The author having a personal interest in the issues of the Middle East and a nascent supporter of the rights of women has chosen this topic to present forth you the contradictory nature present in the Taliban's version of sacred Muslim law Sharia through which it has been able to run Afghanistan for a term presently exceeding three years.

The article is significant as it provides insight into how a government, in the present case an 'illegitimate, terrorist government' can misinterpret sacred laws to best suit its needs. The present paper encompasses a whole range of topics commencing from the very roots of the formation of the Taliban to the contradictions in the original as well as the Taliban version of Sharia along with the repercussions it is having on every sector of society be it men, women, education, the functioning of the courts, etc.

Introduction
Matiullah Wesa, an activist from Afghanistan, was advocating vigorously against the decision of the Taliban to ban education for girls but was put in prison.

The Sharia law has been interpreted strictly by the Sunni-dominated country and its repercussions are deeply felt in the country. It has restricted the rights of people to a great extent and made the lives of people vulnerable. Women being compelled to dress as per law curtails their liberty, the law restraining the extent of education a person can achieve by limiting it to 'Islamic law and Afghan culture'. The list continues as discussed afterward in this short article. Those who are protesting against it like the figure above Wesa have been subjected to conviction and other sorts of punishment while the Taliban is also using sexual assault as a measure against women activists.

What's purely given in the Quran is being misinterpreted to fulfill the objectives of the Taliban. Taliban's interpretation of Sharia regulation is set apart by a severe, punitive methodology that wanders from more extensive Islamic standards and the privileges generally stood to women. Their form is vigorously impacted by neighborhood customs and a moderate perusing of Islamic messages, prompting critical basic liberties infringement and deception of what Sharia can encapsulate in a more moderate and comprehensive setting. Adding to the grievances, it has even injured the overall economic structure with the economy contracting by 20.7% in 2021. The number of people needing assistance has risen to around 29 million as of 2023.

Historical Background Of The Taliban

Amidst the background of the Cold War, when the two super blocs, the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic were in immense rivalry towards each other, the seeds of a terrorist organization that would form a government in a country were fermenting. The Soviet Union, under the command of Leonid Brezhnev, invaded Afghanistan to support the pro-Soviet government present there. As the USA was a staunch rival then, it lent covert military support through its intelligence agency, CIA to the Mujahidins through Operation Cyclone. For America, it was a war against communism, the ideology it desperately wanted to disappear from the world, but surely America might be repenting of its decision to fund an insurgent group has brought repercussions to itself too.

The Mujahidins, or the Holy Warriors, fought vehemently with the Soviet invaders coercing its top leadership to withdraw from the war-torn country almost after 10 years of occupation. Mohammad Najibullah who was backed by the USSR was house-arrested and the Peshawar Accord which gave immunity to the Mujahidins to form the Islamic State of Afghanistan was signed.

The Taliban, founded by Mullah Mohammad Omar and his disciples emerged in 1992 in the southern province of Kandhar. Their agenda was to implement a strict version of Islamic Law since the communist government was already ousted. Between 1992-96 the country witnessed a civil war between factions of Mujahidins which ruined the country to pieces. Taliban was finally able to seize Kabul in September of 1996, thereby imposing a stricter version of Sharia Law and executing Najibullah. Their version of Sharia disallowed small girls from attending schools, women from work, and retributive execution in public.

9/11 turned the tables for the rule of the Taliban. Omar provided protection to Osama-bin-Laden which acted as a major irritant for the USA. Ultimately, the USA invaded Afghanistan on the 7th of October 2001 with its new ally the Northern Alliance. Hamid Karzai became President after the ouster of the Taliban and remained in that position for two consecutive terms. When the USA was engaged in its war in Iraq in 2006, the Taliban saw this as an opportunity to return to the battlefield. By 14th April 2021, the USA withdrew its troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban continued to increase its foothold and was finally able to form its 'interim government' on 15 August 2021.

Taliban Version Of The Sharia Law

Placed at 1st position on the Global Terrorism Index with a score of 8.549 for 2022 to falling at 6th position for the previous year with a score of 7.825, the figure doesn't augur well for a population of 4.11 crore people who have been subjected to a brutal version of the Sharia Law.

The terrorist-turned-government of Afghanistan, the Taliban, has coerced the vulnerable citizens to follow the uncodified version of Sharia according to the Hanafi School of the Muslim Jurisprudence. It has identical features to that of Iran which follows only the Janafi form of Jurisprudence. Let's now have a glance at how the Taliban has enforced its version of Sharia and what repercussions it has on the various genres under the following sub-heads.

Education

"Read in the name of your Lord who created" (Quran 96:1). Both the sacred book Quran as well as teachings of Prophet Muhammad emphasized the importance of education for both men and women. They saw education as a tool for societal progress and the personal development of women. In fact, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, the first wife and follower of Prophet Muhammad was a successful businesswoman during 595 AD. Aishah, the third and youngest spouse of Muhammad, had made an immense contribution to the field of Islamic Scholarship.

These real examples showcase how Islam was a supporter of education for both genders but the Taliban has restricted the right to education for women to a large extent. Our country India has realized the importance of education and rightly placed it as a fundamental right because it is a roadmap for the acceleration of development.

Safeena, a girl who doesn't wish to be identified in one of the interviews she gave on YouTube, took her University entrance test two weeks before the Taliban came to power, and was desperately waiting for her results but her dreams were shattered when the Taliban banned girls from universities. Girls as young as 12 years are not able to access the fundamental right to education. What would happen to the future of those girls who are yet to garner the basics of knowledge?

Almost seven months after coming to power, the Taliban assured its people of re-opening secondary schools for girls on the 21st of March 2022 but two days before this could be done it crushed the enthusiasm of girls by disallowing girls above the age of 12 from attending state-run schools. The Ministry of Education made yet another false promise by assuring those girls that schools would be open for them once the curriculum as well as the whole organization of teachings complies with 'Islamic Law and Afghan Culture', but after yet another waiting period of 6 months it has officially banned girls from attaining secondary education.

Women have in the recent past protested against this unjust rule but have met with only gunshots and atrocities at the hands of soldiers. The Taliban is moving with the motive of segregating society on gender lines but why is it not paying attention to pertinent questions like, which nation or organization would recognize its government that can't provide basic amenities to its 48.3 % female populace.

Rights Of Women

"And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them, and men are a degree above them" (Quran 2:228)

Islamic lessons, as derived from the Quran and Hadith, initially allowed women huge freedoms and raised their status in the public arena. For example, Islam canceled rehearses like female child murder and commanded women's assent in marriage. The Quran underlines the profound social equality between genders of people and that the two sexual orientations are similarly responsible for their deeds before God.

The ultra-conservative Taliban has interpreted the Sharia in its most draconian form and set forth some harshest rules for women:

• It is mandatory for every woman to wear a burqa or hijab in public.
• Women cannot travel alone without a male guardian (mahram) who would be responsible for them.
• Education beyond 6th grade for women has been prohibited.
• Many women have lost their jobs and the number is continuing.
• They are not allowed to talk loudly.
• Not allowed to wear heels as a man could hear the sound of their footsteps.
• Ministry of Women's Affairs has been terminated.
• Non-adherence to the rules would result in corporal punishments (flogging and stoning) for women or punishment for the male counterpart responsible for them.

Along with these, the women who got divorced from their notorious spouses are being compelled to reverse the decision and get back to them where they were subjected to non-stop torture. Stoning has become the deadly punishment for women who engage in adultery.

In a video released by the British Broadcasting Network, a woman who belonged to the position of a senior official in the Finance Ministry stated that her position was taken away from her and given to her brother only because she was a female. Islam and Hadith have explicitly conferred equal rights on women and men but the oppression of the former by the terrorist organization is creating a dreary atmosphere in the theocratic country.

Impact On Men

The Taliban's return to power has been ruthless for each sector of society including men. The economy has been worst affected with unemployment soaring to new heights. Males are finding it difficult to carry the load of their families. Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has been set up to regulate the conduct of men in open spaces. Their liberty has been curbed and no dissent is being allowed. The punishment for dissent has become harsher with punishments like detention and arbitrary arrests.

Education to boys has been granted but the study is limited to strict versions of the Quran and to be taught by a mullah (a religious teacher).

Adding to it is the emotional suffering of those fathers who wanted to educate their girls so that they could have a decent lifestyle and a husband who wanted to see their women achieving employment and self-dependency. The man has been made the regulator of conduct for his family. They have been given a hard choice- to follow the version of Sharia enforced by the Taliban or to provide their families the autonomy they deserve. It's emotionally constraining for those men too who have to see their females being stoned or flogged to death or them being publicly humiliated for not adhering to 'Taliban's self-created version of Sharia'.

Rape

Islam firmly denounces rape and thinks of it as a grave sin. The Quran stresses the significance of assent and precludes non-consensual sexual relations. Be that as it may, a few understandings of Islamic regulations have prompted hardships in arraigning attackers and safeguarding casualties. Rape is viewed as a serious offense in Islamic regulation, however the legitimate treatment changes between various schools of law.

In Hanafi regulation, assault is sorted as a type of unlawful sex (zina) and an infringement of God's limits (hudud).

On paper, the Taliban acknowledges rape as a crime but hardly any cases of rape get registered. Taliban has created such a conducive environment where sexual assault does not lead to even conviction for the accused but a lifelong burden for the victim. The victim, already a bearer of lifetime trauma is also subjected to two horrific repercussions for taking a stand against the heinous crime: honor killings and deprivation from society. Let's talk about a real-life incident in Afghanistan where a woman was coerced to marry her rapist.

She gave birth to her little girl child behind bars as she was convicted of adultery. She was charged with adultery because her cousin's husband Assadullah raped her. On being released, she had to marry her rapist and become the second wife to a father of 7. Here several such unreported cases are being burnt under the soil in the resources- rich land. The Taliban has been using sexual offenses as a weapon to silence the women's movement. Several reports from the UN and Amnesty International are suggesting that a huge round of sexual abuse is going unreported.

Opium

It is completely known and evident to all of us that the sacred book of Islam as well the Afghani 'illegitimate' government on face prohibits the consummation of narcotics (of which opium is an essential element), yet it is also the reality that a huge proportion of GDP of Afghanistan depends on opium trade.

The Sharia Court

In a world full of globalization, where its critics claim that it is leading to the homogenization of 'one dominant culture', the author strictly believes that it is certainly not the case. In a documentary released on the video platform YouTube titled 'Swift Justice,' a woman was seen fighting for her right not to marry her husband's brother after his death. This might seem absurd but if one checks the documentary out on the platform, one will be able to witness it themselves. Now why the author is against the critics of globalization because nowhere is the culture in the US or any Western country where women head the nation (the apt example being Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni) similar to the situation of women in Afghanistan.

Why does a woman no matter in any religion, country, race, caste, or any such extraneous consideration not possess the right over herself? If Muhammad's first wife could be a businesswoman and their third wife a professor of Islamic scholarship, why can't any mundane girl in Afghanistan possess the right to decide her fate?

They proudly claim in the video of being liberal and not following the stricter 'Sharia' of earlier times. Isn't this statement as obscure as to say "A woman got raped because she wore a short dress?"

Conclusion Of The Article
'Taliban completes three years of rule in resources-rich Afghanistan, undertakes military parade to celebrate its success'

The author was in 10th standard when the author heard of the fact that a terrorist organization had formed the government in Afghanistan, what irked her mind instantly was why any country not taking action against it. Now being a law student and learning the fact in Political Science that 'There are no free lunches in international relationships', the author has got the answer.

The Sharia Law has been misinterpreted by many governments across the globe, especially Middle East, to suit their benefits. The original teachings of the Quran and Hadith never aimed to create the oppressive society created by the Taliban. It has affected every aspect of the life of Afghani people and made their homeland an open jail for them. Basic fundamental rights are not available to the exploited citizens. The whole world can witness its brutalities, yet its funding is only skyrocketing. Afghanistan is the undisputed largest producer of opium and has the possession of huge stocks of rich minerals. In addition to this, countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, and Gulf countries provide huge grants to the Taliban.

The author completely fails to understand what might happen if a woman shows her face in public. Or how could a country achieve efficiency in any field if it's merely half the population is uneducated and the other half just has to learn all about religion?

The hypothesis is certainly that which version of Sharia is being implemented by the Taliban in the name of showing allegiance to Allah is just a tactic to mislead the masses. The author asked her faculty why the people are showcasing adherence to such vague laws other than the reason of power and got the right explanation that the theocratic country's literacy rate is low and rational thinking about legitimacy or illegitimacy is somewhere a result of education. To put it simply, if you tell an uneducated farmer the wrong formula for calculating compound interest he will believe it and feel indebted although he is the one although he is the one who is getting cheated. Taliban's simple yet tactical motive is to showcase its 'created' version of Sharia as of divine origin and get complete obedience from the public.

Have we ever thought from this perspective why the Taliban releases publicly to the world its unjust practices or why it spends lakhs of dollars on the maintenance of a specific army whose only job is to regulate the strict implementation of Sharia? The answer might be that it wishes to send the message of prowess to the whole world and also to garner funds in the name of religion. Unfortunately, it can earn those funds and continues to propagate the draconian, unjust, and barbarous version of the Sharia Law.