In 2001, as defeated Taliban fighters melted back into the Afghan population, Mullah Omar famously murmured “You have the watches, we have the time”. Now, twenty years on, his words sound both prescient and inevitable. The Taliban have swept unopposed across the country in just ten days, with US-trained Afghan soldiers offering little resistance. Many towns surrendered without a shot being fired.
Despite the conciliary tone of the Taliban leaders, speaking from the recently vacated Presidential Palace in Kabul, there are reports of people being beaten and killed. Fighters are going door-to-door in search of anyone who had ever worked with the American and NATO military forces. Women have been told to quit their jobs; they shouldn’t leave home unless wearing a burqa, and accompanied by a male guardian. Hard-won human rights are being trampled on. However, if we’re looking for the people who follow Quranic teachings most closely, we need look no further than the Taliban.
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