Under the leadership of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy and with the participation of the Special Envoy of the OIC Secretary General, the delegation of Ummah scholars visiting Afghanistan met with a number of ambassadors of OIC member states accredited to Afghanistan on Thursday 14 Safar 1445, corresponding to August 31, 2023, at the delegation’s residence in the capital, Kabul.

H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the Council, began the meeting by welcoming their Excellencies the Ambassadors, thanking them for their appreciated efforts in strengthening relations of cooperation, partnership, communication and coordination between the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the ruling authority in Afghanistan, concerning the introduction of significant changes witnessed in Afghan since the current authority took over the reins of government in the country. His Excellency gave a brief overview of the delegation and the purpose of this visit, which he described as an extension of the first visit of the delegation of scholars, noting in this respect the participation of new eminent and distinguished scholars in this delegation, and underlining the willingness of the Secretary General of the OIC, H. E. Mr. Hussein Taha, and all OIC member states on the need to work to enable Afghan girls and boys to return to schools and universities, and for Afghan women to participate in the efforts of construction and development. His Excellency asked the ambassadors to kindly inform the delegation of the latest developments and changes witnessed recently on the Afghan scene, and to put forward any suggestions they deemed appropriate to enable it to achieve the optimal objectives of the visit, based on their precise and reliable knowledge of the situation thanks to their daily communication with the authority in place and their direct contact with the Afghan people.

The ambassadors reassured the delegation of the most important changes and developments in the Afghan arena, particularly with regard to the authority’s ability to extend full control over all Afghan lands and maintain stable security, the security situation having become stable in an unprecedented way, as they assured the delegation. One of the most important results of the first visit was the acceptance by the current authority not to link the issue of girls’ and boys’ education to the Islamic religion, as it was argued that the suspension of girls’ and women’s education was due to logistical reasons closely linked to customs and traditions. The authority also approved the work of Afghan women in the fields of health, agriculture, commerce and education. Outside these fields, women are still unable to work for the same logistical and customary reasons. The ambassadors put forward a number of important and constructive suggestions, wishing the delegation every success in its tasks.

The meeting was attended by the ambassadors of the Republic of Turkey, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as the chargé d’affaires of the Indonesian Embassy.