Religious Coercion on Campus: The Taliban’s 14-Point Student Pledge
By Farishta Maqbool
Islam is a religion that grants full freedom to every individual to choose their own beliefs and does not force anyone to adhere to the Sunnah. The Sunnah refers to the practices and actions of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). If a person chooses to follow the Sunnah, they will receive rewards from Allah; however, if someone does not wish to follow a specific aspect of the Sunnah, there is no offense in that.
However, something unusual occurred in Afghanistan when students were forced to sign a 14-point pledge at public and private universities. According to this pledge, students were required to declare that they would accept the Hanafi school of thought. Regardless of their religion, they were also required to grow a beard even though growing a beard is Sunnah, not Faraz (obligatory). Shia and Ismaili students, who follow a different fiqh, refused to sign this pledge. As a result, they were beaten, and 12 students were injured.
After this incident, questions arise: why is the Taliban enforcing such a pledge when God has already given every individual the right to choose their own religion? The Taliban argues that this pledge is based on the sayings of Allah, but Allah already said in the Quran:
“There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the right path has become distinct from the wrong path.”
However, what the Taliban is doing in Bamyan is not inviting students to Islam; it is enforcing them to accept a specific version of Islam. Shia and Ismaili students are also Muslims. They are part of the Ummah. Enforcing them to accept a specific version of Islam is compulsion, which Allah has already opposed in the Quran.
Similarly, God also told the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) that a person should not be forced to accept Islam:
“So remind them, for you are only a reminder. You are not a dictator over them.”
If a Prophet himself was not allowed to force anyone to accept Islam, who are the Taliban to do so? The Taliban are claiming an authority that even the Prophet (SAW) did not have.
The Quran emphasizes the same thing several times:
“And say, ‘The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills, let him believe, and whoever wills, let him disbelieve.’”
Afghanistan is home to different tribes: Tajiks, Uzbeks, Pashtuns, and Hazaras. Every tribe has its own language, culture, and thoughts. This diversity is considered beautiful, but it is also a source of tension. After decades of monarchy, foreign meddling, Soviet invasion, and a brutal civil war, the Taliban, mostly rural Pashtun men educated in strict religious schools, seized power in the 1990s, promising order. Instead, they brought harsh rules, crushed minorities like the Shia Hazara, and banned music and women’s voices. Ousted by the U.S. in 2001, they returned to power twenty years later. Now, with the 14-point university pledge, they are once again trying to force every Afghan into a single narrow mold. The beatings in Bamyan are not random. They are the latest scar on a very old wound.
Islam is a religion that never forces anyone to follow it. However, misinterpretation and cultural influence have raised serious concerns. This is the main reason Islam is seen as a threat in many Western countries. But we need to understand and follow the true teachings of the Quran. The Taliban has misinterpreted Islam several times. First, they banned women’s education, even though the Quran clearly says that both women and men have the right to seek education. They banned women from going out, yet at the time of the Prophet, women even took part in battles.
Afghanistan is not the only country trying to impose a single school of thought. Iran is also a major example. After the 1979 revolution, Iran imposed its own Shia school of thought, often discriminating against Sunnis and other minorities.
This is not what Islam teaches. Islam says there is no compulsion. Yet in Bamyan, students were beaten simply because they refused to accept a specific faith. They banned women’s education, but the first word revealed was “Read.” That word was not directed at a specific gender but at the entire Ummah, including men and women. Such cultural interpretations of Islam are the biggest threat to believers of Islam.
The world has been silent too long. We watched women be banned from classrooms. Now we watch minority students be beaten for their beliefs. Silence is not neutral. It is permission.
The question is no longer what the Taliban will do next. The question is what we will do. Because silence, at this point, is not peace. It is participation.
An important topic. The Taliban weaponizes certain Islamic interpretations while ignoring the actual implementation of the Quran, such as 2:256 and the responsibility of every Muslim to receive an education. As I looked at in my new piece on the First Islamic State, the Taliban’s ban on female education is based on regional tribal codes (Pashtunwali), not Islamic law. In fact, the Medina state was revolutionarily progressive in its rights for women at the time, whereas the Taliban is unanimously classified as regressive.