‘Iqra’: 18-Year-Old Afghan Woman Stages Solo Protest With Single Word Of God Against Taliban Rule

In Islam, Muslims believe that ‘Iqra’, which means to read in Arabic, was the first word that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad by God. 

The woman held the placard outside Kabul University protesting against Taliban banning women from universities.

Source : Twitter/@ZohalAzra

Angered over Taliban's ban on women from education, an 18-year-old Afghan woman decided to stage a solo protest against the ruling regime in Kabul invoking words from the Quran. On December 25, Adela (name changed) stood in front of the entrance of Kabul University holding up a placard with a particularly powerful word written on it in Arabic - iqra, or 'read', reported BBC.

On December 20, the Taliban banned women from attending university after they had banned girls from going to secondary schools and restricting them from studying certain subjects and told them they could only choose universities within their province.

In Islam, Muslims believe that ‘Iqra’ was the first word that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad by God. 

"God has given us the right to education. We need to be afraid of God, not the Taliban who want to take away our rights," she told the publication. 

"I knew that they treat the protesters very badly. They beat them, hit them, use weapons - they used Tasers and water cannons on them. But still I stood in front of them.

"At first they didn't take me seriously. Later, one of the gunmen asked me to leave," she told BBC. 

Initially, Adela refused to go and stood her ground, but the paper board she was holding gradually caught the attention of the armed guards around her.

While clutching the placard, she started engaging a member of the Taliban.

"I asked him, 'Can't you read what I have written?'," she said.

He said nothing, so Adela went further: "Can't you read the word of God?"

"He became angry and threatened me."

Later her placard was taken away and she was forced to leave after about 15 minutes of her lone demonstration. 

The report stated that while Adela was staging the protest, her sister had been sitting in a taxi taking pictures and recording the protest. "The taxi driver became very scared of the Taliban. He was pleading with my sister to stop filming. Fearing trouble, he asked her to leave the car," Adela said.