AAN is pleased to publish Islamic scholar John Butt’s complete translation of the Islamic Emirate’s law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The law specifies various actions and behaviour that the Emirate has forbidden or made obligatory for Afghan men and women. It also details the duties and powers of the ministry’s enforcers, who are granted extensive authority to impose penalties on those they have decided are wrongdoers, ranging from verbal admonishments to fines and imprisonment.
You can preview the English translation online and download it by clicking here or the download button below.
The 114-page decree, Regarding the Implementation of the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Law, which was signed into law by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada on 10 July 2024 and published in the Official Gazette on 31 July 2024, consists of 35 articles and 144 footnotes. Much of these are written in Arabic. As this is not widely understood in Afghanistan, we thought it particularly important to translate the whole 45,000-word document in full. Moreover, the footnotes provide important context to the IEA’s rational behind a law which gives the state sweeping powers to intervene in what many Afghans might consider aspects of their personal lives.
Accompanying this translation, we also present John Butt’s insightful review of the law, which offers a deeper understanding of its implications and intent.
The Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Law, in Pashto and Dari, can be downloaded from the Ministry of Justice website (search for 1452, using Arabic numerals, ie ۱۴۵۲).
See also a statement on the new law from the Ministry of Justice.
You can preview the English translation online and download it by clicking here or the download button below.
Revisions:
This article was last updated on 9 Jan 2026
