Zakir Naik supports Taliban's decision on girls' education

Controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik is facing severe criticism across three countries—India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan—for supporting the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on girls' education in Afghanistan. In a video clip that went viral on social media, Naik claimed that the media is misrepresenting the actual situation in Afghanistan.

According to an NDTV report, defending the Taliban administration, Zakir Naik stated that secondary and higher education for girls has been only postponed by the Taliban until security is established. He further added that everything that appears in the media is not true. Citing a Taliban spokesperson, he said that the situation there is not very safe for women. Naik also claimed that a Taliban ambassador had assured him that restrictions would be eased once security is ensured.

According to Naik, primary education is open up to standard 6, but higher education has been put on hold due to the lack of a safe environment and a shortage of female teachers. He also claimed that Afghan women are pursuing Master's degrees and PhDs in Islamic studies and Sharia. He said there is no problem if someone delays education until proper teachers are found.

Pakistani education activist and Malala Yousafzai's father has reacted sharply to these statements by Zakir Naik. He termed Naik's statements as "very concerning and disappointing." Yousafzai said that it is extremely sad that Zakir Naik, an Islamic scholar with such massive global fame, is trying to rationalize the Taliban's move to systematically exclude girls from education. He further added that presenting an indefinite ban merely as a "postponement" and raising the issue of a shortage of female teachers without clarifying how that shortage can be overcome is no credible defense. Yousafzai warned that such statements justify the systematic atrocities committed against women by the Taliban, which he called a "grave injustice." It is noteworthy that Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban because she was publicly campaigning for the right of girls to education and raising her voice against the extremist regime.

Afghan exiled parliamentarian Mariam Solaimankhil also criticized Naik's logic with sarcasm. She wrote on X that, according to Zakir Naik, Afghan girls are not banned from education, they are just waiting for female teachers. She raised the question of whether these are the same female teachers who have been banned from working by the Taliban. She also stated that Naik should be ashamed.

Indian historian Ruchika Sharma also reacted strongly to this matter. She described religious men as "very immoral creatures." Sharma said that failing to use one's Islamic influence to condemn the Taliban's horrific ban on women's education is a gross violation of human rights.

According to a UNICEF report, since September 2021, when the Taliban came to power, more than 26 lakh Afghan girls have been deprived of secondary education. A UNICEF press release stated that Afghanistan is the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is effectively closed for girls and women. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Catherine Russell stated that five years may be short in a country's history, but it is a critical period in a girl's life.

Looking at Zakir Naik's past, he fled India in 2016. Bangladeshi investigators had revealed that one of the gunmen involved in the July 2016 Dhaka cafe attack was inspired by his lectures. Following this, Indian investigation agencies initiated probes into his activities. To evade prosecution, Naik relocated to Malaysia in 2017, where he was accepted as a permanent resident. Currently, he is booked for terror-related activities under India's stringent UAPA.