Woke up to the horrible news that Taliban has suspended university education for women in Afghanistan. This is a heinous crime against women and is utterly un-Islamic.
Taliban suspends university education for women in Afghanistan. This is a heinous crime against women and is utterly un-Islamic.
Replugging my my twitter thread from 2021 about what Islam says about women’s education. #taliban #womeninAfghanistan

1/

At the beginning of their regime in 2021, Taliban claimed they will guarantee women’s rights “under the limits of Islam.” But as a matter of fact they have made life a living hell for women in Afghanistan. The most recent atrocity is banning them from attaining university education.
https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/12/20/ap22354657717189_custom-e1a20718bf9501cfe0956039fc03dfec282efef6-s1200-c85.webp

2/

As a Muslim woman, I am appalled at these atrocities against women and that too in the name of Islam. Let me tell you about the guarantees Islam makes for women, and you’ll see how Taliban the so called defenders of Islam have no idea what Islam actually teaches.

1400 yrs ago the Prophet declared “Education is incumbent upon every Muslim male & female.” Education isn’t only my right, it’s my obligation. Ayesha, wife of the Prophet, was a brilliant scholar & jurist. Its because of her we’ve so much Islamic scholarship.
/4

Moreover, Fatimah al-Fihri, an African Muslim woman queen, established the world’s oldest & longest running university?

Centuries before Harvard or Oxford, she established Al-Quariune in Morocco.

Taliban meanwhile tried to kill young @Malala for her ‘crime’ of education.
/5

AlQuariune is the university where Muslim and non-Muslim scholars such as Ibn Rushd, Jewish philosopher Maimonides, and Pope Sylvester II, studied.

Then there is a list of Muslim women who excelled in education throughout the Islamic history. For example:
Amat-Al-Wahid Sutaita Al-Mahamli (d.987) from Baghdad excelled in many fields including Arabic literature, hadith and jurisprudence.
In the 9th & 10th century Baghdad was the epicentre of knowledge in the world and Muslim women were the leaders in this space.
7/

Who can forget Lubna of Cordoba (10th century) was recognized for her knowledge and expertise in the sciences, especially in solving complex geometrical and algebraic problems.
8/