Taliban cleric says girls’ education is forbidden

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Din Mohammad, head of the Taliban’s Council of Ulema in Kabul. File photo.


A senior Taliban cleric in Kabul has said that schooling for women and girls is “forbidden,” arguing that they should be limited to studying certain religious subjects, including matters related to marriage, child-rearing and household responsibilities.

Din Mohammad, head of the Taliban’s Council of Ulema in Kabul, made the remarks in an audio recording that circulated widely on social media in recent days.

In the recording, he argued that women and girls should be limited to studying certain religious subjects and described modern disciplines, including science and technology, as unnecessary for them.

“We are talking about religious sciences, while they are talking about schools,” Din Mohammad said. “Such matters are not necessary for women. What they need are the sciences related to their obligations, such as issues of menstruation, childbirth, the rights of husbands, the rights of children and household duties.”

He said women could pursue additional studies only under strict conditions, including wearing what he described as proper Islamic dress, obtaining a husband’s permission and avoiding contact with unrelated men.

“If these conditions are not met, then even attending a madrasa is not permissible,” he said. “As for other forms of education, they are impermissible regardless.”

The comments prompted criticism from some religious scholars and human rights advocates, who said the remarks have no basis in Islamic teachings.

Issa Mohammadi, a religious scholar, rejected the claim that education should be denied to women and girls.

“Declaring knowledge forbidden for women is hostility toward Muslims, their progress and society,” he said.

Human rights advocates said the continued exclusion of women and girls from education has already inflicted lasting damage on Afghanistan’s future.

“These restrictions have no logical, religious or rational foundation,” said Hussain Anoush, a human rights activist.

The remarks come as the Taliban continue to enforce sweeping restrictions on women’s rights nearly five years after returning to power in August 2021.

Taliban have barred girls from secondary schools, suspended access to universities and shut down most medical training programs for women. The restrictions have affected millions of Afghan girls and women.

The United Nations has repeatedly condemned the bans, describing them as a form of gender discrimination unprecedented in the modern world. UN agencies estimate that more than a million Afghan girls have been denied secondary education since the Taliban returned to power.

Despite sustained pressure from the UN, Muslim-majority countries and Afghan civil society, Taliban leaders have shown little sign of reversing the policy. Senior Taliban officials have frequently justified the restrictions on religious grounds, though a number of Islamic scholars both inside and outside Afghanistan have challenged those interpretations.