Taliban decision-making over the past 20 months reveals where Afghanistan is headed – towards an impoverished autocracy.


Haroun Rahimi is an Associate Professor and Interim Chair of the Law at the American University of Afghanistan. He is a 2022-23 Global Fellow at the M... iddle East Society Association of North America (MESA). He has recently published a book on the reform and regulation of economic institutions in Afghanistan. He researches issues of law, economics, and Islamic thought in Afghanistan.
Taliban decision-making over the past 20 months reveals where Afghanistan is headed – towards an impoverished autocracy.

Afghans will not embrace Taliban governance unless it is centred on the rule of law.
![Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid speaks to the media at the airport in Kabul on August 31, 2021 [AFP/ Wakil Kohsar]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/000_9LX6DB.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
There is no single and absolute reading of Islamic law that can guide an Islamic state. It is all open to debate.
![Taliban officials arrange a Taliban flag, before a press conference by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, at the Government Media Information Center, in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 17, 2021 [AP/Rahmat Gul]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/AP21229599631625.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)