Editing Theocracy (section)

==== Afghanistan ====
Afghanistan was an Islamic theocracy when the [[Taliban]] first ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and since their reinstatement of the [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan]] in 2021, Afghanistan is an Islamic theocracy again.

Spreading from [[Kandahar]], the Taliban eventually captured [[Kabul]] in 1996. By the end of 2000, the Taliban controlled 90% of the country, aside from the opposition ([[Northern Alliance]]) strongholds which were primarily found in the northeast corner of [[Badakhshan Province]]. Areas under the Taliban's direct control were mainly Afghanistan's major cities and highways. Tribal khans and warlords had ''de facto'' direct control over various small towns, villages, and rural areas.<ref>Griffiths 226.</ref> The Taliban sought to establish [[Law and order (politics)|law and order]] and to impose a strict interpretation of Islamic ''[[Sharia law]]'', along with the religious edicts of Mullah [[Mullah Omar|Mohammed Omar]], upon the entire country of Afghanistan.<ref name="Matinuddin">{{cite book |last=Matinuddin |first=Kamal |author-link=Kamal Matinuddin |year=1999 |title=The Taliban Phenomenon: Afghanistan 1994–1997 |chapter=The Taliban's Religious Attitude |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BIyVMkjat2MC&pg=PA34 |location=[[Karachi]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=34–43 |isbn=0-19-579274-2 |access-date=8 July 2020 |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119145219/https://books.google.com/books?id=BIyVMkjat2MC&pg=PA34 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the five-year history of the [[Emirate|Islamic Emirate]], the Taliban regime interpreted the ''Sharia'' in accordance with the [[Hanafi]] [[Fiqh|school of Islamic jurisprudence]] and the religious edicts of [[Mullah Omar]].<ref name="Matinuddin"/> The Taliban forbade pork and alcohol, many types of consumer technology such as [[Music of Afghanistan|music]],<ref name="Matinuddin"/> [[Television in Afghanistan|television]],<ref name="Matinuddin"/> and [[Cinema of Afghanistan|film]],<ref name="Matinuddin"/> as well as most forms of art such as [[paintings]] or [[photography]],<ref name="Matinuddin"/> male and female participation in [[sport]],<ref name="Matinuddin"/> including [[association football|football]] and [[chess]];<ref name="Matinuddin"/> [[Recreation|recreational activities]] such as [[Kite|kite-flying]] and keeping [[pigeons]] or other [[pets]] were also forbidden, and the birds were killed according to the Taliban's ruling.<ref name="Matinuddin"/> [[Movie theater]]s were closed and repurposed as [[mosque]]s.<ref name="Matinuddin"/> Celebration of the [[New Year's Day|Western]] and [[Nauruz in Afghanistan|Iranian New Year]] was forbidden.<ref name="Matinuddin"/> Taking photographs and displaying pictures or portraits was forbidden, as it was considered by the Taliban as a form of [[Idolatry#Islam|idolatry]].<ref name="Matinuddin"/> Women were [[Taliban treatment of women#Employment|banned from working]],<ref name="Matinuddin"/> girls were [[Taliban treatment of women#Education|forbidden to attend schools or universities]],<ref name="Matinuddin"/> were requested to observe [[purdah]] and to be accompanied outside their households by male relatives; those who violated these restrictions were punished.<ref name="Matinuddin"/> Men were forbidden to shave their beards and required to let them grow and keep them long according to the Taliban's liking, and to wear turbans outside their households.<ref name="Matinuddin"/><ref name="cr">{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/sa/8222.htm |title=US Country Report on Human Rights Practices – Afghanistan 2001 |publisher=State.gov |date=4 March 2002 |access-date=4 March 2020 |archive-date=10 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310082903/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/sa/8222.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Communist]]s were systematically executed. [[Salah|Prayer]] was made compulsory and those who did not respect the religious obligation after the ''[[Adhan|azaan]]'' were arrested.<ref name="Matinuddin"/> [[Gambling in Islam|Gambling]] was banned.<ref name="Matinuddin"/> Thieves were punished by [[Islam and violence#Islam and crime|amputating their hands or feet]].<ref name="Matinuddin"/> In 2000, the Taliban leader Mullah Omar officially banned [[Opium production in Afghanistan|opium cultivation]] and [[Illegal drug trade|drug trafficking]] in Afghanistan;<ref name="Matinuddin"/><ref name="drugpolicy2005">{{cite journal |last1=Farrell |first1=Graham |last2=Thorne |first2=John |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/28576871 |title=Where Have All the Flowers Gone?: Evaluation of the Taliban Crackdown Against Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan |date=March 2005 |journal=[[International Journal of Drug Policy]] |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=81–91 |doi=10.1016/j.drugpo.2004.07.007 |via=[[ResearchGate]] |access-date=8 July 2020 |archive-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815132213/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/28576871_Where_have_all_the_flowers_gone_Evaluation_of_the_Taliban_crackdown_against_poppy_cultivation_in_Afghanistan |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Maziyar2019">{{cite book |last=Ghiabi |first=Maziyar |chapter=Crisis as an Idiom for Reforms |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HoOWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |year=2019 |title=Drugs Politics: Managing Disorder in the Islamic Republic of Iran |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=101–102 |isbn=978-1-108-47545-7 |lccn=2019001098 |access-date=8 July 2020 |via=[[Google Books]] |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119145157/https://books.google.com/books?id=HoOWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |url-status=live }}</ref> the Taliban succeeded in nearly eradicating opium production (99%) by 2001.<ref name="drugpolicy2005"/><ref name="Maziyar2019"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://opioids.com/afghanistan/index.html |title=Afghanistan, Opium and the Taliban |access-date=4 March 2020 |archive-date=7 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207055512/http://opioids.com/afghanistan/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Under the Taliban governance of Afghanistan, both drug users and dealers were severely prosecuted.<ref name="Matinuddin"/>

[[Cabinet (government)|Cabinet]] ministers and deputies were mullahs with a "[[madrasah]] education." Several of them, such as the Minister of Health and Governor of the State bank, were primarily military commanders who were ready to leave their administrative posts to fight when needed. Military reverses that trapped them behind lines or led to their deaths increased the chaos in the national administration.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rashid |first=Ahmed |date=2010 |orig-date=2000 |title=Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300163681 |url={{GBurl|Cv8_EAAAQBAJ}} |page=100}}</ref> At the national level, "all senior [[Tajiks|Tajik]], [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] and [[Hazaras|Hazara]] bureaucrats" were replaced "with Pashtuns, whether qualified or not." Consequently, the ministries "by and large ceased to function."<ref name="rashid 101-102">{{Harvnb|Rashid|2010|pp=101–102}}.</ref>

Journalist [[Ahmed Rashid]] described the Taliban government as "a secret society run by [[Kandahar]]is ... mysterious, secretive, and dictatorial."<ref name="Rashid 2000 98"/> They did not hold elections, as their spokesman explained:

{{blockquote|The ''[[Sharia]]'' does not allow politics or political parties. That is why we give no salaries to officials or soldiers, just food, clothes, shoes, and weapons. We want to live a life like the Prophet lived 1400 years ago, and jihad is our right. We want to recreate the time of the Prophet, and we are only carrying out what the Afghan people have wanted for the past 14 years.<ref>{{Harvnb|Rashid|2010|p=43}} Interview with Mullah Wakil, March 1996</ref>}}

They modeled their decision-making process on the Pashtun tribal council (''[[jirga]]''), together with what they believed to be the early Islamic model. Discussion was followed by a building of a consensus by the "believers".<ref>{{Harvnb|Rashid|2010|p=95}}</ref> Before capturing Kabul, there was talk of stepping aside once a government of "good Muslims" took power, and law and order were restored.

As the Taliban's power grew, decisions were made by Mullah Omar without consulting the ''jirga'' and without consulting other parts of the country. One such instance is the rejection of Loya Jirga decision about expulsion of [[Osama bin Laden]]. Mullah Omar visited the capital, Kabul, only twice while in power. Instead of an election, their leader's legitimacy came from an oath of allegiance ("[[Bay'ah]]"), in imitation of [[Muhammad|the Prophet]] and the [[Rashidun|first four]] [[Caliph]]s. On 4 April 1996, Mullah Omar had "the [[Cloak of Muhammad]]" taken from its shrine, [[Kirka Sharif]], for the first time in 60 years. Wrapping himself in the relic, he appeared on the roof of a building in the center of Kandahar while hundreds of Pashtun [[mullah]]s below shouted "[[Amir al-Mu'minin]]!" (Commander of the Faithful), in a pledge of support. Taliban spokesman Mullah Wakil explained:

{{blockquote|Decisions are based on the advice of the Amir-ul Momineen. For us, consultation is not necessary. We believe that this is in line with the ''Sharia''. We abide by the Amir's view even if he alone takes this view. There will not be a head of state. Instead, there will be an Amir al-Mu'minin. Mullah Omar will be the highest authority, and the government will not be able to implement any decision to which he does not agree. General elections are incompatible with ''Sharia'' and therefore we reject them.<ref>
Interview with Taliban spokesman Mullah Wakil in Arabic magazine ''Al-Majallah'', 1996-10-23.</ref>}}

The Taliban were reluctant to share power, and since their ranks were overwhelmingly Pashtun they ruled as overlords over the 60% of Afghans from other ethnic groups. In local government, such as the Kabul city council<ref name="Rashid 2000 98">{{Harvnb|Rashid|2010|p=98}}</ref> or Herat,<ref name="rashid 39-40">{{Harvnb|Rashid|2010|pp=39–40}}</ref> Taliban loyalists, not locals, dominated, even when the [[Pashto]]-speaking Taliban could not communicate with roughly half of the population who spoke [[Dari]] or other non-Pashtun tongues.<ref name="rashid 39-40"/> Critics complained that this "lack of local representation in urban administration made the Taliban appear as an occupying force."<ref name="rashid 101-102"/>