The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the levant has banned music and smoking in Syria’s Raqa, days after taking control of the northern city following battles with rebel groups.
ISIl said it had decided to “ban the sale of music CDs, music players, and playing songs in cars and buses and in shops and all places,” in a statement posted on jihadist websites and signed the “Wali (governor) of Raqa”.
The group added they had taken the step because musical instruments and singing are “proscribed in Islam because they distract from remembering God and the Quran”.
In a second statement, ISIl said that as part of efforts to “apply sharia (Islamic) law... It is completely forbidden to sell cigarettes or water pipes in any place”. Such bans are reminiscent of those the Taliban imposed on television, cinema and music in Afghanistan when in power up until 2001.
ISIl has alienated activists and other opposition fighters in Syria, who accuse it of imposing a reign of terror on areas where it operates.
Its actions provoked a backlash from powerful rebel groups in early January, and the group is now fighting opposition forces in several parts of northern Syria.