Friday prayers in Kabul remain uneventful, with no Taliban fighters enforcing restrictions

• Prayer gatherings in some of the city’s mosques witness higher attendance.
• Worshippers confirm that the Taliban imposed no restrictions on them.
• Prayer leaders encourag citizens to stay united; maintain peace and brotherhood.

KABUL: The first Friday prayers in the Afghan capital after the Taliban takeover remained uneventful with no Taliban fighters enforcing dress code restrictions, unlike in the previous Taliban rule in the country, reported Al Arabiya News on Friday.

Not only this, but the prayer gatherings in some of the city’s mosques even witnessed higher than usual attendance of worshippers.

A resident of Kabul, Jawed Safi, expressed his satisfaction to see the mosques safe even with the control in the hands of the Taliban.

“People were as normal, as in the past, but there were more of them,” the publication quoted Safi as saying.

He confirmed that there were no Taliban-imposed restrictions on the worshippers.

Another citizen, Qasim Ahmadi, said that worshippers donning jeans were allowed to offer prayers.

“There should be no restrictions on us, we are already Muslims,” he said.

He suggested that the Taliban aim for an inclusive government in order to be successful.

Earlier on Thursday, the Taliban leaders had circulated guidelines for the prayer leaders across the country, persuading them to counter the "negative propaganda" against the group and appeal to the citizens not to flee the country and stay united, in the Friday sermons.

“The benefits of the state should be explained to all,” said a commission of the Taliban monitoring religious affairs and mosques.

This apparently resulted in a prayer leader of a mosque in eastern Kabul saying in the Friday sermon that Afghans need to unite in order stop the decades-long bloodshed.

“Allah has ordered us to maintain peace and brotherhood so we must be united,” he added.

Another prayer leader in northern Kabul, said that people together should collect money to help those displaced.

Reports suggest that thousands of internally displaced people are living on the streets of Kabul, with no access to food and water. Some even indicate that the situation has deteriorated since the Taliban overran the capital, causing donors to shy away.