Barbers in Afghanistan are facing severe punishment, including lengthy prison terms, for offering services deemed un-Islamic by the country's Taliban rulers. The regime is intensifying a crackdown on personal grooming, specifically targeting the trimming of beards and any haircuts considered Western in style.
Prison Sentences and Public Humiliation
The Taliban's radical interpretation of Islamic law is now being enforced with new severity. Barbers who cut or style beards risk being referred to the group's judicial authorities and could be jailed for up to 15 months. This represents a significant escalation, as beard removal was already illegal under the existing 'Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice' but previously did not carry a custodial sentence.
Young men are also reportedly suffering direct violence for their appearance. Esmatullah, a resident of Balkh province, described to the Telegraph how Taliban members interrogate and beat people simply for how they look. He cited one local college student who was assaulted and had his hair forcibly cut off with scissors for shaving the sides of his head.
Businesses Grind to a Halt Amid Widespread Fear
The enforcement is having a devastating impact on barbers' livelihoods and forcing customers into hiding. Many barbers have seen a steep decline in business since the Taliban regained power in August 2021. Some now conduct haircuts secretly in customers' homes to avoid detection.
Last week, morality enforcers detained eight barbers in Parwan province for shaving or styling beards. Their shops were closed, and their families were informed the men would be held for a month. In Balkh, officials summoned male barbers last Friday to reinforce the crackdown message.
One barber from Balkh lamented the economic toll, stating, 'We live hand to mouth, and these edicts will leave us without enough food on our plates.' He questioned who would visit their shops if people cannot choose their own hairstyle or beard length.
A Broader Pattern of Repression and Punishment
The grooming crackdown is part of a wider Taliban campaign to strip away freedoms and impose its harsh version of Islamic law. The regime has steadily tightened its grip following the Western withdrawal.
Official figures from the Taliban's own Supreme Court for 2025 reveal a sharp rise in brutal corporal punishments:
- Dozens of people were sentenced to death by stoning.
- Four convicts were executed by having walls collapsed onto them.
- More than 1,000 people were publicly flogged across Afghanistan, including at least 150 women.
- Kabul recorded the highest number of such cases.
The suppression extends to music and entertainment. This week, Taliban enforcers detained at least 25 people in Takhar province for playing music at a private gathering. Just a day earlier, in Nangarhar province, members of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice seized and burned 86 musical instruments in Jalalabad city to prevent what they called 'immoral practices'.
This systematic campaign, justified by the regime as the laying down of Islamic law, is creating a climate of fear and severely restricting personal expression and economic survival for countless Afghans.
