Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has taken a troubling step backward in women’s rights by announcing a ban on books authored by women from university curricula. This controversial decision, confirmed by a member of the textbook review committee to BBC Afghan, is part of a broader educational decree that aims to align academic teachings with their interpretation of Islamic Sharia.
The ban encompasses at least 679 titles, which the committee member described as “anti-Sharia and Taliban policies.” The impacted works span various fields, including constitutional law, Islamic political movements, human rights, women’s studies, and Western political thought. A final list of the banned books is expected to be distributed to universities soon.
The directive, signed by Ziaur Rahman Aryoubi, the Taliban’s deputy higher education minister, was disseminated to Afghan universities at the end of the previous month. In a letter accompanying the decree, Aryoubi emphasized that the decisions were made by a panel of “religious scholars and experts,” insisting that the banned materials be replaced with content that does not conflict with Islamic teachings.
This latest move is part of an alarming trend of restrictions imposed by the Taliban since they regained power four years ago. The regime has systematically dismantled educational opportunities, dismissing hundreds of professors for allegedly opposing their ideology and mandating increased religious coursework across all faculties. Women have borne the brunt of these changes, with a ban on attending school beyond the sixth grade, effectively cutting off their access to education.
In addition to the prohibition of female-authored texts, Afghan universities have been ordered to cease teaching 18 subjects, six of which focus specifically on women, including essential courses in gender and development. Moreover, an additional 201 courses are currently under review, further jeopardizing the academic landscape for students.
Zakia Adeli, the former deputy minister of justice before the Taliban’s resurgence in August 2021 and the author of one of the banned texts, expressed her dismay but not surprise at the ruling. “Given the Taliban’s misogynistic mindset and policies, it is only natural that when women themselves are not allowed to study, their views, ideas, and writings are also suppressed,” she stated.
The implications of such a sweeping ban on educational materials are profound. Sources in Kabul have warned that the exclusion of a significant number of textbooks will cripple the country’s higher education system. Universities will now face the daunting task of reallocating resources to identify and procure replacement materials, a challenge that could further hinder academic development.
In addition to targeting female authors, the Taliban has also set its sights on around 300 books written by Iranian authors or published by Iranian presses. This initiative appears to be part of an effort to prevent what they refer to as the “infiltration of Iranian content” into the Afghan curriculum. Relations between the two neighboring countries have soured in recent years, especially over contentious issues like water rights, exacerbated by Iran’s expulsion of over 1.5 million Afghans who had sought refuge there.
As the Taliban continues to impose its restrictive ideology on education and women’s rights in Afghanistan, the global community watches with growing concern. The systematic elimination of female perspectives from academic discourse not only undermines the potential of future generations but also sets a dangerous precedent for the broader erosion of human rights in the region.
