Several students at Kabul University have complained of severe pressure by the Taliban and the group’s forced pledges. According to them, these pledges compel students to change their religious beliefs, adhere to strict restrictions, follow mandatory dress and behavior codes, refrain from roaming, avoid listening to music, and fully obey Taliban rules, effectively stripping them of their academic and personal freedoms. This compulsory pledge consists of 14 articles, and in its sixth article, religious diversity in Afghanistan is disregarded. In this article, the Taliban have emphasized that all students must follow Sunni Islam, accept it, and raise no questions on the matter. Non-Sunni students say that this pledge has forced them to change their religion.
Students at Kabul University say that this issue has seriously alarmed them, as religious diversity in Afghanistan, particularly the beliefs of non-Sunni students, has been ignored. According to them, many students follow other Islamic sects, including Twelver Shiism and Ismailism, and this situation is unbearable for them. They stress that a university should be a place for freedom of thought, diversity of views, and respect for differences, not a place where personal or ideological beliefs are imposed.
The first clause of this pledge states that students must adhere to all principles of Islamic Sharia and related directives. In Clause 1, Subsection (a) specifies: “I will perform prayers at their designated times in congregation.”
In another section, students are required to grow beards and pledge not to trim or shave them. This clause states: “I will grow my blessed beard in accordance with the Prophetic tradition.”
The pledge also obliges students to refrain from styling their hair, as, according to the Taliban, doing so is contrary to Islamic Sharia. It states: “I will not style my hair in a manner contrary to Islamic Sharia.”
Under this pledge, Kabul University students are barred from roaming within the university grounds and are required to commit to wearing a turban or cap and not loitering. The clause reads: “At the university, I will refrain from wandering without a cap or head covering.”
According to this pledge, students are required to wear a long shirt and trousers and, as the Taliban state, use “Sharia-compliant and Afghan attire,” although they have not specified what constitutes Sharia-compliant clothing. This clause states: “At the university, I will wear Sharia-compliant and Afghan attire.”
Another clause states: “I will strictly refrain from using intoxicants and tobacco.” Additionally, under another clause, students are prohibited from listening to music and pledge: “I will absolutely refrain from listening to music and related instruments.”
The pledge also states: “Since all property within the university is considered public property, I consider it my duty to safeguard it.”
At the same time, under this pledge, Kabul University students are also prohibited from taking photos and videos. It states: “I pledge to refrain from taking images and videos that are prohibited by the system [Taliban regime] and the rulings of Sharia.”
Students are also required, under this pledge, to comply with and implement the Law for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. This section states: “In general, I consider myself committed to the Law for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.”
Additionally, in the second clause of this pledge, students are required to comply with Taliban decrees and laws and are considered responsible for implementing them. It states: “I respect all decrees and laws of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [Taliban regime], and I consider myself responsible for implementing those that are related to me.”
The third clause of this compulsory pledge states: “I am committed to all principles and regulations of the Ministry of Higher Education and the university, and I will not commit any violations.”
The fourth article of this pledge states: “I will completely refrain from any ethnic, regional, or linguistic discrimination.”
Students have also been required to obey the Taliban and are prohibited from joining or having contact with any political groups. Article five of this compulsory pledge states: “I consider the Islamic Emirate [Taliban regime] to be a Sharia-based system, regard obedience to it as obligatory upon myself, and will not have contact with any political group.”
In the sixth article of this pledge, the Taliban have described all People of Afghanistan as followers of Sunni Islam and have ignored other sects. According to this article, all students are required to follow Sunni Islam, and it is emphasized that adherence to this sect is the demand of the Taliban regime.
The sixth article states: “Considering that the people of Afghanistan follow Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah, in the school of the great Imam Abu Hanifa, in accordance with the will of the system [Taliban regime], I also follow this sect and obey it.”
Clause seven of this pledge emphasizes students’ punctuality in attending classes, while clause eight obliges them to respect professors and university staff. Articles nine and ten stress adherence to university and dormitory regulations, and students are required to refrain from physical altercations and verbal disputes.
In articles twelve and thirteen, students are required to participate in programs and conferences organized by the Ministry of Higher Education and related departments and to contribute to cleanliness and greenery. Article fourteen also emphasizes refraining from carrying weapons.
At the end, it is warned that if students violate the provisions of this pledge, they will face severe punishment and will not have the right to file complaints at that time.
Previously, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban’s acting Minister of Higher Education, had claimed that apart from the Hanafi sect, no other sect exists in Afghanistan. According to him, “all Afghans are followers of the Hanafi sect.”
Ziaullah Hashemi, spokesperson for the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Higher Education, had published parts of this Taliban official’s speech on the social media platform X, showing that he denies the existence of other sects in Afghanistan.
Neda Mohammad Nadeem made these remarks at Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan University in Kunar province. He claimed Afghanistan is a single-sect country even though a significant portion of the country’s citizens are Shia.
Previously, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban’s acting Minister of Higher Education, had stated that testing Taliban members to determine their academic rank is an insult to the group’s fighters. In a speech at Herat University, he emphasized that a Taliban member’s academic rank should be calculated based on the number of mines they have planted.
These remarks come as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), in a report titled “Religious Freedom and Women’s Rights in Afghanistan,” previously stated that with the Taliban’s takeover, the religious freedom of citizens of Afghanistan has been restricted.
The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development has also stated that the Taliban have banned the religious and belief freedoms of Shia communities.
This comes as, over the past more than four years, the Taliban have systematically and deliberately sought to alter academic curricula and fields of study. Previously, the Hasht-e Subh Daily, in an investigative report, found that the Taliban’s final committee of scholars for preparing the Kabul University curriculum had removed 96 titles of books and course materials from the educational programs of various faculties. A copy of this list obtained by the Hasht-e Subh Daily shows that this extensive removal primarily targeted faculties of humanities, especially social sciences, law, political science, and fine arts. Subjects containing philosophy and Western theories, modern social sciences, political and media analysis, social criticism, cinematic and artistic resources, English-language books, and foreign academic sources have been removed from the curriculum. At the same time, the Taliban have designated 194 book titles as requiring revision and review.
Previously, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in its reports and official statements, has protested against what it called “academic cleansing,” the ban on women’s education, and the Taliban’s discriminatory educational policies.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in a report in 2023, warned that Afghanistan’s academic institutions are facing a deep crisis in terms of academic independence, freedom of expression, and the exchange of knowledge.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has described the dismissal of critical professors, restriction of academic content, and imposition of ideological pressure on universities as part of the Taliban’s efforts to fully control society.
Scholars at Risk, in a report titled “Academic Freedom Monitoring Project,” stated that researchers and students in Afghanistan are facing repeated and widespread attacks on academic freedom and the independence of the institutions in which they operate. The report adds that the Taliban have collected books deemed inconsistent with Hanafi jurisprudence and have detained and imprisoned several university professors for providing educational opportunities to women.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
تعهدنامه اجباری؛ دانشجویان دانشگاه کابل چگونه به تغییر مذهب وادار میشوند؟
