The Taliban have ordered a series of mannequin beheadings, telling clothes shops to remove the heads of ‘sinful idols’ that offend Islam.
The directives were given this week by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in the western Afghan province of Herat, The Times reported.
Those who ignore the order face severe punishments, warned the local department of the ministry, per the media outlet.
Ministers believed that people were worshipping the mannequins as idols, according to MailOnline, and the Quran considers idolatry to be an unforgivable sin.
Aghan media outlet Raha Press, reports that the director of the local ministry said that even looking at the face of a female mannequin is against Sharia law.
An initial order called for the removal of mannequins completely, but a compromise on just removing the heads was agreed, MailOnline said.
Raha Press reported that shopkeepers in Herat are dismayed by the beheading order, citing how expensive the mannequins are. One shopkeeper said mannequins cost up to $200 each, per the news outlet, and added that cutting their heads off is a “great loss” for him.
The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in Afghanistan was reinstated in September, after the fall of Kabul. The all-male ministry replaced the former Ministry of Women Affairs, stoking fears that the Taliban’s moral police would decimate women’s rights in the country.
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