In Afghanistan, musicians defy music ban to keep traditions alive

KABUL, Afghanistan -- There was a time when music would fill many of Kabul’s streets, wafting out of cafes and restaurants, seeping out of homes in the warren of alleys that make up the Afghan capital’s music district.Those days are long gone.Since 2022, playing or listening to music has been officially banned throughout Afghanistan. The Taliban who seized power in 2021 have prohibited anything but religious music — unaccompanied vocal chanting — with the ban enforced by the feared morality police of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.“Music is forbidden in Islam,” said ministry spokesperson Saif ul Islam Khyber, adding that it “serves as a means of joy to Satan,” and that it “often leads to various other vices.” No one, he said, "is permitted to listen to music or to record songs and musical compositions.” Many musicians and performers fled the country after the takeover. Those who remained sent their instruments abroad or hid them to save them from being smashed by authorities.The music shops in Kucha-e-Kharabat, the neighborhood in Kabul's old city where many musicians lived, now sell other wares, from food and groceries to clothes and household go...