By Khorram Tamkeen
The establishment of Madrasa (Islamic religious schools) in Afghanistan has institutionalized and systemized extremism both nationally and internationally. Many families and communities whether by choice or due to lack of options, opt to send their children, especially girls, to these boarding Madrasas instead of modern schools with standard curricula.
Aziz (pseudonym), from Ghorband Valley in Parwan Province, who has completed his elementary religious education in a local Madrasa, shares his experience: “My father forced me to go to a Madrasa and when I refused, he warned that I either had to leave home or go to a Madrasa.” Now 18 years old, Aziz, who dresses in a Shalwar Kameez and Lungi, resembling Taliban attire, has gained a certain fame within his community. Local elders have even asked him to lead their prayers. Despite these, Aziz laments the lost opportunity to pursue his childhood dream to become a doctor and learning English.
Remembering the harsh discipline at the Madrasa, Aziz says: “If we failed in our lessons or didn’t wear the uniform, they mercilessly beat us. We were also forced to knock on the people’s door and beg for food.”
Recent official reports and leaked social media videos reveal that children in Afghan Madrasas face exploitation, including indoctrination with extremist ideologies, sexual abuse, and use in armed conflicts. The 2023 UN Secretary-General’s report on children and armed conflicts in Afghanistan confirms that the number of children recruited and used in Taliban’s military ranks remains high at 257.
After completing basic education, students like Aziz are often encouraged to further their religious studies in larger Madrasas, including those in Pakistan. “They told us it would be sinful to abandon our studies after memorizing the Holy Quran,” Aziz explains. However, the insults, humiliation, and beatings he endured at these Madrasas eventually drove him back home.
Determined not to let his dreams shatter, Aziz is now waiting for his Kankor, (university entrance exam) result, hoping earning a medical degree. His experiences have led him to leave the Madrasa and its extreme teachings. “Each trip to Kabul and seeing my cousins and families, changed my mind about the consequences of Madrassa,” he says.
The Taliban’s strategy of establishing and promoting Madrasas, coupled with restricting girls’ education, has infused extremism into Afghan families and society. Mawlawi Noorullah Munir, the former acting Minister of Education of the Taliban, announced plans last May to build thousands of Madrasas nationwide, including a large one in center of each province and three to ten in each district. The initiative has accelerated recently with new constructions, the “Zainabyah” Madrasa, for girls in the Hazara-populated province of Bamyan and a large jihadist Madrasa in Panjshir northern province.
Dozens of previous modern public schools and cultural centers have been converted into Madrasas, where the “curriculum of the Islamic Emirate”, rooted to their first rule in 1996, is taught, as stated by Sayed Habibullah Agha, the country’s Acting Minister of Education. However, studies indicate that these Madrasas foster extremism, which leading exploitation, including the child soldiers by the armed groups like the Taliban and ISKP in Afghanistan.
Taliban’s Madrasa Strategy Consequences
The Taliban’s focused strategy on building Madrasas poses significant risk to Afghanistan’s national security and beyond. The “Talibanization” of the country’s education system will have far reaching consequences, normalizing extremism and suicide attacks, and is a grave threat to the human rights values and global security. These Madrasas are seen not just as educational centers but as social bases for future recruitment for “Jihad” beyond Afghanistan’s borders.
The expansion of this strategy is expected to spread extremist ideologies even to Afghanistan’s most remote regions. Former Afghan republic officials also warn that the Taliban’s leaders and members, products of such Madrasas, will likely indoctrinate people with heightened extremism and intolerance. The behavioral patterns of future generations may mirror those of current leaders like Mullah Haibatullah and Sirajuddin Haqqani, posing a long-term challenge of extremism for Afghan society and a threat to international security.
Aziz’s story is a bitter reminder that children are the main targets and victims of these extremist policies that strengthen the support base for groups like the Taliban.
