Ideological Purge at Kabul University as Taliban Clerics Remove 96 Textbooks

The Taliban’s Final Committee of Clerics, responsible for preparing Kabul University’s curriculum, has removed 96 textbooks and instructional booklets from the academic programs of various faculties. A copy of this list obtained by the Hasht-e Subh Daily shows that the widespread removals primarily target the humanities, particularly the faculties of Social Sciences, Law and Political Science, and Fine Arts. Subjects containing Western philosophy and theoretical frameworks, modern social sciences, political and media analysis, social critique, film and arts resources, English-language textbooks, and foreign academic materials have been excluded from the curriculum. At the same time, the Taliban have conditionally approved 194 titles pending revision and review, and have allowed the teaching of another 981 booklets and textbooks.

Based on the rejection list issued by the Taliban clerics’ committee and obtained by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, most of the removals relate to the faculties of Social Sciences, Philosophy, Sociology, History, Cinema, Law, and Public Administration. These books have been excluded without any specific explanation, but sources say the Taliban consider them to conflict with Islamic values as interpreted through the group’s understanding of Sharia, and have therefore removed them.

Sources inside Kabul University say these figures represent only Kabul University, and that nationwide, the number of removed textbooks and instructional materials is several times higher. A credible source states, “The real number is many times greater. Imagine how many books this Taliban committee has rejected across 34 universities in the country. This list only concerns Kabul University.”

This committee consists of 40 Taliban members who have reviewed all university subjects according to the group’s views and removed hundreds of instructional booklets and academic works from the higher education curriculum.

The list obtained by the Hasht-e Subh Daily shows that 12 textbooks or instructional booklets from the Faculty of Social Sciences, seven titles from the Faculty of Journalism and Communications, 10 from the Faculty of Fine Arts, 15 from the Faculty of Law and Political Science, 11 from the Faculty of Economics, Management and Banking, nine from the Faculty of Public Administration and Policy, 13 from the Faculty of Languages and Literature, seven from the Faculty of Islamic Studies, four from the Faculty of Education and Psychology, three from the Faculty of Geology and Geography, and several other subjects from various departments have been removed by the Taliban clerics’ committee.

Removal of Subjects from the Faculty of Social Sciences

The list shows that works such as Modern Age Philosophy, Political Sociology, Philosophical Concepts, History of the Middle East, Industrial Sociology, and several other titles have been removed from the curriculum of the Faculty of Social Sciences. University professors say these removals are ongoing and undermine the academic foundations and very purpose of this faculty, placing it at risk of complete elimination from Kabul University’s list of faculties.

List of Books Removed from the Faculty of Social Sciences

Removal of Journalism and Communications Subjects

The Taliban committee has removed subjects such as Development Communications in Developing Countries, Communication of Individual and Public Concepts, and several other instructional booklets from the curriculum of Kabul University’s Faculty of Journalism.

Removed Books and Course Notes – Faculty of Fine Arts

Removed Courses – Faculty of Law and Political Science

Removed Courses – Economics & Management

Removed Courses – Public Administration & Policy

Language and Literature

In the Faculty of Language and Literature, several courses have been removed from the Persian, Pashto, and Arabic departments. These include Folklore and Folk Literature, Mystical Literature, Afghanistan in the Old Indo-Iranian Era, History of Linguistics, Contemporary Arabic Literature, Introduction to Khushhal Khan, World Literature, Masterpieces of International Writers, Contemporary History of Pashto Literature, and Cognitive Linguistics.

Removed Courses – Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies

Removed Courses – Educational Sciences and Psychology

Courses such as Citizenship Education, Family Counseling, and Theories of Educational Planning have been removed from various departments within Educational Sciences and Psychology by the Taliban’s Scholars Committee.

Removed Courses – Geology and Geography

The Taliban’s Scholars Committee has continued removing textbooks and course materials from Kabul University faculties, excluding Biogeography, Historical Geography of Islamic Countries, and Disaster Risk Management from the list of courses taught in the Faculty of Geology.

English-Language Courses and Western Sources: A Significant Portion of the Removed Materials

Among the rejected items, several English-language sources have been eliminated from the Economics and Communications departments, including Research Design by John Creswell, Financial Markets and Institutions, Corporate Finance, and Interpersonal Conflict.

A total of 194 textbooks and academic materials have also been approved by the Taliban Clerics Committee for continued instruction, on the condition that the group’s required revisions are applied. The list covers a wide range of subjects, including the history of Afghanistan and the world, sociology, literature, philosophy, psychology, education sciences, management, international relations, political science, economics, geography, biology, agriculture, animal husbandry, medical sciences and pharmacy, engineering, as well as arts and media. According to the Taliban’s directive, all of these textbooks and teaching materials must be finalized in accordance with the regulations set by the Taliban before they are permitted to be taught at Kabul University.

According to another document obtained by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, the Taliban Clerics Committee at Kabul University has approved 981 textbooks, lecture notes, and instructional materials for various academic fields and degree levels. These educational materials cover bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs across different departments of Kabul University.

Findings from another report by the Hasht-e Subh Daily show that the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has launched a process to review and revise the national higher education curriculum by forming a committee of about 55 members. The committee consists of 30 mullahs and sheikhs from the group, 20 university lecturers, and five representatives of the ministry. According to the report, this committee removes from the university curriculum any textbooks that the Taliban deem incompatible with the group’s beliefs and ideas, the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, or their policies and regulations, or whose academic content is considered inappropriate.

This comes as findings from another report by the Hasht-e Subh Daily show that the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education had formed a committee of about 55 members, consisting of 30 mullahs and sheikhs from the group, 20 university lecturers, and five representatives of the ministry, to launch a review and revision of the national higher education curriculum with the aim of “Islamicizing” it. According to the report’s findings, this committee removes from the university curriculum any textbooks that the Taliban deem to conflict with the group’s beliefs and ideas, the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, or their policies and regulations, or whose academic content they consider inappropriate.

You can read the Persian version of this report here:

تصفیه ایدئولوژیک در دانشگاه کابل؛ ملاهای طالبان ۹۶ کتاب درسی را حذف کردند