qur'an, and anything made of human hair.

Women cannot go to work or school, must wear head-to-toe-coverings, and cannot go on picnics. Female aid workers have also been warned that driving is "against Afghan traditions." Male students must always wear turbans.

Making headlines and enemies
This week, officials pulled the plug on the Internet, allowing e-mail only in one government office in Kandahar. According to the BBC, the edict promises "the necessary Shari'ah punishment" to offenders.

Hours after the Web ban, the Taliban's own site was hacked.

Early this year, an edict declared that any pre-Islamic statues and objects in the country had to be destroyed. Since then, the Taliban has destroyed numerous statues in Kabul's National Museum of Afghanistan. What remains of the museum's collection is unknown; most of the artifacts were lost during years of bombing and looting.

The Taliban made new headlines and enemies in March for destroying two giant Buddhas (one reportedly the world's largest standing Buddha) carved into a mountainside in the fifth century. Taliban officials said it took 20 days to reduce the statues to rubble. Rocket launchers and explosives finally finished the job.

In May, the Taliban announced a plan to make Hindus wear yellow star badges in public. The Guardian reported that officials claim the measure is not persecution but mere prevention against "any 'disturbance' of non-Muslims who might otherwise be detained by police." After public outcry, this edict was reconsidered; Hindus now may only be required to carry special identification cards.

The Taliban claims that all of its regulations accord with the Islamic faith and Shari'ah law. However, some critics feel that when the Taliban pledged to create the world's most Islamic state, they should have placed an asterisk by "Islamic."

Iran's daily Tehran Times has expressed anger and frustration with the Taliban-brand of Islam: "No government could have damaged the image of Islam better than the Taliban. Hence, if they are looking for missionaries, they don't need to look far. The best way they can serve Islam is to dismantle themselves and get lost from Afghanistan. Otherwise they will serve as the main attraction towards Christianity or even paganism."

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August (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45