Afghanistan banning women access to education radically contradicts Islamic Shari’ah — Al-Azhar Imam
The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed El-Tayeb, has condemned the suspension of women’s access to university education in Afghanistan.
His reaction was contained in a statement dated Thursday, 22 December 2022.
El-Tayeb maintained that preventing women’s access to education contradicts Islamic Shari’ah.
“Al-Azhar deeply regrets the decision issued by the authorities in Afghanistan, preventing Afghan women access to university education, as it contradicts Islamic Shari’ah and conflicts with its explicit call for men and women to pursue knowledge from the cradle to the grave,” he said
“That call to pursue knowledge, Al-Azhar affirms, has produced mighty minds among geniuses among women along the scientific and political history of Islam.”
He added that pursuing education is still a source of pride and admiration for every devout Muslim, who sincerely obeys Allah, His Messenger, and His Law.
According to the imam, the decision is a flagrant disobedience to more than two thousand noble hadiths reported in the most authentic Sunni reference books from the Prophet’s wife and the Mother of the Believers, lady ‘A’isha (peace be with her)!
“How could they overlook the abounding historical examples of female pioneers in education, sciences and politics who contributed to the advancement of Muslim societies past and present,” he lamented.
El-Tayeb reacted further that the shocking decision to the conscience of Muslims and non-Muslims alike should not have been issued by any Muslim, let alone proudly clinging to it.
“I explicitly reject this decision, since it does not represent the Shari‘ah of Islam. Rather, it radically contradicts the call of the Noble Qur’an, the book in which the words knowledge and reason, with all their derivatives, recur more than a hundred times,” he said.
He, therefore, warned Muslims and non-Muslims against believing or accepting the allegation that it is banning women’s education is approved in Islam.
“Indeed, Islam firmly denounces such banning since it contradicts the legal rights that Islam equally guarantees for women and men. So, claiming otherwise is a fabrication against this valuable religion.”
Referencing the holy Qu’ran, he said, “Islam is the religion that ordains every Muslim, male or female, to pursue knowledge, knowing that the Qur’an states, ‘Are those who know equal to those who do not know?’ [39, 9].”
“It is the religion that puts scholars’ efforts and martyrdom on equal foot on the Day of Resurrection.”
He also called upon our fellow brothers in authority in the Muslim Afghanistan to reconsider their decision, for the truth is more deserving of being followed.
“I also call upon all to constantly remember that nothing shall avail us against Allah’s Punishment on the Day of Resurrection, be it money, authority or high status [, in case we disobey Him],” he concluded.
Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed El-Tayeb is an Egyptian Islamic scholar and the current Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Al-Azhar Al Sharif and former president of al-Azhar University. He was appointed by the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, following the death of Mohamed Sayed Tantawy in 2010. He is from Kurna, Luxor Governorate in Upper Egypt, and he belongs to a Sunni Muslim family.
