Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada has endorsed a penal code for Taliban courts consisting of 119 articles, which effectively authorizes the killing of armed opponents and sets out punishments for a wide range of alleged crimes.
On January 7, the Taliban Supreme Court published the Penal Code of Courts, endorsed by Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s leader. The document spans ten chapters, 119 articles, and 60 pages and was released in Pashto. The code took effect immediately upon issuance and covers a broad range of issues. Its provisions were compiled by Taliban clerics based on Hanafi jurisprudential texts.
Independent Persian has obtained a complete copy of the code, which bears the signature of Mufti Abdul Rashid Saeed, head of the secretariat of the Taliban Supreme Court. The document was issued pursuant to Decree No. 12 of Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada and distributed to Taliban courts across Afghanistan.
On the second page of the code, Akhundzada personally signed a note confirming his endorsement. He also ordered that both the full text of the courts’ code and his endorsement decree be published in the official gazette. Every page of the document carries the seal of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – Office of the Esteemed Amir al-Mu’minin.”
This code reflects the Taliban’s extremist interpretation of Islam and, for the first time, formalizes it within a leader-endorsed legal framework to guide court rulings in civil and criminal disputes. Clause 11 of Article 2 refers to armed opponents of the Taliban as baghi (rebels) and sa‘i bil-fasad (those who spread corruption), stating: “Their harm is public, and they cannot be reformed except by being killed.”
Although in June 2022 Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the Taliban’s defense minister, instructed Taliban institutions to refer to the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan as “rebels” in official correspondence, the Supreme Court’s penal code goes further by explicitly authorizing their killing. In Islamic jurisprudence, baghi traditionally refers to those who rebel against a legitimate ruler, but the Taliban code departs from this definition by prescribing death as a remedy.
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Furthermore, Article 24 obliges citizens to report activities of Taliban opponents to the group’s institutions or to take action against them themselves. Failure to do either renders a person a “criminal,” punishable by up to two years in prison.
Clause 8 of Article 2 defines followers of the Hanafi school—on which the code is based—as Muslims, while followers of other Islamic schools prevalent in Afghanistan are labeled mubtadi‘ (innovators). In Islamic jurisprudence, mubtadi‘ refers to those who introduce practices into religion without foundation in the Qur’an, Sunnah, consensus, or authoritative sources. By designating Hanafi jurisprudence as the sole basis for the implementation of Islamic law, the Taliban Supreme Court effectively places followers of other schools in a discriminatory position that could carry serious consequences.
The code also prescribes punishments ranging from 40 lashes to two years’ imprisonment for anyone who insults or mocks the Taliban leader or Islamic beliefs. It does not define what constitutes mockery or insult, leaving broad discretion to judges.
Articles 13, 40, and 59 declare dancing and watching dance to be crimes and mandate the destruction of places deemed to promote “corruption,” along with punishment of their owners. The code provides no clear definitions of dancing, watching dance, or corruption-promoting venues, granting Taliban judges wide latitude in issuing verdicts.
Privileged Status for Clerics and Elites
While claiming to be grounded in authoritative Islamic sources and Hanafi jurisprudence, the Taliban penal code grants special status to clerics and elites while emphasizing the enforcement of punishments against defendants from the “middle” and “lower” classes.
Article 9 divides society into clerics, elites, middle class, and lower class, stating that the severity of punishment should be determined based on the accused’s social status. Under this provision, if individuals from different classes commit the same crime, clerics receive only advice, elites are summoned and advised, while members of the middle and lower classes face corporal punishment, including imprisonment.
Article 15 defines the legal status of offenders as “whether free or slave.” Although slavery was abolished in the Islamic world some 1,400 years ago, the Taliban code continues to categorize individuals as free or enslaved.
The human rights organization Rawadari, in an explanatory statement on the code and its consequences, wrote that Article 15 “legitimizes slavery.” According to the organization, the explicit use of the term “slave” amounts to recognition of a legal status that is absolutely prohibited and stands in clear contradiction to the principles of equality, human dignity, and all fundamental human rights norms.
Fathers Permitted to Punish Ten-Year-Old Sons
The code permits fathers to punish their children for actions such as failing to pray. Article 30 states that parents and teachers are prohibited only from forms of violence that result in broken bones, torn skin, or visible bruising. Rather than banning violence against children, the code narrowly restricts only certain forms of harm.
Article 32 addresses violence against women by limiting it to cases where a man beats a woman with a stick and provides for a maximum punishment of 15 days’ imprisonment if proven.
Article 34 prohibits women from repeatedly visiting their parental home or other relatives without their husband’s permission and states that anyone who prevents a woman from returning to her husband’s home is considered a criminal.
Rawadari has described these provisions as being in blatant violation of human dignity and the prohibition of gender discrimination, warning that they will “seriously lead to increased human rights violations, widespread suppression of fundamental freedoms, abuse, and the expansion of lawlessness.”
The organization, led by Shahrzad Akbar, former chair of Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission, stated that the content of the Taliban courts’ penal code is deeply alarming and in clear conflict with international human rights standards and fundamental principles of fair trial.
According to Rawadari, the issuance of this code has “formalized and legalized discrimination against religious minorities and the suppression of fundamental freedoms, including violations of human dignity, freedom of expression and thought, and arbitrary detention and punishment.”
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