Taliban Bans Books Written By Women In Afghan Universities, 18 Courses Dropped

The Taliban government has banned books authored by women as part of a sweeping revision of Afghanistan's higher education curriculum. Eighteen university courses, including subjects on human rights, sexual harassment, and women's studies, were also removed.

A total of 679 textbooks, including 140 written by women and 310 by Iranian authors or publishers, have been prohibited, according to documents obtained by Independent Persian and confirmed by BBC Afghan.

Among the banned works are titles such as Safety in the Chemical Laboratory, Globalisation: A Critical Introduction, Comparative Human Rights, and several key texts in sociology, law, and journalism.

The Taliban's Ministry of Higher Education, in a letter signed by Deputy Minister Ziaur Rahman Aryubi, instructed universities to immediately stop using these textbooks and replace them with materials deemed compatible with Islamic law.

The ministry said the books were assessed for "ideological, cultural, religious, and scientific" content, and found to conflict with Sharia principles and the policies of the Islamic Emirate.

Alongside the book ban, universities were ordered to drop 18 courses, including Gender and Development, Women's Sociology, Human Rights, Afghan Constitutional Law, and Globalisation and Development. Another 201 courses have been flagged as "problematic" and are under review.

"Their removal creates a substantial void in higher education," a professor at Kabul University told the BBC. 

The ban comes amid a series of restrictions imposed by the Taliban since their return to power in 2021. Women and girls have faced particularly severe limitations, including bans on education beyond sixth grade and the closure of midwifery courses in late 2024. Courses specifically about women, such as The Role of Women in Communication, have now also been targeted.

The Taliban earlier defended their actions, saying they respect women's rights within the framework of Afghan culture and Islamic law.

Earlier this year, the Taliban's Ministry of Information and Culture also confiscated hundreds of books from libraries and bookstores in major cities, including Kabul and Herat.

Since returning to power, the Taliban has also fired hundreds of professors, particularly from law, political science, economics, psychology, journalism, and fine arts faculties. Professors are now required to attend weekly Sharia sessions, and dozens of clerics have been appointed to teach Islamic principles across universities.