H.E. Mr. Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the ruling authority in Afghanistan, received the delegation of Ummah’s scholars visiting Afghanistan, led by the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, on the evening of Thursday 14 Safar 1445, corresponding to August 31, 2023, at the Ministry’s headquarters in the capital, Kabul.

At the start of his speech, His Excellency the Minister welcomed the delegation and thanked them for this visit, which follows on from the first visit the delegation made a year ago, led by H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of IIFA, expressing his delight at the delegation’s arrival at a time when the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is experiencing developments, significant and rapid changes at various levels, notably with regard to the security situation, which has become unprecedented , and the economic situation, which is also seeing significant improvement thanks to judicious policies, the most important of which are the fight against corruption, the rationalization of spending and the diversification of revenue sources, as well as the Emirate’s efforts in the fight against drugs. His Excellency told the delegation that during this period the Emirate has ordered the opening of religious schools at all levels of education for girls and boys, pointing out that a committee is working on revising the curricula of scientific subjects for the middle, secondary and university levels for girls, which means that enabling Afghan girls to receive both a religious and scientific education is a matter of time.

For his part, H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of IIFA, expressed his sincere thanks to the delegation of scholars, and their great appreciation of the authority for the good reception, generous hospitality, and warm welcome, praising the clear developments the delegation had seen since their arrival in Kabul at the security and economic levels. His Excellency praised the efforts of the ruling authority in the fight against corruption and drugs, and expressed the delegation’s satisfaction with the decision to open religious schools at all levels for girls, He underlined the latter’s great aspiration to continue its efforts and hard work to give girls and boys access to education, both religious and secular, at all levels and in all fields of knowledge, “because the Ummah in general and the Afghan people in particular are today in urgent need of a significant number of women doctors, nurses, engineers, physicists, chemists, mathematicians and experts in all fields of the human, social and natural sciences to combat poverty, ignorance and disease”.” His Excellency explained that “in Islam, science and knowledge are complementary and not mutually exclusive, and that the Muslim community needs all the beneficial and useful sciences, and that the command to seek knowledge according to the hadith, ‘Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim’, does not differentiate between the sciences, meaning that seeking knowledge has both religious and worldly aspects. Indeed, learning is considered a sacred right for both boys andgirls and it is not permissible for a girl or a boy to be deprived of it. His Excellency then concluded his speech by calling on the authority to consider the possibility of benefiting from the experience and expertise of OIC member states in the field of girls’ and boys’ education, based on the principle of cooperation in righteousness and piety, and Islamic integration in all areas of life.

Speeches were then given by the delegation’s scholars, both men and women, who all stressed the importance of paying attention to the education of girls and boys and enabling them to pursue religious and secular studies at all levels.

The Afghan scholars present at the meeting also took the floor, confirming their conviction and agreement with the delegation of scholars on what they had said about the importance of educating girls and boys. They also noted that work is underway to enable them to continue their studies in line with the legal controls on which the commission in charge of this issue is working.

At the end of the meeting, His Excellency the Minister invited the delegation to dinner, which the Ministry had prepared in their honor.