“As it has become increasingly difficult to run a family, people should stop practicing polygamy.” Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Afghan Islamic scholar, cleric, and jurist who is the third and current leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban), has come out with this diktat (Fatwa). In the fourth week of May (2022), the Taliban leader asked all the members of Afghanistan-based terror outfit not to marry more than once. Of course, there is no chance of being happy or unhappy with this diktat, as it is the duty of all the members to follow the instruction of their leader. However, the instruction of Akhundzada shall be applicable only for the Taliban fighters, and not for common Afghan men, as of now.

After taking full control of the war-ravaged South Asian nation on August 15, 2021, Taliban fighters were seen entering the palaces and sitting on expensive armchairs with their shoes on. They still carry Kalashnikovs with them. The Taliban fighters are struggling a lot to tackle the ISIS militants, who continue to carry out clandestine attacks in different parts of Afghanistan. In such a situation, many Taliban fighters are getting married one after another in search of peace!

After considering the financial condition of the Taliban fighters, their Supreme Commander has imposed a ban on polygamy. In a statement, the Taliban Supreme Leader has described the practice of polygamy as unreasonable wastage of money. According to political analysts, Akhundzada’s decision is purely economic, and not based on ethics.

The Taliban Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan follows the Sharia Law that allows a man to have up to four wives. Hence, polygamy is a common practice in this country. However, Akhundzada has made it clear that the Taliban fighters could not tie nuptial knots for the second, third or fourth time. He has further instructed the Ministry of Amr-ul-Ma’ruf (Ministry of Enforcement of Virtue and Suppression of Vice) to “identify violators and report to the leadership”.

In a rare first, the Taliban chief has called polygamy “unnecessary and an expensive affair“. According to sources close to the Taliban, their top leadership believes that spending a huge amount of money on wedding ceremonies could lead to criticism from their enemies or from within the group. Interestingly, the majority of the senior Taliban leaders have more than one wife. Even the group’s founder Mullah Mohammad Omar reportedly had at least three wives, and one of them was the daughter of al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das