Explained: What is Sharia law? What it means for Afghan Women under the Taliban

New Delhi, Aug 19: The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan last weekend after capturing much of the country in a matter of days, less than three weeks before the U.S. plans to complete its troop withdrawal.

The Taliban have promised a new era of peace and security, saying they will forgive those who fought against them and grant women full rights under Islamic law, without elaborating.

But many Afghans are deeply skeptical of the group, especially those who remember its previous rule, when it imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

What is Sharia?

Also meaning "path" in Arabic, sharia guides all aspects of Muslim life, including daily routines, familial and religious obligations, and financial dealings.

Precedents and analogy applied by Muslim scholars are used to address new issues. The consensus of the Muslim community also plays a role in defining this theological manual.

Sharia is a religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the hadith. In Arabic, the term sharīʿah refers to God's immutable divine law and is contrasted with fiqh, which refers to its human scholarly interpretations.

The manner of its application in modern times has been a subject of dispute between Muslim fundamentalists and modernists.

What it means for Afghan Women under the Taliban

Marriage and divorce are the most significant aspects of sharia, while criminal law is the most controversial. In sharia, there are categories of offenses: those that are prescribed a specific punishment in the Quran, known as hadd punishments, those that fall under a judge's discretion, and those resolved through a tit-for-tat measure (i.e., blood money paid to the family of a murder victim).

There are five hadd crimes: unlawful sexual intercourse (sex outside of marriage and adultery), false accusation of unlawful sexual intercourse, wine drinking (sometimes extended to include all alcohol drinking), theft, and highway robbery. Punishments for hadd offenses-flogging, stoning, amputation, exile, or execution-get a significant amount of media attention when they occur. These sentences are not often prescribed, however.

Older generations remember the Taliban's ultraconservative Islamic views. At that time, women were largely confined to their homes, television and music were banned, and suspected criminals were flogged, maimed or executed in public.

The Taliban now say they will prevent Afghanistan from again being used as a base for attacks, something that was enshrined in a 2020 peace deal with the Trump administration that paved the way for the American withdrawal.

Thousands of Afghans have tried to flee the country in recent days as the US and its allies have struggled to manage a chaotic withdrawal from the country. The Taliban took over the civilian side of the Kabul international airport on Tuesday and have used force to try to control the crowds.

(with PTI inputs)