A letter from the Justice Ministry of the Mazandaran province in Iran called for an organized reporting of women who tested positive for pregnancy. The goal, according to the letter, is to fend off criminal abortions.
ABC News reported that Mahdiar Saeedian, an Iranian medical journalist, leaked the Justice Ministry's letter through Twitter. Critics are speculating that Iran is using this order to bolster the population despite poor public welfare. Women and women's rights advocates quickly took to social media to show their opposition to Iran's plan.
The Taliban ordered all barbers in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, to stop cutting hairs and trimming or shaving off beards. The new mandate was announced Monday, September 27, by the Ministries of Prayer and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Ministry of Vice and Virtue) in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.
Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, one of the founders of the Taliban, announced that harsh punishments, including executions, will be implemented again. During an interview with the Associated Press (AP) on September 22, Turabi announced that the Taliban would once again carry out executions and amputations of hands. Not in public, of course, because they’ve “changed” as they like to say.
Nur Sajat, a 36-year old cosmetics entrepreneur from Malaysia, is wanted after being charged by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department with violating Sharia law. In 2018, Muhammad Sajjad Kamaruz Zaman, popularly knwon as Nur Sajat, wore a baju kurung, a traditional custom worn by women. She left Malaysia in January 2021. A warrant was issued last February 23 after she failed to show for her hearing.
For weeks the employees of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women Affairs were trying to get back to work but were turned away by the Taliban. They were asked to return to their homes.
On August 17, 2021, in his first-ever public appearance, the Taliban’s longtime spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid announced that the Taliban would be more moderate. Mujahid also vowed that the Taliban would forego any revenge against those who resisted their return, and promised that the regime would respect women’s rights.
The state of Kano in northern Nigeria implemented a ban on mannequin heads. The new ban was announced by the Kano State Hisbah Corps, an Islamic police force funded by the government. At the start of July, the Hisbah Corps announced that mannequins with female heads are prohibited in "shops, commercial and private residences, and other public places."
On August 15, 2021, Afghanistan's capital fell to the Taliban. As the city falls, the country's president abandoned the presidential palace, joining Afghans' exodus scrambling to leave the country. Heavily armed Taliban fighters started setting checkpoints and occupying the government district. Ultimately, the Taliban entered the presidential palace.
On August 3, the High Court of Kano State in Nigeria formally charged Mubarak Bala, an atheist and president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, for causing a public disturbance. The High Court's charges, which come as a highly delayed action, revolves around Bala's Facebook posts which spanned over 2020. The public disturbance charges fall under Kano State Penal Code's sections 114 and 210.
