The pursuit of knowledge is the duty of every Muslim man and woman" - words from a Hadith engraved at the entrance of Ulughbeg’s Madrasa in Bukhara. Despite the words of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), there are those in the Muslim who ignore them. In December 2022, a year after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, Afghan women were prohibited from entering universities and receiving education. However, as recently as September 2021, the Taliban allowed girls to enroll in higher education institutions, and thousands of female students were able to attend universities without any obstacles.[1]

"When I approached the university, I witnessed a strange situation. Military Humvees belonging to the Taliban were stationed at the entrance gates, and they behaved quite rudely, telling us, 'Go back to your homes, girls are no longer allowed to study'," said one student named Maryam.[2]

For Afghan women, gaining admission to higher education institutions is a rarity and the only path to a brighter future. Without even having the right to secondary education, women resorted to homeschooling and risked their lives to enroll in universities. Now, even those who have been admitted are not allowed to enter university premises.As a result, Afghanistan has become the only country where female education is officially banned at the state level. However, it is not the only country where education for women is condemned by society and their rights are discriminated against.

In many other regions, including Central Asia, female education is considered unimportant. In Uzbekistan, according to a 2019 study, only 38.2 percent of all university students are female. [3] This gender gap is a consequence of outdated stereotypes that dictate that girls should assume traditional domestic roles after completing school. Another reason is the lack of knowledge among girls about their rights and opportunities. Girls who grew up in societies with traditional values consider marriage as their only destiny and do not strive for higher education or career advancement.

"The best way to prevent an inmate from escaping is to ensure that they never realize they are in prison" - Fyodor Dostoevsky.[4]

This is exactly how society operates, using religious prohibitions as a cover. While religion has no relevance to this issue, society constantly desires to control women and make them financially and economically dependent.
The only encouraging aspect is that the government provides grants and scholarships for girls and establishes new organizations focused on women's rights in education. However, stereotypical beliefs in society still persist, necessitating the dissemination of information about the social status of women in these countries. After all, silence is a sign of consent, consent to the assigned role of servitude for women.

Bibliography:
1)United States Institute of Peace, Taking a Terrible Toll: The Taliban’s Education Ban 13/04/2023
usip.org/publications/2023/04/taking-terrible-toll-talibans-education-ban
2)BBC News. Ru, The Taliban have posted patrols at the entrance to universities and do not let women through 20/12/2022
bbc.com/russian/news-64045803.amp
3)The Borgen Project, Top 8 facts about education in Uzbekistan 7/09/2019
borgenproject.org/tag/girls-education-in-uzbekistan/
4) Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from the house of the dead , 1861