Taliban’s order to mosque imams: Friday sermon should be about the importance of growing a beard
The Taliban have instructed mosque clerics across Afghanistan to discuss the importance of growing a beard in the Friday prayer sermon on November 20th.
This order was communicated in a letter from the Taliban’s Ministry of Guidance, Hajj, and Endowments to all mosque imams, arguing that shaving the beard is an imitation of women and is therefore forbidden.
The ministry claimed that a man’s adornment is his beard, and those who shave their beards resemble Christians. It further cited a hadith that says to trim the mustaches and let the beards grow.
For the past four years, this ministry has been setting a specific topic for Friday prayer sermons in mosques every week, and clerics are not allowed to speak outside the designated topic.
