Being a woman in Afghanistan and the Taliban ideology

After the US and NATO withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban took over the country again, women's fear of the Taliban came to the fore again. The first question that comes to mind is; “What restrictions will the Taliban impose on women and girls?”

"We will respect women's rights according to sharia," said the spokesman of the organization, Mohammed Naim. statement has been made. Apparently, the Taliban want to continue where they left off, writing bad history for women during the new administration.

With the question of what women's rights mean according to sharia, we think that it is necessary to investigate the question of whether the Taliban and other Muslim country leaders really apply the rules of Islam or whether they are the source of the continuity of the political and economic power of men in the patriarchal order.

Regarding this issue, we see that three different perspectives stand out in Islamic societies:

1) Islam does not discriminate between men and women, it increases the value of women:

According to some authors who defend this idea; Islam sees people as they are and looks at both men and women only as human beings. The Qur'an's approach to women in terms of being human is not different from its approach to men. “I will not let the effort (action amilin) ​​of any employee, whether male or female, be in vain.” (Al-i Imran, 195). According to this verse, men and women unite in humanity, and all the characteristics that exist in men as human beings are also seen in women. The understanding that men and women do not have superiority over each other in the context of work is valid in the Qur'an. Since the Muslim nations could not get rid of the influence of their previous patriarchal cultures, they introduced the anti-women traditions and customs in their culture to Islam through fabricated hadiths. In true Islam, the essential element is human, and an approach such as the superiority of men over women has not been adopted.

2) Islam envisages a male-dominated society:

According to those who support this view; The religious principles covered by the Islamic Shari'a have made women the slaves of men and deprived them of their freedom. According to them, the principles of the religion of Islam, woman; He defines it as “a gift of God to his male servants”. Some of the Islamic societies that adopt this view have enslaved women because they see women as second-class citizens in a way.

In a way to strengthen the interpretations or understanding of this view, there are some sections in some verses of the Qur'an that point to the inequality of men and women, that make a kind of distinction in economic and legal fields, or that cause it to be interpreted in this way. Let's list them in items:

-- The testimony of two women against one man in the testimonies in commercial correspondence,

-- In inheritance sharing, the man should be given twice as much as the woman,

-- Giving the head of the family to the man and the woman's obligation to obey her husband,

-- The right to divorce is generally granted to men,

-- The prohibition of a Muslim woman from marrying a man of the Book.

3) The rights granted to women by Islam are not implemented in patriarchal societies:

According to those who adopt the third view, the Qur'an and the Sunnah grant rights to women. However, these rights have not been implemented due to the existence of the traditional social order dominated by men. The rights and freedoms that Islam provides for women have been censored or misinterpreted by male religious officials. In fact, misinterpretations have been brought into practice in all areas of life from time to time. In some Islamic societies, women are therefore oppressed in the name of religion. Similar practices that oppress women in the name of Islam in some societies are also encountered in other religions and cultures. The view put forward by the Egyptian writer Nawal es-Saadavi in ​​this sense is significant: “All (Mali) religions are founded on male dominance; because patriarchal societies have always lived in the lands where they were built”.

Woman in Afghanistan society

In the light of the different views listed above, when we look at women and women's life in Afghanistan society; In terms of hierarchy, we see that the man cannot get out of his rules and priority and rise to the same position as him, or he is not promoted. We think that the reason for this is that the patriarchal family type, which preserves the traditional family structure, is still valid in Afghanistan today.

In a patriarchal society like Afghanistan, the first cause of women's problems is the codes of the existing culture that regulates social relations. In other words; Existing culture based on tradition defines women as weak and second sex. When we look at the images reflected to us from the Afghan society, the most basic reason for the inhumane position of women in Afghan society is the existence of the traditional existing cultural structure. This is the imposition of culture.

Another reason is the understanding of religion subjected to tradition. 80% of the population of the country is Sunni, 19% is Shia Muslims and 1% is other religious beliefs. Afghan people continue to live under the influence of Islam since the 11th century. Closed to external influences It is a society that lives on agriculture and animal husbandry and has not yet met the modernization tools. Especially in such societies, where mountainous regions dominate the country, communication can be very difficult even between tribes or tribes. Geographical conditions do not allow this. In addition, the backwardness of the country ensures the continuation of this structure. For this reason, 11th century living conditions can continue to exist in Afghan society, almost as a strict understanding of Islam. The religious understanding and modern social order that values ​​women and grants them equal rights with men has not yet set foot in this geography.

The disappearance of Afghan women from the political and social spheres began in 1992 during the Mujahideen (Fundamentalists) era and the problems escalated during the Taliban era. Under the Taliban rule, which ruled in most parts of Afghanistan until 2001, strict and inhumane rules were dictated against women. As the most victims of the society, women were forced to experience the most intense period of persecution under the administration of the Taliban.

During the Taliban era, which ruled the country from 1996-2001, women could not go to school, could not work, or even wear colorful dresses. It was not even possible for women to go out of their homes without socks, burkas and without a mahram. The Taliban harassed, flogged and imprisoned hundreds of women in public to show their seriousness in their rules and practices towards women. As a result of this climate of fear built in the country, women have been forced to isolate from social life.

The Taliban's understanding of religion:

The ideology of the Taliban; It is defined as a new form of sharia law based on the combination of sub-continental or Indian-origin developing Deobandi fundamentalism and militant Islamism with Pashtun social and cultural norms known as Pashtunwali.

The meaning of the word "Taliban" comes from the word student and means "student who receives religious education". Mullah Omar, who is the leader of the Taliban, and other administrators are "students" who received a primitive madrasah education. The Taliban itself is a Muslim and Ahl al-Sunnah, and in this direction, their constitution is based on the Qur'an and the ways of the Prophet. He took the discourse that the Prophet brought the way of Sharia as his guide. However, according to many experts, the Taliban's understanding of religion is very different from all other religious groups in Afghanistan. The Taliban's understanding of religion is not similar to the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic mysticism, or Sunni Muslims. However, the Taliban brought a new interpretation to sharia, and within the framework of their own understanding, they did not hesitate to apply oppressive and strict sharia rules throughout the country, especially to the detriment of women. Some of these rules are as follows; all men have to grow beards, civil servants and students cannot walk around without a turban, women cannot go out alone, roll call is taken in mosques when the call to prayer is called, those who do not pray are punished by using sticks, etc.

In Afghanistan, women always had to wear a burqa while leaving the house, especially during the Taliban era, and could not go out without a male companion. Women were not allowed to work and to receive education after the age of eight, and they were only allowed to read the Qur'an until that age. Women who wanted to get education went to underground schools. They were not allowed to be treated by male doctors without a male attendant, which resulted in many women not being treated. Worst of all, even girls under the age of 16, who are still children, have been paved the way for marriage. According to its own understanding, the Taliban tried to punish those who violated the "Taliban Laws" with whipping and death penalty in public, thus spreading fear throughout the country.

The Taliban era came to an end with the US intervention in Afghanistan in 2001. Afghan women started to have equal rights with men in the new Afghan state structure that was established. With the collapse of the Taliban regime and the lifting of restrictions on access to education, employment and health services, girls were freely enrolled in schools and educational institutions, and women began working in the public sphere for the first time.

Conclusion

The patriarchal social order is the most important factor preventing the advancement and development of women. Because it is a system in which men dominate women in both social and private spheres. All power and authority in the state, society and family are in the hands of men.

Afghan society is patriarchal. The distinction between men and women in favor of men is a common tradition in Afghanistan. Women's individual rights are often secondary to the will of other male relatives.

Islam is the state religion of Afghanistan and its influence on the country's government and legal system is very strong. According to the Afghan constitution, adopted in 2004 and still valid today, “no law can be contrary to beliefs and the rules of the Islamic religion.”

In the historical development process, the patriarchal society structure has changed a little over time in Afghanistan. 

though it has shown change and progress. But the effect of interpreting the traditional religion of Islam against women; It has remained as a legacy to the Afghan society as the element that does not change the place of women, does not stretch them, and even worsens them. With the withdrawal of the US and NATO from Afghanistan and the Taliban's recapture of Afghanistan, Afghan women know and fear, and even fear, what the Taliban can do to them. From the news from Afghanistan; We read and hear that what the Taliban says is different from what they do, for example, in Kandahar, we read and hear that girls outside are told to go home and women working in banks to hand over their jobs to their male relatives.

A strict understanding of religion, which has been kneaded and adopted by the male-dominated culture, is trying to limit the life of Afghan women to four walls, as it was in the past, by the hand of the Taliban.

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