Former Afghan PM Gulbuddin Hekmatyar: The Taliban Should Not Impose A Dress Code On Girls And Women Beyond What Is Prescribed In The Quran; Women Should Not Be Deprived Of Education

Former Afghan Prime Minister and leader of the Afghan Islamic Party Gulbuddin Hekmatyar said in a video that was posted to the Barya TV YouTube channel on June 3, 2022 that the Taliban should not impose a dress code on girls and women that has no textual source in the Quran and Sunnah. He elaborated that there is a consensus among Islamic scholars that women are not required to cover their faces, hands, or feet. In addition, Hekmatyar said that there is no Islamic source for depriving women, of their right to education. Moreover, he also said that Jihad is not waged in order to impose Islam on people, but to defend innocents from tyrants.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar: "Jihad s not [waged] to impose Islam on the people by force. Don't make this mistake. Jihad is not for this. Jihad is against the tyrants to protect the innocent. It is for the freedom of innocents.

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"Jihad is against those who use weapons and defend falsehoods, forcing the innocent to be dependent on them and accept taghout. When the taghout polytheism comes to an end, and complete peace is established, then the people have the power and choice to adopt any path they want.

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"If you impose a dress [code] or situation on people, the people will reject it.

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"Brothers and sisters, we recommend to the officials of the Islamic Emirate not to impose a specific kind of dress on Afghans, especially on girls and women, about which there is not explicit text or prohibition in the Quran or Sunnah, or that we do not find in the Quran, or in the authentic hadiths of the Prophet.

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"Among all the past Hanafi scholars and all the Hanafi jurists and imams, there is almost a consensus in this regard...A consensus that women's face, hands, and feet are not regarded as private parts.

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"Why should we insist on such rare and unfamiliar views – that are mostly recent and held by only a minority of scholars – to deprive women of their legitimate right to education? Please, resolve this problem. Do not impose such a thing on half of the Afghan population [the women], that has not been enforced by Allah or His Prophet."