KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban authorities in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan, have reportedly ordered schools with both Sunni and Shia students to teach only Hanafi jurisprudence, starting from the next academic year.
According to local sources, the head of the Taliban Directorate of Education in Bamyan issued the order during a meeting with school principals, claiming that teaching both sects creates divisions. He also said that, because the university entrance exam, known as Kankor, is based on Hanafi jurisprudence, only Hanafi jurisprudence should be taught in those schools.
The majority of students in schools in Bamyan are Shia, and most schools currently teach Jafari jurisprudence. In the past, some schools with both Shia and Sunni students taught both jurisprudences, sources revealed.
Shia Islam, which has millions of followers in Afghanistan, was recognized and taught under the previous republic government. During that period, Jafari jurisprudence was included in the curricula of schools and universities attended by Shia students.
This recent order is part of a broader pattern of directives issued by the Taliban since their return to power. Shortly after their takeover, the Taliban banned the teaching of Jafari Shia jurisprudence at Bamyan University, the only public university in a Shia-majority province.
In June last year, the Taliban Directorate of Education in Bamyan directed schools to remove Jafari jurisprudence books from their curricula, promising to prepare and distribute textbooks that covered both traditions. However, such materials have yet to be introduced.
In December 2023, the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education instructed private universities and higher education institutions to remove books deemed “contradictory to Hanafi jurisprudence, political, or a challenge to faith” from their libraries. Taliban Minister of Higher Education, Neda Mohammad Nadim, said that “Afghanistan has no sects” and that everyone in the country follows Hanafi jurisprudence.
Community leaders, citizens, and rights groups have expressed concerns that the Taliban’s measures are part of an ongoing campaign to suppress Afghanistan’s socio-cultural diversity. They argue that the Taliban aims to create a monolithic society that reflects their own conservative, Sunni, and extremist vision.
In a report last year, Amnesty International highlighted that religious minorities, including Shia, Sikhs, Christians, Ahmadiyyas, and Ismailis, continue to face discrimination in Afghanistan, as the Taliban ensures that formal religious education is exclusively based on the Sunni sect of Islam.
“The Taliban excluded Shia jurisprudence from the education system so that religious teaching was exclusively based on the Sunni sect of Islam,” Amnesty International said. “Restrictions on religious events and celebrations were imposed citing security reasons. These included restrictions on the Ashura commemoration in July, which is mainly observed by Shia Muslims,” it added.
