KABUL: In the latest crackdown on women’s freedom just a day after Al Azhar university rejected the Taliban’s decision to suspend women’s access to university education, Afghanistan’s Taliban-run administration ordered all local and foreign non-governmental organisations to stop female employees from coming to work, according to an economy ministry letter.

The letter, confirmed by economy ministry spokesperson Abdulrahman Habib on Saturday, said the female employees were not allowed to work until further notice, because some of them had not adhered to the administration’s interpretation of Islamic dress code for women.

It was not immediately clear whether the order applied to the United Nations agencies, which have a large presence in Afghanistan.

It comes days after the Taliban-run administration ordered universities to close to women, prompting strong global condemnation and sparking some protests and sharp criticism inside Afghanistan.

The Al Azhar grand imam earlier on Friday rejected the ban on women’s education in Afghanistan by Taliban, calling it contradictory to Islamic Shariah.

Suspension of women’s access to higher education against Islam, says Al Azhar grand imam

The head of most prestigious university for Islamic learning, Sheikh Ahmad Al Tayeb, expressed concern over the suspension of women’s access to university education in Afghanistan and condemned the decision.

Asking the Afghan authorities to reconsider their decision, Sheikh Ahmad said Al Azhar deeply regretted the move to prevent Afghan women access to university education. He said it contradicted Islamic Shariah and conflicted its explicit call for men and women to pursue knowledge from the cradle to the grave.

“This shocking decision to the conscience of Muslims and non-Muslims alike should not have been issued by any Muslim, let alone proudly clinging to it. I explicitly reject this decision since it does not represent the Shariah of Islam,” he said.

According to Tolo News, Afghan religious scholars have also asked the Islamic Emirate to reopen universities for women.

Fazl Hadi Wazin, a member of the international religious scholars’ council, said the presence of women in separate dormitories under the leadership of the ministry of higher education was never against Shariah.

Another scholar, Mohsin Hossieni, said nowhere had it been mentioned in the Shariah that women could not live in separate dormitories and safe places. Such a thing had never been in Islamic Shariah. “The closure of university can inflict a heavy damage on the future and nation of Afghanistan,” he added.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2022