By: Ziba Balkhi
The Taliban have imposed restrictions on female shrine-goers in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, allowing them to visit the city’s blue mosque, known as Sakhi Shrine, only once a week on Mondays, and ordering them to not enter the shrine without wearing a burqa or a niqab.
“Dear sisters and mothers, you’re allowed to enter the shrine only on Mondays while wearing Islamic veil with a face cover,” reads a banner on the wall of the shrine.
The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, instructed women that they could wear a mask to cover their face when they are in public.
But at the shrine, the women said the Taliban only allow those who put on a face veil to enter. Some even allege that the Taliban insult and assault women, who visit the shrine without a niqab or face veil.
“I wasn’t allowed to enter, despite wearing a proper hijab, including a black abaya, a face mask and a scarf,” said Nazila, 25, who came to the shrine with her friends, recently. “But I managed to get into the shrine from a different gate.”
When she left she said a Taliban guard at the western gate of the shrine told her “You’re shameless.”
Sunni Afghans believe Ali, cousin and son-in-law of prophet Mohammad, has been buried in the shrine, naming it Sakhi, which is another name for Ali.
Built in the eleventh century, Sakhi shrine has provided a safe sanctuary for the people of Mazar-e-Sharif for centuries. Women and men visited the shrine, offering prayers and enjoying the beauty of its unique architecture.
But it is no longer a safe place for women as the Taliban are harassing them when they visit the shrine.
Tayeba, 22, alleges she has even seen women being “assaulted with the barrel of a gun” outside the gate of the shrine. She added women can’t go to restaurants or libraries in Mazar–e–Sharif due to the Taliban’s restrictive regulations, and that the shrine served as the one of the few recreation places for many women who visited it once a week to pray and also to have some fun.
Mandatory face veil for female shrine visitors is a restriction, many women said is hard to comply with.
“Recently, a new restriction has been imposed, that only those who wear a face veil are allowed to enter the shrine,” Tayeba said, waiting outside the shrine because she and her friends were not allowed to get in due to the lack of face veils. “Even wearing a face mask isn’t acceptable.”
The Taliban have imposed gender segregation regulations on educational institutions, and recreation centers since they came to power. They allow women to visit those places three days a week.
But in Sakhi shrine only one day a week has been allocated to women. Zahra, a 19-year-old woman in Mazar-e-Sharif, criticized the decision, saying the Taliban should allow women to visit the shrine at least three days a week — like educational and recreational centers.
A cleric in Mazar-e-Sharif, who spoke on the condition that we don’t use his name, said the Taliban’s imposition of restrictions on female shrine-goers has no religious base, and it only reflects the new government’s misogynistic policies.
Hajira, another woman, said she also witnessed the Taliban abusing women outside the shrine.
“A stick-wielding Talib is at the gate, and he only allows those with face veils to enter,” she said. “We were told to leave because we didn’t have face veils, despite wearing masks.”
