Law, Religion, and Power: A Sociological Analysis of Symbolic Patriarchy in the Taliban’s New Penal Code (2026)

Abstract

This article sociologically examines the new penal code enacted under the Taliban regime, focusing on the intersections of law, religion, and power as producers and sources of legitimacy for the social order. Engaging in interdisciplinary work that integrates the sociology of law, Foucault’s theory of power, Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic violence, and gender studies, the author argues that the penal code should be considered not only as a set of technical legal norms, but also as a political-legal instrument that establishes institutionalized relations of patriarchal domination.

This study illustrates how the religious interpretation of Shari’a and state authority intertwine to produce a dual legitimizing system—coercive and symbolic—that regulates behavior, subjectivities, and social hierarchies. The analysis observes the social control of the female body, conceptualized as a political space where social discipline, moral regulation, and state sovereignty are inscribed. Through provisions regarding freedom of movement, education, public participation, and social roles, the law contributes to gender construction in and through a legal framework, as well as to the legitimization of structural inequalities.

The article also analyzes whether the Taliban penal order represents a political construction of religion or whether it constitutes a fully religious expression. It concludes that both variants have historically intertwined in processes of hegemonic construction.

Finally, the work concludes that the Taliban penal code functions as a symbolic and normative architecture that reorganizes the social order through the institutionalization of patriarchy, revealing the role of law as a technology of power and a producer of subjectivities in contemporary political contexts.