Music has been banned in Afghanistan for five years, with the ruling Taliban only allowing religious tunes 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. 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.
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 goods. Anything except musical instruments.
Across Afghanistan, musicians lost their livelihoods overnight. Yet for many, music is in their blood. It has flowed through their families for generations, and the thought of never playing again is unbearable.
Every so often, some pull out their instruments and play in secret. A knock at the door could mean danger. In a small home tucked down a narrow street, a musician pulls out three hand-carved wooden rubabs, a traditional plucked lute-like instrument that is an integral part of Afghan musical culture.
Picking one up, he cradles it in his lap for a moment before beginning to play. The resonant, warm sound of the rubab fills the tiny room. This is our culture, the traditions of Afghanistan which must not be silent; they must be revived and I will fight for that.” In another part of Kabul, a singer echoes the rubab player’s determination.
Before the takeover, the singer had performed at concerts and celebrations. He, too, has hidden his instruments: a rubab, a harmonium, a flute, a tabla — traditional Afghan hand drums — and a keyboard. Without music, an artist is like a soulless corpse.” Sometimes, he stands before his hidden instruments and weeps.
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