The Taliban is continuing its attack on higher education and academic institutions. On August 25, its Ministry of Higher Education issued two separate directives to the heads of universities and higher education institutes across the country. Those officials were instructed to stop teaching 18 academic subjects and prohibit around 700 textbooks and course materials.
Copies of these directives were obtained by Zan Times.
The decrees state that the newly banned subjects contradict Sharia and Taliban policies: “The list of subjects in certain academic fields has been reviewed by scholars and Sharia experts, and among them, 18 subjects from various disciplines were found to be contrary to Sharia and the system’s policies and have therefore been removed from the curriculum.”
The directives further note that 201 other subjects, which are considered to have partial problems, must be taught with a critical perspective. It also declares nearly 700 textbooks and academic resources, which had previously been used public universities across the country, were officially prohibited.
The list of banned books was compiled after the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education asked administrators of public universities to submit their syllabi and teaching resources.
A knowledgeable source, speaking to Zan Times on condition of anonymity, says that a council of scholars that was taking direct orders from the Taliban leadership is responsible for reviewing academic materials and determining which comply with or contradict Sharia law and the Taliban’s political system.
Banned courses
The appendix to one of the directives lists the 18 academic subjects that universities are required to remove from their curricula. Most relate to constitutional law, political systems, human rights, or women’s issues. They include:
- Constitutional law of Afghanistan
- Islamic political movements
- Good governance
- Electoral systems
- Political system of Afghanistan
- Political sociology of Afghanistan
- Gender and development
- Human rights and democracy
- Analysis of Afghanistan’s Constitution
- Globalization and development
- History of religions
- Sociology of women
- Moral philosophy
- Sexual harassment
- Gender-equal employment diversity
- Leadership of small groups
- Gender communications
- Role of women in public communication
The appendix also names 201 other subjects that must be taught with a “critical and reform-oriented” approach. Among these are courses such as Diplomatic protocol and etiquette; Politics and government in the United States; Great powers’ foreign policy; Demography; Sociology of religion; Combating administrative corruption; Family educational systems; Islamic philosophy; and Hermeneutics.
Banned books and their universities
The Taliban determined these titles to be “contrary to Sharia and the policies of the Islamic Emirate” and formally banned them from use as teaching materials.
Officials have also instructed other public and private universities to submit their syllabi and course resources for evaluation. It is expected the total number of banned books to rise once these reviews are complete. The restrictions do not only apply to those universities under evaluation. University insiders confirm that the list of prohibited books has been circulated nationwide, with explicit instructions that these texts must not be assigned to students.
Afghanistan has historically read books from Iranian publications. Therefore, Iranian publications make up the largest share of the banned works, including books published by the University of Tehran, SAMT (the Iranian academic publisher), the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), and other Iranian presses. Next in number when it comes to the share of banned books are Afghan-published works, books without a formal publisher, and lecturers’ self-prepared notes and chapters. A smaller portion includes materials printed by U.S. agencies such as USAID and USIP, the Asia Foundation, and some Arab country publishers.
Women authors make up a large share of the banned list. At least 140 of the banned books are by women. A member of the group that reviews books has told the BBC Persian that “all books authored by women are not permitted to be taught.”
The Talibanization of Afghan universities
Given the Taliban’s current approach to educational institutions, the regime appears determined to transform Afghanistan’s universities into religious seminaries of the Taliban’s design.
During a private gathering, Sheikh Ziaur Rahman Aryoubi, the deputy minister for academic affairs at the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education, stated that universities over the past 20 years have been “promoters of Western values,” and therefore “must either be reformed or eliminated,” a well-informed source tells Zan Times.
Several professors say they worry that certain disciplines such as law, political science, and sociology could eventually be removed entirely from the higher education system because of the Taliban’s distrust toward them. They also anticipate that the list of banned books will grow as the Taliban seeks syllabi and course materials from other public and private universities.
By banning standard textbooks and requiring professors to produce their own lecture notes (chapters) to see that they are aligned with Taliban policies, academics fear that while course titles and reading lists may technically remain relatively unscathed, their core content will be Talibanized. It appears that these directives mark only the beginning of a sweeping process, one that will continue with determination and strict oversight by a council of clerics trusted by the Taliban leadership.
In effect, the Taliban are moving to turn Afghanistan’s universities into religious madrasas.
Sharif Ghazniwal is the pseudonym of a former university professor from Kabul.
