H.E. Mullah Sirajuddin Haqqani, Deputy Commander of the Faithful and Minister of the Interior of the current authority in Afghanistan, received the delegation of Ummah scholars on Monday afternoon, Safar 18, 1445, corresponding to September 4, 2023, at the Intercontinental Hotel in the capital, Kabul.

The meeting began with the recitation of the Holy Quran. H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the Academy and head of the delegation, delivered a speech in which he thanked the authority for the generous hospitality and warm welcome, praising remarkable achievements in various fields, particularly in the area of security and safety. This was confirmed to the delegation by the UN agencies working in Afghanistan and the embassies accredited to Afghanistan. The delegation also remarked this stability during its visits to the city of Kabul.

H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano also explained that the credit for this goes to Allah the Almighty, then to His Excellency the Minister’s prudence, competence, perseverance and loyalty to his religion, to the Commander of the Believers, and to his deep love for his Afghan people, underlining his precise knowledge of the central role played by the Ministry of the Interior through its various agencies for intelligence, monitoring and prosecuting crimes and criminals. His Excellency explained that his work as Minister in his country for twelve years had enabled him to realize the scale of the sacrifices made by the Ministry of the Interior in establishing security and stability throughout the country, as well as eliminating extremism and terrorism, and eradicating crime in all its forms and types. His Excellency the Minister and his assistants therefore deserve every thanks, appreciation and praise for this remarkable achievement, which was considered the greatest challenge for the authority after it took power in Afghanistan. His Excellency also explained that no one thought the security situation could be stabilized in a short space of time. All analysts expected ISIS to intensify its attacks on Afghanistan, but the undeniable truth is that the authority has been able to uproot ISIS and eliminate it from the Afghan scene in a radical way. A whole year has gone by without Kabul or any other city in Afghanistan having seen any terrorist attacks by ISIS or other terrorist organizations. His Excellency then spoke of the importance of preserving this great and important achievement, explaining that this depends essentially on achieving the intellectual security represented by enabling all members of society to receive an education, in both religious and worldly subjects, considering that education is the ideal means of combating the causes of terrorism and extremism as well as ignorance, poverty, misery and despair. This is why Islam makes education, in its religious and mundane parts, and at all its stages, a legitimate and sacred right shared by both men and women, and has made the pursuit of education an obligation for every Muslim man and woman. His Excellency expressed the delegation’s thanks to the Minister for his appreciated efforts over the past year to champion the issue of women’s education, resulting in the opening of religious schools at all levels for girls and boys throughout the country. He asked His Excellency the Minister to continue his efforts to enable girls and boys to receive education in scientific subjects alongside religious subjects, and to enable girls to resume their studies at universities and colleges in accordance with the legal and ethical controls established by the Emirate.

The floor was then given to the members of the delegation, who stressed the importance of education, both religious and worldly, for women and men. They underlined the danger of depriving women of any kind of education, considering that this is tantamount to depriving them of inheritance and forcing them to marry without their consent. They also asserted that any postponement would be detrimental to the stability and future of Afghanistan.

For his part, His Excellency the Minister welcomed the delegation of Ummah’s scholars and expressed his sincere thanks for this second visit, which confirms the Emirate’s confidence in the Ummah scholars who stand by the Afghan people and authorities, and their concern for the Emirate’s future. His Excellency the Minister said that instead of talking about the Emirate’s achievements over the past two years, which the delegation had already seen, or talking about women’s education, about which His Excellency and the delegation were already on the same page, His Excellency therefore addressed the delegation with a number of practical proposals that the delegation would like to see realized, stressing that there is total belief in the fact that worldly and religious education is compulsory for every Muslim man and woman, and that it is a sacred right of both men and women.

At the end of the meeting, H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, head of the delegation, renewed his thanks and appreciation to the Afghan Interior Minister, hoping that the delegation’s next visit would take place in a few months rather than after a whole year. The meeting gave rise to exchanges of friendly conversation, full of brotherhood and thankfulness.