Alleged Taliban members shot and killed three people during a wedding in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province because they had used music during the event. While there is no official ban on music in Afghanistan, Sharia Law prohibits its use as it violates the teachings of the Holy Quran as the Taliban interprets it.
Witnesses said the alleged Taliban members opened fire on guests at the wedding following an argument concerning whether music should be allowed. At least 10 other people were reportedly shot and injured during the incident. Three gunmen reportedly approached the wedding and demanded that they stop playing music. Two guests said they recognized the men as local Taliban members.
One resident said the gunmen were "harsh in their arguments" that music should not be played during the ceremony. The resident said the altercation quickly turned violent with the men then opening fire into the crowd.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that the men were their members but confirmed that the incident had occurred due to a dispute over the use of music. Mujahid said they have already arrested one of the men that opened fire and they are still attempting to locate the two other suspects.
Gunmen who identified themselves as #Taliban attacked a wedding in eastern #Afghanistan to stop music being played, killing at least two people and injuring 10 others, officials say, BBC reported.
Photo: IANS (Representational image) pic.twitter.com/qJxYEu8puO — IANS Tweets (@ians_india) October 31, 2021
Mujahid said that music was indeed forbidden in Islam. He said they are now trying to peacefully persuade the Afghanistan people to stop listening to music. Under Sharia law, which based its tenets on the interpretation of the Prophet Muhammad's sayings, music is forbidden as those who listen to them will have "molten lead poured into their ears" on the Day of Judgment.
The Taliban's interpretation of the saying is not universally agreed upon in Islam. The founder and director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, Ahmad Sarmast, said the Taliban's interpretation is a misunderstanding of the faith.
"It's a totally uneducated, narrow, and almost illiterate people who are misinterpreting Islamic ideology. There is nothing explicitly written against music in the Holy Quran." Sarmast said.
After the Taliban took over control of Afghanistan in August, they vowed to be more lenient in their approach to enforcing Islamic law. However, just weeks into their rule, reports of violence against women, suppression of education, and the targeting of ethnic minorities began to proliferate.
