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Actually, is acquiring education considered obligatory (fard) for Muslim girls in Islam at all?
Up to this day, I see all the Islamic scholars of the world discouraging girls from pursuing formal/institutional education outside of religion. Whether it's Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Indonesia, Somalia, Bangladesh, India, the USA — no matter which country — I have never seen any Islamic scholar declare formal education for girls as fard (obligatory).
Islam may keep saying "Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim" or "Acquiring education is obligatory upon every Muslim" — these are just empty words. In reality, there is no proof of this for Muslim girls.
They foam at the mouth declaring "co-education is haram, co-education is haram," and in the same way declare it haram for girls to study in schools and universities. Yet I have never seen these same Islamic scholars strongly advocate for establishing separate schools, colleges, and universities exclusively for girls.
If co-education is haram in Islam but acquiring education is fard, then over these 1,400 years of Islamic history, there should have been millions of schools, colleges, and universities built only for girls. Just like mosques in every neighborhood, girls' schools should have been common everywhere throughout Islamic history.
But do we see that in reality?
On the contrary, in reality, as soon as the Taliban government came to power in Afghanistan, they completely banned girls' education. In all the rich Muslim countries, even where there is plenty of money, there are not enough schools, colleges, and universities for girls. In these wealthy Muslim countries, despite having money, their girls are not earning university degrees in sufficient numbers. Despite the wealth, the girls there are not becoming doctors, engineers, barristers, or scientists.
This is the reality of Islam's 1,400-year history — Islamic scholars are daily citing every possible hadith and fatwa to stop girls from studying. Nowhere in their words does it appear that providing separate educational arrangements for girls is fard. They believe that according to Islam, women have no role other than marriage and raising children.
Muslim girls have only gained the right to attend school and college in the last 100 years thanks to feminist advocacy. If education were truly fard for girls in Islam, then over these 1,400 years of Islamic history, Muslim girls would have produced far more scientists and doctors than Jewish or Christian girls. Begum Rokeya would not have had to be labeled a kafir or atheist to open schools for Muslim girls — she could have been a pure Muslim doing so.
To tell the truth, the credit for Muslim girls being able to study in schools, colleges, and universities goes to feminism — not to Islam. If it were Islam's doing, there would have been no need for feminism; Islam itself would have arranged it over these 1,400 years.
On the contrary, the scholars on Facebook are now advising even those girls who are studying to abandon their education.
#feminism #islam
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