Assalamu alaikum:

We, the undersigned Imams, leaders, and scholars call on the Taliban to rescind all bans on girls’ and women’s education in Afghanistan. 

Earlier this year, Islamic scholars in Afghanistan called on the Taliban to end its ban on girls’ secondary education in the country, which they also described as a violation of Islam. This latest ban on university students affects more girls and women. 

We remind the Taliban that:

• The Quran begins with Allah’s command to the Prophet of “Iqra” - Read. All Quranic and Prophetic traditions apply to men and women equally. It is a duty for all Muslims, and scholars agree that it includes both Muslim men and women. 

• Hanafi Fiqh, which the Taliban follow, is based mostly on the scholarship of students of our mother Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her. 

• The oldest continually running university in the world was established by a woman, Fatimah al-Fihri in 859. It is called Al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco. 

• From the Prophet’s time onward, women have been students and scholars. 

The Taliban must remember that they will be held accountable by Allah for this violation of rights. This is Dhulm (oppression), and Allah punishes those who engage in it. 

May Allah guide all of us, and make us upholders of the truth and justice for all, and firm against oppression. 

“O ye who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do” (Quran 4:135). 

Find The Signatories Below: