Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, has claimed that in the Uzbek cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, and Termez—birthplaces of renowned Islamic scholars such as Imam al-Bukhari and Imam al-Tirmidhi—“nothing of Islam remains today except its name.”
Speaking during a visit to Afghanistan’s Paktia province, Hanafi alleged that this situation resulted from religious scholars in Uzbekistan leaving the implementation of Islamic rulings to the government. He also warned that, in his view, failing to enforce Islamic laws would bring “divine punishment.”
The Taliban minister stressed that enforcing the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, along with implementing Islamic rulings, remains one of the group’s core responsibilities and that they will continue to do so.
These remarks come despite Uzbekistan being a Muslim-majority country, with an estimated 90–95 percent of its population identifying as Muslim. In recent years, Uzbekistan has also expanded its diplomatic and economic relations with the Taliban.
As of the time of publication, the Uzbek government had not issued an official response to Hanafi’s remarks.