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Beauty salons banned because they offer forbidden services: IEA
Women’s beauty salons were banned in Afghanistan because they offered services forbidden by Islam and caused economic hardships for grooms’ families during wedding festivities, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) said Thursday.
IEA has given beauty salons in the country one month to wind down their businesses and close shop, drawing concern from international officials worried about the impact on female entrepreneurs.
In a video clip released Thursday, Mohammad Sadiq Akif, the spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, listed a series of services salons offered that he said went against Islam.
Those included eyebrow shaping, the use of other people’s hair to augment a woman’s natural hair and the application of makeup, which would interfere with the ablutions required before offering prayers, he said.
In addition, the salons cause economic stress on grooms’ families, who are required by custom to pay for the pre-wedding salon visit by the bride and her close female relatives, he said.
