[3] It was closed when the Talibans were ousted, but Fazal Hadi Shinwari, an outspoken advocate of orthodoxy and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, reinstated it in 2003 and renamed it the Ministry for Haj and Religious Affairs.

[9] In May 2022, the ministry published a decree requiring all women in Afghanistan to wear full-body coverings when in public (either a burqa or an abaya paired with a niqāb, which leaves only the eyes uncovered).

The decree said enforcement action including fines, prison time, or termination from government employment would be taken against male "guardians" who fail to ensure their female relatives abide by the law.

[12] In an interview with Christiane Amanpour, First Deputy Leader and Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani claimed the decree is only advisory and no form of hijab is compulsory in Afghanistan,[13] though this contradicts the reality.

[15] In October 2024, the ministry announced it would impose a gradual restriction on the news media, prohibiting content that "humiliates" Islam or contradicts sharia, including publishing images of living things.