(Ever since the Taliban came to power in 2021, an Afghan friend of mine has been sending me reports of conditions in his country. I am keeping his identity secret for his safety.)
Dear David:
Three years ago, before the government fell to the Taliban, a group of my friends and I would often go out for fun on our days off. We played cards and football and listened to music and danced. This made us happy.
Once the Taliban came the fun stopped. We did not go anywhere for the first year and our entertainment was limited to just volleyball. After a year, one day we decided to go out again and refresh our souls. We knew that the Taliban had banned playing cards so we did not do that. But we turned on the car’s MP3 player and danced for a few moments.
But then the Taliban arrived in their Ranger and told us harshly that this would be the last time we would hear the music. We got into the car and headed home.
Young people used to gather and play football, cricket and volleyball in the afternoons in places where there are no residential houses and there is open space. Now that can be dangerous. A month ago, several Taliban came to one of the fields where young men were playing football and warned that if they kept playing during the call to prayer rather than go to the mosque for prayer, they would be tortured.
The following day, after the call to prayer at sunset, the Taliban came to the playground with two Ranger cars and took five players away with them. Since then, no one dares to play ball during and after the sunset call to prayer.
Having fun, of course, is an essential part of human life. But in Afghanistan, the entertainment choices of young people are limited to sports and video games. Sometimes even these activities are disrupted by the Taliban. Very radical Muslims like the Taliban are against any kind of worldly pleasures and believe that this world is a bad place for Muslims. In other words, it is a Muslim version of hell.
In their belief it is the world after life that is full of pleasures and wells of wine. Therefore, no matter how much they suffer here, they think that they will find their reward in the world after death.
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