Taliban directs shopkeepers to behead mannequins in shops
Kabul: The Taliban have issued yet another bizarre diktat by which shopkeepers have been directed to behead the shop mannequins in Afghanistan for offending their strict interpretation of Islam.
Shopkeepers in the western province of Herat were told to hack the heads off their mannequins after Islamist officials ruled the statues were 'idols', reports Daily Mail.
Idolatry, or the worshipping of idols, is considered a grave sin in Islam which bans the worship of anyone or thing other than Allah — considered to be the only God, the newspaper reported.
The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in Herat had issued the diktat recently.
Initially, the ministry had ordered shops to remove the mannequins completely but shopkeepers complained, saying it would destroy what little business they have left, the newspaper reported.
Sheikh Aziz-u-Rahman — head of the ministry — ruled after hearing the complaints that the mannequins' heads should be cut off instead.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last year after entering Kabul city on Aug 15.
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