The delegation of the Ummah’s scholars visiting Afghanistan, led by the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, met with H.E. Sheikh Muhammad Khalid Hanafi, Minister of Virtue Promotion and Vice Prevention, on Saturday, Safar 16, 1445, corresponding to September 2, 2023, at the delegation’s residence in Kabul.

The meeting began with a recitation of the Holy Quran, after which His Excellency the Minister delivered a speech welcoming the guests to Afghanistan, who had come from the Land of the Two Holy Mosques, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Kingdom of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Chad, Guinea, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia, and thanking them for visiting Afghanistan to see their brothers in the country. His Excellency the Minister gave a brief presentation of the Islamic Emirate’s most significant achievements in all fields over the past two years, and also spoke about the ministry he oversees, particularly with regard to combating the evils of society, especially drugs, consumption and the sale of alcohol, the tipping of the scales in the markets, and all the forms of injustice and oppression that have been imposed on Afghan women over the decades, such as depriving them of inheritance, forcing them to marry without their consent, depriving them of marriage after the death of their husbands, exploiting them to settle disputes and blood money, and other odious practices against them. With regard to the issue of women’s education, His Excellency explained that the Islamic Emirate has opened religious schools at all levels for males and females and is striving to open universities for girls after completing the development of appropriate curricula.

For his part, H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the Academy and head of the delegation, expressed the delegation’s sincere thanks and great appreciation for the generosity and hospitality received at the Ministry’s headquarters, and praised the comprehensive information they had received from His Excellency on the visible and significant achievements the emirate has made over the past two years, particularly in the fields of security and the economy by combating drugs, corruption and malicious ideology. On the issue of women’s education, His Excellency expressed the delegation’s comfort that the current Afghan authority allows girls to return to religious schools at all levels, noting that the delegation looks forward with great anticipation and eagerness to teach scientific subjects, particularly that “Islam has not differentiated between sciences in education. On the contrary, women and men must be empowered together to teach all useful sciences, whether religious or not. Indeed, the purpose of education is to enable women and men to acquire the sciences, knowledge, skills, and principles that will help them serve Allah, build the universe and achieve happiness in this world and the hereafter, and the sciences called religious sciences help them worship Allah, while the worldly sciences help them build the universe and achieve happiness in both worlds. It is therefore not permissible, according to Sharia law, to separate them, just as it is not permissible to separate women and men, whatever their sex.

His Excellency concluded his speech by saying, “If the Islamic Emirate has been able, over these two years, to extend its influence over all Afghan lands and establish security and stability in all provinces, then there is great optimism that the Emirate will be able to eliminate ignorance and combat poverty and disease by empowering all segments of Afghan society, men and women alike, and promoting science and training at all levels and in all fields.” We also hope that the Emirate will benefit from the experience and expertise of OIC member states in the field of women’s education and the participation of Muslim women in development and renaissance efforts based on the principle of “cooperation in righteousness and piety” and “believers are to each other like a solid construction that supports each other” and “a believer is like the mirror of his brother”.

The floor was then given to the distinguished delegation , who in turn praised what they had heard and seen of what the Islamic Emirate had achieved in a short space of time, while underlining their request to enable Afghan males and females to receive both religious and secular education at all levels, in accordance with the hadith of the Prophet PBUH: “Seeking knowledge is an obligation for every Muslim.”

At the end of the meeting, the Minister assured the delegation that he would convey their message to the leader of the Islamic Emirate, in the hope that this meeting with the scholars would be repeated in the times to come and in a short space of time.