Introduction
The ninth session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Conference of Ministers for Women’s Affairs was held on 12–13 July in Islamabad, Pakistan, under the theme “The Social, Economic and Political Empowerment of Women in OIC Member States: Challenges and the Way Forward.”
As the Conference adopted its resolutions in Islamabad in July, less than 300 kilometres away, Afghanistan marks five years of Taliban rule in August, with millions of Afghan women and girls continuing to live under severe restrictions imposed by the Taliban in the name of Sharia.
The OIC has unique political legitimacy and religious credibility to engage the Taliban, exert collective pressure, and help hold them accountable, and support Afghan women and girls, in line with its Charter, the OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women, and the Conference Declaration and Resolution. Article 20 of the Resolution expressed deep disappointment at the denial of education and employment opportunities to Afghan women and girls. It affirmed their equal participation in public life in accordance with Islamic values [1]. This disappointment must now translate into action.
Women’s Empowerment Is Rooted in Islamic History
The first revelation to the Prophet Muhammad began with the word “Iqra”, meaning “read” or “recite”. Prophet Mohammad was commanded three times to read the verses of what would become the Quran.
The Prophet Muhammad’s wife, Khadija bint Khuwaylid, was the first person to embrace Islam. A successful businesswoman, she used her influence to support the Prophet and the early Muslim community, illustrating women’s agency and economic leadership from the early days of Islam.
The Quran also explicitly addressed women’s rights and social status. Surah An-Nisa (The Women) sets out provisions on inheritance, marriage and the protection of orphans’ property, establishing important foundations for Islamic family law and social responsibility.
This tradition of women’s agency and contribution continued across Muslim societies in scholarship, education, literature, architecture and governance. Fatima Al-Fihri, for instance, founded Al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco more than a thousand years ago, which developed into a major centre of higher learning and attracted scholars from across the Muslim world.
In Afghanistan, Gawhar Shad Begum, an influential figure of the 15th-century Timurid Empire, promoted learning, culture, and architecture, leaving a legacy still visible today. More than ten centuries earlier, Rabia Balkhi, a poet from Balkh, contributed to the literary heritage of the Islamic world through her poetry in Persian and Arabic and remains an enduring symbol of women’s intellectual and artistic contribution in Afghanistan.
These examples are part of a much broader history in which Muslim women were learners, scholars, entrepreneurs, poets, patrons, and political actors.
Women Under the Taliban’s Interpretation of Sharia
Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, at least 260 edicts and decrees have been issued, more than 165 of which specifically target the rights of women and girls, affecting almost every sphere of public and private life [2].
These measures have barred girls from education beyond grade six and prohibited women from higher education, including medical education, employment, and freedom of movement [3]. They have also imposed severe restrictions on women to access healthcare.
Collectively, these measures have progressively removed women from precisely the spheres that the OIC identifies as essential to women’s empowerment.
The issue, therefore, is not simply whether the Taliban have restricted women’s rights. It is whether the systematic exclusion of half the population can be presented as an authentic expression of Islam and implementation of Sharia—and whether the Muslim world will allow such a claim to affect the lives of millions.
Recommendations
1) Advance Islamic Scholarship and Advocacy: Convene leading Islamic scholars and academic institutions to establish, through authoritative collective scholarship, that prohibiting girls’ education and women’s employment has no basis in Islam, providing a foundation for sustained advocacy and high-level engagement with the Taliban.
2) Establish an OIC Partnership Framework: Coordinating scholarships, capacity-building, online learning, and humanitarian and development programmes for Afghan women and girls.
3) Establish an OIC Education Initiative for Afghan Girls: Expand scholarships, online learning, university partnerships and vocational training, consistent with the Conference’s commitment to education and digital inclusion.
4) Preserve Afghanistan’s Female Health Workforce: Support medical education and continuing professional development in medicine, health sciences and public health, recognizing women health professionals as essential to women’s access to healthcare.
5) Establish an OIC Monitoring and Implementation Mechanism: Make Article 20 of the Conference Resolution a standing agenda item for reports to the Council of Foreign Ministers and future Ministerial Conferences on Women. In consultation with Member States, develop an implementation mechanism with objectives, indicators, timelines, and lines of responsibility to monitor progress.
6) Adopt a Dedicated OIC Resolution on Afghan Women and Girls: Building on the Islamabad Declaration and Resolution, adopt, at an appropriate forum, and in light of developments on the ground, a dedicated resolution setting strategic priorities for implementation, political engagement and advocacy, with mechanisms for periodic review and reporting.
References:
-
- Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Ninth Session of the OIC Ministerial Conference on Women. https://www.oic-oci.org/en/conferences/699
- Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. Five Years of Taliban Rule. June 2026
https://giwps.georgetown.edu/2026/06/25/taliban-normalization-gender-apartheid-international-failure/ - United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Human Rights Situation in Afghanistan: January-March 2026
https://unama.unmissions.org/en/unama-human-rights-monitoring-and-reporting
