The Taliban state agency in charge of implementing Islamic laws in Afghanistan, called the “Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice,” announced it has destroyed 21,000 musical instruments over the past year. The Taliban government prohibits most forms of music, calling it “anti-Islam.”
In a press conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Aug. 20, officials proudly discussed the mass burning of musical instruments in the northern province of Parwan. They also boasted of destroying thousands of films, which they called “immoral,” and said the ministry had “successfully implemented 90% of reforms across audio, visual, and print media” throughout Afghanistan.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has said that the Taliban’s restrictive policies “contribute to a climate of fear and intimidation” among the Afghan people. Taliban officials dispute this claim, saying these are internal matters that are “aligned with Afghan culture and Islamic law.”
The relationship between Islam and music is not straightforward, and disagreement persists among Muslims about whether or not music is explicitly prohibited by the Qur’an and Sunnah. Nonetheless, a rich musical tradition exists in much of the Muslim world, including Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, Morocco, and even Afghanistan before Taliban rule.
