The academic system and higher education represent significant aspects of the modern era, delineating specialized fields, demonstrating appropriate research methods for each discipline, and systematically facilitating the production of genuine and reliable knowledge. The primary mission of universities is to generate knowledge relevant to the times, achievable only through critical engagement with previous knowledge paradigms. While established thoughts from past eras may provide continuity, they can also ensnare the mind and impede its dynamism. Universities provide a space for free thinking or at least the groundwork for its exercise, liberating the mind from the shackles of frameworks constructed by past generations to suit their respective epochs. Through this process, new ideas are sparked, new knowledge is brought into existence, and the wheel of knowledge turns. It is only through updated, dynamic, and contemporary knowledge that the problems of our time can be identified and effective solutions found. Hence, the role of universities in unraveling the knots of modern human life becomes particularly significant.
With the description provided, universities pursue a path distinct from classical schools, especially religious ones. This is because the mission defined by madrasas is neither knowledge production nor the discovery of truth nor critical inquiry. The prevalent assumption in madrasas is that all fundamental truths about humans and the world have already been discovered, and we are independent of discovering them, with our only task being to read their works or reproduce them in a contemporary guise. Therefore, innovation in madrasa logic is equated with condemnable novelty, and renewal is reduced to refurbishing superficial appearances. More importantly, madrasas do not concern themselves with societal problems or improving people’s lives; instead, they focus on preserving beliefs and doctrines inherited from their ancestors. Fundamentally, madrasas do not address the pains and sufferings of people in this world, such as hunger among the poor, deprivation of basic services for citizens, inequality among residents of the land, industrial backwardness, administrative system inefficiency, environmental degradation, inefficient use of natural resources, imbalance in imports and exports, and similar issues, which should be sources of anguish and concern. Rather, all sorrow and mourning are based on the weakening of faith, the erosion of religious devotion, the fading of worship, the decline of ceremonial rituals, and the diminishing status of religious figures, along with the reduction of charitable contributions to religious institutions.
Now that Afghanistan has been occupied by the mullahs, and the university has fallen into the hands of the Taliban, Afghanistan’s higher education system is on the brink of collapse. The ruling group’s efforts aim to subordinate university logic to that of madrasas, compelling university scholars to conform to the enemies of academia. The enmity between the religious figures and the university is not a recent development; it is a longstanding conflict. Religious leaders fear inquiry and perceive any form of criticism as undermining faith and belief, hence engaging in intermediary antagonism and conflict with an institution whose function revolves around questioning.
The leaders currently at the helm of the Taliban feel they have thrown down their old adversary and brought it to its knees, forcing submission. They seek to transform the university into a temple under the control of priests, where instead of questioning and thinking, adherents are limited to the repetition of prescribed rituals and mantras.
A university under the sway of ideological fundamentalism cannot engage in scientific inquiry or even address the daily concerns of the people. Instead, knowledge and thought become tools in the service of safeguarding the beliefs of a group, justifying their promotion and injection into the societal framework. Experience with all ideological systems shows that they have bankrupted scientific logic and transformed scientific institutions into unpaid and soulless servants of ideologies and the powers derived from them. In such a scenario, the university retains its name, but knowledge becomes a lifeless, ineffective cliché.
In recent months, the Taliban have tested thousands of unfamiliar mullahs in the alphabet of academia and awarded them academic credentials and titles. This demonstrates their ineffectiveness in acquiring madrasa titles and designations and the absurdity of placing someone with titles like mullah, mufti, or hadith scholar on the throne of an academic institution. Exactly like bestowing the title of military general on someone who has graduated from a madrasa and has never received military training. The Taliban mullahs seeking refuge in academic titles and stealing them, known as “academic imposture” in the parlance of scholars, not only constitute theft and seizure of the society’s intellectual property and valuable assets but also indicate their lack of self-confidence in their scientific capabilities. It is an indirect admission of the fact that a cleric do not deserve a place in academic centers and positions solely based on their religious knowledge, and if they seek to forcibly occupy such positions, they must at least fabricate fake credentials and titles for themselves to occupy that position.
Before this, the situation of Afghanistan universities, due to years of war which led to brain drain and the migration of talents, did not have a remarkable definition. The level of knowledge production and scholarship therein was not up to the expectations of academic environments, but it possessed the basic infrastructure of an academic system and potentially could have laid the groundwork for the vitality of academia in the future. Now, with the Taliban’s dominance over this crucial institution, another link in the chain of destruction is added, sounding an alarm that signals a dark and uncertain future for science and thought in this land. If the Taliban impose their affiliated individuals with their fake titles and credentials across Afghan universities, the obituary of academic institutions will be read, and nothing but lifeless remains of the university will be left.
When a society lacks academic institutions, thinking about the tangible problems of the people and seeking solutions becomes impossible; fundamentally, thinking becomes impossible. In a place where thought becomes an impossible task, societal problems are left to prayer callers, sorcerers, and claimants of clairvoyance, allowing the sinking ship of an ill-fated land to further descend into the abyss of oblivion. We must rush to the aid of the university and liberate it from the onslaught of vindictive enemies, thereby rescuing society from perpetual drowning.
