In the years since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, Afghan women have increasingly grappled with persecution and a severe mental health crisis. The imposition of sharia law, derived from Islam, has sparked outrage and concern among international human rights communities as the Taliban has systemically stripped away women’s rights and freedoms.
As a woman born into a Shia-Muslim family, the Taliban’s implementation of sharia law has never made sense to me, even after studying Sunni Islam subjects throughout my education. There is one Islam with various schools of thought, including Sunni and Shia branches, and these different schools have followers across the globe, primarily in the Middle East, South and East Asia, Africa and among Muslim refugees worldwide. Despite the differences in interpretation, none advocates for the complete denial of basic human rights for Muslim women.
After taking power, the Taliban’s first move was to change the Ministry of Women Affairs to the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which became an unquestionable symbol of the disappearance of women’s rights. Afghan women have been barred from education, denied the opportunity to work, subjected to oppressive dress codes, excluded from participating in politics and decision-making processes, and have had their access to healthcare restricted. They face harsh punishments for violating any of these strictures.
During my youth, I was an extremely devout Shia Muslim, regularly attending prayers at mosques and diligently reciting the holy book, the Qur’an, as a qari (a person who recites the Qur’an with the proper rules of recitation). I even committed important sections of the Qur’an to memory and studied their meanings line by line. I never encountered teachings or policies that would justify the complete suppression of Muslim women’s rights. In fact, the Qur’an explicitly states that men and women are equal in the eyes of God.
Growing up, I practised as a Shia Muslim in my daily life while also studying Sunni Islam as part of the Afghan curriculum at a refugee school in Pakistan. Later, at Kabul University, Sunni Islam subjects were part of my coursework alongside journalism. Students, professors and the general public accepted and mutually respected one another, as we recognised and embraced our diversity. Notably, the teachings of Sunni Islam never questioned women’s rightful place in society.
Sunni Muslims vehemently oppose the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan, arguing the group’s interpretation of sharia law does not align with any schools of thought. It also disregards prominent Muslim women of Islam’s history, such as Bibi Khadija, the wife of Prophet Mohammad, who played significant roles as a businesswoman.
And throughout Islamic history, countless examples showcase the active participation of Muslim women alongside mens. One of the first known universities in the world, the University of al-Qarawiyyin in the Moroccan city of Fez, was founded more than 1000 years ago by Fatima al-Fihri, a Muslim woman. It is the oldest existing and continually operating educational institution in the world.
Afghan refugees in Pakistan demand the Taliban allows education for girls, January 2023 (Image: AAP/EPA/Sohail Shahzad)
After the Taliban’s initial rule from 1996 to 2001 — America overthrew it following the 9/11 attacks — Afghanistan remained predominantly a Sunni Islamic country. Over the past two decades, it went through significant social progress and modernisation, with women playing key roles in decision-making and contributing to politics, socioeconomic policies and agendas.
Thousands of girls pursued secondary education and university degrees, with some travelling abroad on prestigious scholarships. Women joined the workforce, including in senior positions, and young women emerged as advocates and actively engaged in humanitarian events and civil society initiatives.
In both Afghanistan’s constitution and Islamic laws, there were no explicit prohibitions on women’s daily lives or social activities. Afghan society was moving towards accepting greater freedom for women. Criticisms of certain aspects of Islamic methods were not uncommon, as women participated in literary events, wrote papers, engaged in political debates, organised fashion shows, showcased their artistry, represented Afghanistan at international conferences, and held prominent roles in all fields and sectors of society.
Today the Taliban’s implementation of sharia law in Afghanistan is a stark departure from the teachings and practices of the main Islamic schools of thought, including Sunni Islam. Islam as a religion has demonstrated its adaptability to complex historical events. The religion recognises the differences among generations and acknowledges that certain practices from 1400 years ago may not be applicable today.
For instance, there are more progressive schools of thought within Islam today, such as Islamic modernism and Islamic feminism. The different interpretations of Islam have been exemplified in society through varying social practices and understandings, including issues such as women’s rights, the role of religious authorities, and the relationship between religion and politics. The Taliban’s misinterpretation of Islamic principles has led it down a path that resembles the era preceding the birth of Islam, where daughters were tragically buried alive due to cultural norms.
This oppression of women in Afghanistan is considered a crime against humanity, and the Taliban’s actions are seen as contradicting the principles of Islam. For nearly two years, Afghan women and girls have been buried alive in a world that remains blind and deaf to their suffering. The mental health crisis gripping these women reflects the urgent need for international intervention and support to protect the fundamental rights of Afghan women.
The international community must stand together to condemn the Taliban’s atrocities and work towards a future where Afghan women can reclaim their freedom, dignity and rightful place in society.
I share your outrage and concern over the treatment of women in Afghanistan by the Taliban Sakina. However, in the universe in which I reside, it is clear that all humans in general, and women in particular, will never be free from repression until society frees itself from the absurdities of all religious dogma and strictures.
I am an avowed atheist. I have heard excuses similar to those that you make here, being made by Christians who believe that all would be ‘perfect’ if only those who profess to be Christians would practice the religion as it was ‘really meant to be practiced’ Clearly. that is thinly disguised code for, is saying “if only they would practice the religion in the way that I see as being correct”. This is, of course, precisely what you are doing here only in regard to Islam.
Just a word of warning too Sakina, do not be too critical of Islam or you may end up like the heroic Somali-born author Ayaan Hirsi Ali and the equally heroic Pakistan-born Canadian journalist and author Raheel Raza, who have both had fatwas issued against them by the Islamic hierarchy.
I am afraid Sakina that your apologia for (the want of a better term) “progressive Islam” fails dismally to convince me that this religion has any redeeming features (except perhaps for its rejection of alcohol and drugs). I am sure that Islamic women will find infinitely more freedom if they come to the West and live among the infidels and kafirs (like me for instance who believe in complete gender equality). Although, as you may be aware, when some Saudi Arabian women tried to do that, their efforts ended in tragedy. It is not only in Afghanistan that women are severely repressed by this anachronistic religion.
I don’t think you will find many who read this publication who support the Taliban in any way whatsoever, especially with regard to their treatment of women. The problem is, what to do about it? Armed conflict has been tried and failed. Economic sanction is more likely to rebound on the victims of oppression rather than the oppressors, and the Taliban seems to be immune to international censure. What else is there?
Taliban must be getting support from somewhere. As with Republic of Ireland, the ONLY reason priests in Ireland got away with dictating lives of women was that the other half of the laity supported their clerical brothers.
The UN is feeding Afghanistan with 10s of millions of meals per day. Nothing can be done about the Taliban after they achieved a military victory. “I’m a devout Muslim” is a meaningless statement because religion is meaningless. The country will be an impoverished death pit for the foreseeable future.
The military victory could not have been achieved without hearts and minds of (at least) some of the population. And neighbouring sympathizers. Religion is not meaningless if it can be used to subjugate others. Certain Australian elected representatives still have a following of deluded god-bothering followers. Probably the only thing that saves us is that we are surrounded by sea.
Bullets have won against hearts and minds many times in history. The coalition fled with their tails between their legs. Whatever hearts and minds previously won were lost at that point. Only have to read the first 3 words of this article, “A devout Muslim” to know this author has nothing of importance to say.
All good points – but the Taliban is a fascist political movement masquerading as a religious movement, so they don’t really care about the letter of the (Islamic) law.
The Taliban do care about the letter of Islamic law – their version of it. And any version can be justified by the Quran, just as slavery, war, misogyny and just about everything else (including love, fraternity etc) have been justified with reference to the Bible. “Holy books” are what the reader wants to make of them.
I’m an agnostic but I think sincerely religious people like the author look for the indisputable positives intended by religious texts. The Taliban is more like the US evangelical movement (justification of greed and personal advancement) or Sri Lanka’s Buddhist juntas / Modi’s Hindu nationalists / Netanyahu’s cronies (justification of racial discrimination and tyranny) in exploiting the inevitable out-of-date content of said religious texts for their own base ends.
All of those horrendous and repressive movements you cite are based on “sincere religion” – they sincerely believe it, in all its ugliness, and they have a sacred scripture to prove its “truth”. The same scriptures that the “nice” believers believe in.
another corrupt regime coopting a bastardized version dogma to abuse the human rights of over half of humanity – men and women everywhere should be positive in opposition – provide support to the victims and hope the citizens join as one to oppose such cruelty and inhumanity – zealots and misogynists
The bottom line here is men using ^religion^ to suppress women, which is harsh enough, but to also torture them-where did burying women alive come from anywhere in any religion? Men throughout thousands of years have persecuted women in many different ways and, unfortunately, are still doing so, and that has nothing to do with religion but bloody mindedness and fear of the oft proven fact that women are so often much smarter than men and many men cannot stand the thought that women who are not as physically strong as men can outsmart them in intelligence. Fewer women would be raped if they were physicslly stonger than the male predator. Look at the above photobraphs and see how the men in thdm still have to have guns/rifles to prove what big men they are, even in just the company of their so-called religious group.
It is sickening that any woman should be dominted by men, who make the rules to suit their lack of intelligence and/or their fear that women, given the opportunity, can outshine most men they come in contact with. So they join a gang of thugs to make them feel superior, yhough that very act shows how weak they truly are.
This sickening suppression of women won’t stop until men realise women are not the enemy. I should add there are some men who do see us as equals but those men have matured past the need to prove anything to other men or feel the need to “keep women in their p,ace”.
The teachings of the New Testament have not stopped hardline Christian leaders from their own self-serving interpretations of the text. This is especially so in America, and there aren’t many answers. Maybe a convention of Sunni scholars and Imans could begin putting pressure on their Taliban counterparts.