Taliban Rejects Western View on Women’s Rights, Citing Islamic Sharia
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban administration, responded to the final statement from the meeting of female ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Islamabad by declaring that his administration rejects the “Western version” of women’s rights and considers it invalid.
He claimed that women’s rights in Afghanistan are ensured based on Islamic Sharia within the country, and there is no need to accept external viewpoints. According to Mujahid, only those rights for women that align with the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia are acceptable.
This stance comes as the female ministers of the OIC, in their recent meeting, described the continued deprivation of girls’ education and the restrictions imposed on women’s work as contrary to Islamic values, emphasizing the provision of basic rights for women.
In recent years, the OIC has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration to lift the bans on girls’ education and women’s employment; however, these requests have so far gone unanswered, and restrictions remain in educational sectors and several work areas.
The Taliban administration has consistently rejected these demands, labeling them incompatible with their interpretation of Sharia. This approach has faced widespread criticism from Islamic and international organizations, raising concerns about the future of education and employment for Afghan women.
