Taliban Need To Be Educated. Ban On Women Attending Universities Un-Islamic, Appalling
It is sad to read the news coming out of Afghanistan, about women being banned from attending universities. The highest level of education most Afghan girls will be able to attain is Class 6 — the final year of primary school.
On December 20, the country’s higher education ministry ordered public and private universities to “suspend education for women until the next announcement”, according to a TOLO news report.
As an educated Muslim woman, it is appalling to learn that the new regime, the Taliban, is deliberately trying to stop women from acquiring knowledge under the garb of being “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”.
While the Taliban authorities may try to justify their act of denying education to women but their move is totally unacceptable even as per Islamic rulings.
No distinction between males and females in terms of rights, as to what is permissible for men is also permissible for women, has been made as per the Holy Book Quran and from the Prophet’s saying -- Hadith.
Cardinal rights of all human beings in Islam include the sanctity of life, property and wealth, religion, mind and intellect, honour and family and progeny. The right to education falls under the cardinal right of mind and intellect. So, to deny a cardinal right is outrightly un-Islamic.
Women's Education In Islam
If the Taliban consider themselves the true followers of the religion, they cannot overrule the words from Quran and Hadith. Quran puts the highest emphasis on the importance of acquiring knowledge and it has been said that knowledge should be attained as much as possible.
Stress On Education In Quran
From the first revelation to numerous citing are present in the Quran that stresses the need for education. The first word of the first verse revealed on the Prophet stated “Iqra”, which means to read, clearly indicating that the religion of Islam focuses on gaining knowledge.
"Read with the name of your Lord who created. Created man from a clot. Read, and your Lord only is the Most Beneficent. The one Who taught to write with the pen." (96:1-4)
“Are those who have knowledge equal to those who do not have knowledge.” (39:9)
Stress On Education Through Hadith
Even the Prophet stressed the importance of learning and did not specify the gender that can get a preference.
“Seeking knowledge is a duty on every Muslim.“ (Ibn Majaah: 224)
The Prophet commanded Muslims to seek knowledge and drew no lines there. He also directed to spread knowledge. As he said: “Acquire the knowledge and impart it to the people.”(Bukhari - Book92 Hadith 410)
If the Quran and Hadith do not discriminate, how can the Taliban, as they cry out to strict followers of Islam, deny education based on gender?
Early Examples Of Learned Female Muslim Scholars
From the early years of Islam, it is evident that Muslim women were equal to their male counterparts in terms of learning. The first one that can be quoted as an example is Prophet's wife Aisha Bint Abu Bakr. She is one of the biggest contributors to Hadith and almost one-fourth of the rule of Shari'ah can be directly traced to the authority of Aisha.
Muslim women in past were founders or patrons of educational institutions and contributed to the field of science and astronomy.
The University of Al-Qarawayyin, the oldest continuing university in the world, was founded in 859 in Morocco by a Muslim woman, Fatima Al Fihri.
Dhayfa Khatun, the Queen of Aleppo for six years, founded two Islamic schools — Al-Firdaous School and the Khankah School.
Rabia Balkhi from modern-day Afghanistan, who lived in the 9th century, is considered the first woman to write poems in modern Persian.
Maryam Al-Ijliya (10th century) in Northern Syria made innovative designs of the astrolabe, an ancient astronomical instrument.
Lubna of Cordoba (10th century) was a mathematician and poet and is known for solving complex geometrical and algebraic problems.
These are just a few popular examples from the earlier times of Islam, which indicate that nowhere education was a limited tool and only for men. Despite all the historic pieces of evidence, the Taliban with a blindfold on are following a diktat that has no place in Islam. Maybe if such claimants of Islamic law had followed the original ways, the writing on the wall could have been different.
The author is a PhD in Urdu from Aligarh Muslim University.
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