Shia Clerics Abducted by the Taliban
Last Updated: August 7, 2025
Local
sources in Herat confirm that the Taliban intelligence has arrested two Shia
religious scholars and transferred them to an unknown place. According to the
sources, Mohammad Akbari, the former head of the Ulama Council of Al-Mahdi Jibrail
town, and Muharram Hossein Azimi, the Imam of the "Sayyid al-Shuhada"
mosque, were arrested in this town in the afternoon of 2 November 2024.
These
sources do not say anything about the reason for the arrest of these two
religious scholars. According to the sources, the efforts of ethnic elders and
religious scholars to free these two religious scholars from the Taliban have
been unsuccessful until now.
The Taliban authorities in Herat have not yet said anything about the arrest of these two religious figures. Arbitrary detention of the Taliban continues despite calls to stop it. Taliban intelligence usually arrests and imprisons citizens without providing any reason.
In another incident, local sources reported that on August 4, 2025, the Taliban morality police detained a Shia cleric in western Herat province. Ghulam Hassan Fasihi, the imam of Khadija Kubra Mosque in the predominantly Shia Hazara neighborhood of Haji Abbas, was reportedly taken into custody by Taliban agents from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice inside the mosque.
One local
told KabulNow that the Taliban justified the arrest by accusing the cleric of
sheltering migrants recently deported from Iran and of possessing religious
books other than the Qur’an in the mosque. The Taliban allegedly claimed that
“only the Qur’an should be in mosques.”
This arrest is part of a broader pattern of repression against Afghanistan’s Shia community, which the Taliban do not recognize as part of orthodox Islam, based on their strict Sunni Hanafi interpretation. Since regaining power in August 2021, the Taliban have removed Shia religious content from school curricula and imposed strict limits on religious practices, including annual Muharram observances and other Shia traditions. These restrictions are often justified by vague “security” concerns.
This is not the first such incident, as Shia clerics and scholars have often been targeted. Many have been arrested or harassed by Taliban authorities in provinces such as Herat, Bamiyan, and Daikundi, where large Shia communities reside. Further details can be found in the following articles:
Taliban's Discrimination Against Shia Earthquake Victims In Herat
Serial murders in the Shiite area of Uruzgan Province since return of Taliban in August 2021
Systematic Oppression Of Shia Muslims By The Taliban - Interview With An Expert
There are also videos that depict the systematic oppression of Shiite Afghans by the Taliban, one of which is:
Taliban Shot Ashura Mourners In Afghanistan | Muharram 2023 | Afghan Shia (English)
This video deals with and describes the oppression of Shiite Afghans on Muharram 2023 in Afghanistan by the Taliban.
Content of the video:
For the first time in Afghanistan's modern history, the Taliban have imposed unprecedented restrictions on the mourning celebrations of Muharram in Afghanistan. Among other restrictions, the Taliban prevented the installation of religious flags and the establishment of public water dispensers for mourners. They have reserved limited places for Shia mourners on the 9th and 10th of Muharram. The Council of Shia Scholars of Afghanistan asked the Taliban to cancel the restrictions on the Muharram ceremonies. This council stated that the Taliban had also restricted morning ceremonies in a number of mosques. Additionally, for the first time, the Taliban group has banned the carrying of the morning flag and hanging it over the doors of shops and houses. There have been clashes with mourners in various cases.
In published videos, it can be seen that the Taliban forces have sealed a number of shops in the Red Bridge area of Kabul because of the installation of morning flags. The Taliban claimed that it took these measures for security reasons. However, the Council of Shia Scholars and other Shia political and religious movements and figures have condemned the Taliban's restrictions on the Muharram ceremony.
On the 25th of July 2023, Taliban fighters beat Muharram mourners in the Chandawal neighborhood of Kabul. The videos published on social networks show that the Taliban attacked the mourning groups, beating them with rifle rods, destroying their belongings, and violently dispersing the mourners. In another incident, the Taliban shot at Shia mourners in Ghazni on the day of Ashura, on the 28th of July 2023. The death toll from the Taliban's firing on Husseini mourners on the day of Ashura in this province has reached four, including a 12-year-old child. At least 10 others have been injured following the shooting of the Husseini mourners in the Noah Bad neighborhood of Ghazni City.
Shias in Afghanistan are not content with the current situation. Their branch of Islam has been marginalized, Shia jurisprudence has been removed from the universities, their private claims are invalid in courts, and restrictions have been imposed upon their religious ceremonies.
Speech of the Shaykh:
“The same way we (Shiites) respect other cultures and religions, we expect from others to respect our religious school. The foundation of our religious school is the Muharram mourning ceremonies. The meaning of security is not to use it as pretext to restrict us. We can’t abandon certain rituals (as they are the foundations of Shiite belief). Mourning for Imam Hussein is obligatory for us. That’s because Muharram is a school. Ashura is a school. This school teaches us knowledge. It brings us closer to God. It brings us to unity and brotherhood. Muharram teaches us to be united with each other against the plots of the enemies. Look at all of the speeches of Imam Hussein, which he delivered on his way to Karbala and on the day of Ashura, and the speech of Imam Sajjad, and the speeches of Lady Zainab, and other members of the family of Prophet Muhammad (Ahl ul-Bayt). You won’t find anything from them discussing the differences between Shia and Sunni."
Other videos dealing with Taliban's systematic oppression of Shiite Muslims:
June 2022: Taliban desecrating Shia mosque in Balkhab, Afghanistan
Pashtun Taliban Chopped Down 400 Fruit Trees Of Hazara - Uruzgan Province - 12 Aug 2023
TalibanBans Shia Books in Afghanistan
In some cases, the Taliban have raided
mosques, confiscated Shia religious texts, and banned public mourning events
related to Imam Hussain’s martyrdom, a key event in Shia Islam.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly expressed concern over the Taliban’s treatment of religious minorities, including Shia Hazaras, who have long faced discrimination and violence in Afghanistan.
Despite all this evidence, the majority of Taliban’s crimes have not been published, so far.
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