Islamic scholars at a gathering in the western province of Badghis urged the Islamic Emirate to reopen schools for female students in grades 6-12.
A gathering was held on Monday evening to inaugurate the council of Ulema in Badghis.
“We should try to facilitate a good life for our sisters in every area. Education is one of the important issues,” said Mawlawi Ramazan, an Islamic scholar.
“The doors of the schools should be reopened for girls in addition to the boys so our sisters can earn a necessary education,” said Mawlawi Muhaiddin, a religious scholar.
They said that both boys and girls have the right to take modern and religious education.
“The Almighty Allah made education mandatory for men and women,” said Abddulraziq, an Islamic scholar.
“If (girls) study within a Sharia hijab, there is no problem because the society needs the education of men and women,” said Mawlawi Isar, a religious scholar.
Some residents of Badghis called for the reopening of girls’ school beyond grade six. “Girls have attempted to study until grade seven but are deprived of an education and the doors of schools are closed before them and they cannot go to university,” said Abdul Wahid, a resident of Badghis.
The Islamic Emirate has said it is working on a plan to facilitate the reopening of girls’ schools above grade six.
Following domestic and international reactions to the closing of schools for girls above the sixth grade, the Assembly of Religious Scholars in Afghanistan issued a statement calling for the lifting of all restrictions on girls’ education and the reopening of girls’ schools.
The religious scholars called the education of girls a fundamental right and urged the Islamic Emirate to reopen girls’ schools as soon as possible.
“According to the Sharia rules, a woman has full rights to study Sharia and modern sciences alongside a man. That is why we call on the Islamic Emirate to open the doors of education for girls and remove all obstacles in this regard,” the statement reads.
“Girls have the right to education, and the way should be paved for them. According to Islam, every Muslim has the right to education and it should be provided to him or her,” said a religious scholar.
“According to the ruling of Islam, there are no obstacles blocking the education of girls, and learning is the presumed right of every person, and girls should be given this right to be educated,” said Faiz Mohammad Zaland, a university lecturer.
Meanwhile, Yvonne Ridley, deputy of the European Muslim Union, in an exclusive interview with TOLOnews, expressed concern over the situation of girls’ education in Afghanistan. She said that in her meeting with the officials of the Islamic Emirate she asked for the reopening of secondary and high schools for girls as soon as possible.
“The senior girls’ schools opened then closed and this is something that I have raised with the Taliban leadership. So, they promised a great deal at a historic press conference that they gave when they assured the world that women’s rights would be observed,” she said.—Tonews
