Since the Taliban returned to power, Afghan women have been barred from going on long trips, travelling by plane or entering government buildings unless they are accompanied by a man.
\nUnder the Taliban government\u2019s austere interpretation of Islamic law, the \u201cmahram\u201d practice long rooted in Afghan society has become compulsory.
\nOn a recent visit to their former university in Kabul, Mariam and a female friend were stopped from entering the building to collect a transcript.
\n\u201cAt the entrance, the Taliban told us that we needed a mahram,\u201d said Mariam, whose name has been changed to protect her identity like other women AFP interviewed.
\n\u201cBut my brother was at work, my friend\u2019s brother wasn\u2019t old enough and her father had died,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cI saw a guy on the street and he agreed to help us,\u201d she said. \u201cWe had the courage to pass him off as our brother\u201d to get in.
\nUnder Islam, a mahram is a close male relative — typically a husband, brother, father, son, grandfather or uncle — with whom a woman is not obliged to wear hijab, and who acts as her guardian and protector.
\nIn Afghanistan, strict rules define what women are allowed to do, with their proponents claiming they guarantee both the women\u2019s, and their whole family\u2019s, honor.
\nThe Taliban authorities, in power since 2021, have responded to international criticism by saying that Afghanistan\u2019s laws follow Islam and guarantee all citizens\u2019 rights under sharia.
\n\u201cUnfortunately, outside circles have their own sensitivities and present incorrect interpretations based on envy and prejudice,\u201d Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
\n\u201cThey should respect and value Islamic laws.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since the Taliban returned to power, Afghan women have been barred from going on long trips, travelling by plane or entering government buildings unless they are accompanied by a man. Under the Taliban government\u2019s austere interpretation of Islamic law, the \u201cmahram\u201d practice long rooted in Afghan society has become compulsory. On a recent visit to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21453,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21449\/revisions\/21453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}