Three-Day Seminar for 550 Preachers Concludes in Kabul
The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and Complaints of the Taliban administration announced the conclusion of a three-day training seminar for 550 preachers from seven zones across the country. According to the ministry, the program aimed to explain the laws and curriculum issued by the Taliban leadership and to foster greater coordination in religious outreach activities.
According to the ministry, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, acting head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue, emphasized during the seminar that preachers must convey Islamic principles and values to the people with patience, perseverance, and awareness of Islamic rulings. He stated that society should be encouraged to implement Islamic Sharia “in a soft and wise manner.”
The ministry added that all Taliban institutions support the preachers and consider promoting religious values their official and religious responsibility. Over nearly five years, the Taliban administration has transformed the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue into a key institution overseeing social behavior and enforcing its interpretation of Islamic Sharia.
Meanwhile, extensive restrictions imposed by this ministry on various aspects of citizens’ lives, especially women and girls, have drawn both domestic and international criticism. Despite Taliban officials’ emphasis on a “soft approach,” numerous reports have emerged of harsh enforcement in some parts of the country.
Citing the ministry, Hanafi claimed at the seminar’s conclusion that divisions caused by “enemies of religion” have disappeared with the establishment of the Islamic system and that no foreign party has the right to interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs. He described preserving and strengthening the spiritual fabric of society as a shared responsibility of the Taliban institutions and preachers.
