The Taliban movement, which seized power in Afghanistan last month, introduced a ban on shaving and trimming the beards of Afghan men, in accordance with Sharia law, according to the newspaper Ettelaat.
Local authorities reportedly said that the restrictions, initially imposed at the end of the last week in Helmand province, now apply to the rest of the country.
"The fighters keep coming and ordering us to stop trimming beards," a barber in Kabul told BBC. "One of them told me they can send undercover inspectors to catch us."
Another owner of a barber chain claimed that he received a call from someone who introduced himself as an official and who told him not to “follow American styles” and to stop shaving and trimming beards.
Afghan residents have reportedly complained that the rules have harmed their businesses as “customers don't shave their beards,” intending to “blend in and look like” Taliban members. Many barbers, according to BBC, now plan to close their shops.
Earlier, local media reported that a large number of barbershops across the country have closed due to the new rules established by the Taliban.
While a beard in Islam is viewed as a symbol of masculinity, the issue of growing and shaving beards is controversial within numerous Islamic movements. Some consider shaving beards to be a sin and growing them to be mandatory. Others view growing a beard as something desirable, and shaving as an action to be condemned, but not forbidden.
*Taliban is a terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries