Speaking at the International Conference on “Girls’ Education in Muslim Societies: Challenges and Opportunities” organized by the Muslim World League in collaboration with the Prime Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Islamabad on Saturday and Sunday, 11-12 January 2025, H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the Academy, praised Saudi Arabia’s pioneering and outstanding model of girls’ education in the world in general and in the Muslim world in particular and stressed that that more than half a century ago, the Saudi Arabian leadership adopted a pioneering education policy that enabled Saudi girls and young women to access education at all levels and stages. The blessed Saudi State has established schools, colleges, institutes and universities for girls and young women in all the towns and villages of the Kingdom. It has provided all the facilities and logistical services needed by these educational institutions, including buildings and transportation, and has established a General Presidency for Girls’ Education to supervise them and formulate policies and regulations for these institutions.

Today, Saudi Arabia has become a global model to follow in the field of education for girls and women and is the first country to host the largest women’s university in the world, named after the late Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman Al Saud, sister of King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, may God have mercy on her. His Excellency pointed out that the adoption of this educational policy by the founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, and his righteous sons after him, stemmed from their belief in the importance of providing girls and women with both religious and worldly education in order to achieve progress, development and comprehensive renaissance for the country, as well as the commitment of the wise leadership to the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah, which made the pursuit of knowledge obligatory for every Muslim, man and woman, boy and girl. His Excellency pointed out that it is not permissible for any human being in any era and in any country to deprive girls and women of education, as it is an inalienable right for them and a permanent obligation imposed by Allah on the family, society and the state. He also pointed out that depriving girls and women of education is a clear violation of the explicit Sharia ordering their education and the unanimous agreement of the Ummah throughout the ages that they must be educated, in addition to the many evils associated with lack of education such as ignorance, poverty and health issues.

His Excellency concluded by calling upon the scholars of the Ummah all over the world to confront the aberrant fatwas that contradict the Quran and Sunnah and prevent women from learning and being educated, and to respond to all corrupt pretexts and rigid customs and traditions that tend to deprive women of education, both religious and worldly, based on flimsy arguments that cannot be used to oppose what is firmly established by the Quran, Sunnah, and the unanimous opinion of the Ummah.