The Taliban’s newly approved penal code brings back slavery as endorsed by the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran.
The new penal code imposed by the Taliban explicitly uses traditional Islamic language that not only brings back slavery, defines women as concubines and husbands as masters and owners of women. A list of degrading and inhumane punishments that are dead in modern civilization have been revived.
Earlier this month, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada approved and circulated the new 119-article document that is now the new laws of Afghanistan.
The new “Criminal Procedure Code” uses new language distinguishing between “free” people and “slave” people. The slave people are referred to by the Islamic term “ghilman.” A Ghilman is a term that comes from the Quran that refers to non-Islamic slaves. For instance, in sura 52:24 of the Quran, Muslims are promised paradise with slave servants – “Ghilman.”
Beyond bringing back slavery, the new Criminal Procedure Code also strips away the rights of the accused as traditionally seen in Christian nations such as the right to due process, right to a defense lawyer, the right to remain silent or the right to compensation for wrongful punishment.
Although most Christians believe that slavery has been abolished, the truth is it is alive and well in Muslim nations today. An estimated 1.7 million men, women, and children are currently enslaved just in the Islamic Arab region today. Arab nations make up 52% of known slaves in the world today and almost half of all forced marriages.
The Taliban is not alone among Islamic nations that practice slavery, but they are definitely leading the way to codify it again.
