(Asghar Ali Mubarak)
Islamabad (TNS) Islamabad ready to host International Conference on ‘Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities’ on the Direction Prime Minister of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan has directed to the Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training to organize an international conference on the title of ‘Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities’ in Islamabad from 11 to 12 January 2025. In this connection a core committee already formed by the Prime Minister’s Office to organized and oversee the arrangements for the International conference.
The aims and objectives of the International Conference on Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities are:
“To highlight the Islamic perspective on girls’ education as a right and duty;
“To address the challenges arising from cultural misinterpretations of Islamic teachings.”
“To find solutions to the barriers that limit girls’ access to education in marginalized Muslim communities.”
“To promote the role of education in social and national development.”
“To develop actionable strategies to advance girls’ education through collaboration with global and regional stakeholders.”
The International Conference on Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities is being organized by the Muslim World League in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training.
The opening and closing sessions of the conference will be held at the Jinnah Convention Center, while the remaining sessions will be held at a local Hotel, Islamabad.
Nearly 132 international delegates and dignitaries from 47 countries have been confirmed their participation in the two-day international conference.
The Pakistani side includes members of parliament, eminent scholars, religious scholars, educationists, provincial ministers of education and secretaries of education will participate.
The theme of the first session of the speakers conference of the jointly organized program of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training and the Muslim World League on the topic “Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities, Challenges and Opportunities” is Women’s Education: Obstacles and their Solutions and the keynote speakers are Dr. Bushra Mirza Vice Chancellor Fatima Jinnah Women’s University Rawalpindi, Dr. Anila Cama Vice Chancellor Rawalpindi Women’s University Rawalpindi while the topic of the second session is’’ Women’s Education and Islamic Charter.
The keynote speakers are Prof. Dr. Anees Ahmed Vice Chancellor, Rifa International University Islamabad, Ms. Nigar Sajjad Zaheer Former Chairperson University of Karachi, the topic of the third session is “Information Technology and Women’s Education”. The keynote speakers are Ms. Ayesha Moryani Additional Secretary (In charge) Ministry of Climate Change Islamabad, Prof. Dr. Zia-ul-Qayyum Executive Director HEC Islamabad. The topic of the fourth session is “Women in Peace Building”. The speakers of the conference are Ms. Bella Jamil, CEO, Institute of Education and Awareness (ITA), Education and Awareness Center, Lahore, Ms. Amna Rasool Bernardo, President, Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID), Philippines, and Mr. Jamshed Qazi, Country Representative, UN Women Pakistan. To organize the conference, the Prime Minister has constituted a high-powered committee and assigned tasks to various ministries and departments for the organization of the international conference.
Meanwhile, the Government of Pakistan in collaboration with Muslim World League will Launches a Comprehensive Platform for Partnerships to Advance Girls’ Education in Muslim Societies: A Global Initiative to Support Girls’ Education.
According to details the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in support with Muslim World League Launches a Comprehensive Platform for Partnerships to Advance Girls’ Education in Muslim Societies. Under the patronage and in the presence of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, this groundbreaking manifesto will be launched to support girls’ education in Muslim societies.
This initiative, based in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, aims to foster international partnerships by forging alliances among governmental, Islamic, and global civil organizations, thereby creating a widespread network to advance girls’ education.
This initiative seeks to implement the principles outlined in Article 25 of the Charter of Makkah, along with principles 22 and 23 from the Charter of Building Bridges between Islamic Schools of Thought and Sects.
These principles were underscored during two international conferences held under the generous patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and may Allah safeguard him.
Additionally, the initiative will implement resolutions adopted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states regarding both charters, in conjunction with the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Secretary-General of the MWL with the Secretary-General of the OIC, and the Memorandum of Understanding between the Secretary-General of the Islamic Fiqh Council and the Secretary-General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy. These agreements were formalized in Makkah on 9/7/1445 AH.
The International Partnerships for Education in Muslim Societies platform is set to be inaugurated at a global conference titled “Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities,” scheduled for January 11-12, 2025.
Organized jointly by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Muslim World League, the conference will include wide-ranging international participation, drawing together representatives from international organizations, governments, Islamic institutions, and senior religious, intellectual, and media leaders, as well as civil society activists from across the globe.
The conference reflects assurance of Government of Pakistan joint with the MWL’s unwavering commitment to its responsibilities towards Muslim populations and the foundations of their renaissance.
The podium aims to promote girls’ education in accordance with authentic Islamic principles, to address the challenges impeding it, and to dispel misconceptions surrounding the issue.
Moreover, the conference serves as an Islamic message to the world, affirming that Islam—a religion of knowledge, civilization, and noble values—firmly supports all laws and practices that enable girl’s access to education.
Any legislation or actions, whether by individuals or groups that hinder girls’ education are contrary to Islamic teachings, which are unequivocally free from such practices.
The conference will focus on initiating and developing strategies to address the challenges facing girls’ education and will capitalize on available opportunities to enhance and improve educational outcomes in Muslim societies. The goal is to empower women to fulfill their essential and rightful roles in contributing to the development of their communities across various sectors. This will be accomplished in alignment with the principles outlined in the two aforementioned charters, as well as the actions the MWL is committed to undertake to further activate and implement these principles.
Islam obliges every Muslim, whether male or female, to acquire knowledge. Islam has entrusted women with the responsibility of raising strong and responsible generations. This duty alone highlights the importance of education for women in Islam. There are numerous hadiths to prove this.
The improvement of any society is closely related to the education of girls. Because if girls are educated, not only the entire family is educated, but the society also benefits from it.
Therefore, we need to pay the most attention to the education of girls. Muslims should give the same importance to the education of girls as they give to the education of boys.
Attacks on women, rape and harassment of girls are also easy because girls are far from education and are not as aware of their rights and powers as we should be.
If girls learn to defend their rights, then the problems of girls can be reduced and the most important weapon for this is education.
Especially the education of girls. Girls have proven their ability that they are not only experts in household affairs but can also manage and govern the country better.
Today, girls are prevalent in all walks of life. Therefore, ignoring them is ignoring the building and formation of the nation. Women face many obstacles in accessing higher education.
Some of these obstacles include social and cultural norms, financial constraints and lack of family support.
Moreover, there are still a good number of parents who do not believe in providing their daughters with education beyond a certain level. In the environment in which girls are brought up in Muslim families, they dream more of building a house than of building a career.
Girls are not highly educated, poverty is the main reason for this. Apart from this, gender discrimination, lack of education of parents also interrupt the higher education of girls.
Girls are trained in such a way that they have to get married, build a house, bring peace to the house, take care of their husband and children and live together with their husband’s family.
They are given all this training from childhood. There can be no single reason for this. Environment and economic constraints from family background are also possible, but there is not much religious aspect in it. In society, the only purpose of education is considered to be earning money, and this attitude of education for livelihood also becomes an obstacle in this path.
Crimes against women and molestation have also kept girls away from pursuing higher education.
Sometimes substandard primary education and choosing an undesirable subject are also the reason for this. Marriage is also a major reason. Girls are expected to get married at a young age, which interrupts their education and deprives them of higher education.
Girls do not get the same educational opportunities as boys. Boys’ education is given priority over girls’ education. Parents do not want to spend money on girls’ education because they feel that after marriage they will have to stay at home.
Some believe that girls should not be educated beyond a certain age and that girls should not go to co-educational schools. In some areas, there are no higher educational institutions, so it is difficult for girls to study away from home. In our society, it is believed that all the responsibilities of the house are on girls. That is why people with such thoughts do not focus on higher education for girls. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) encouraged his slaves and servants to teach them knowledge and manners. He said: “Whoever has a slave and teaches her good manners and decency and gives her a good education and then frees her and marries her, he will have a double reward.” This was the reason why Umm al-Mu’minin Hazrat Aisha Siddiqa (May Allah be pleased with her) praised the women of the Ansar and said: “The women of the Ansar were also good in that modesty and shame did not hinder them from gaining understanding of religion.” (Bukhari Sharif)
Due to these sayings, there was immense educational awareness among women in the early centuries and women also achieved extraordinary achievements in the fields of knowledge.
Women are half of the society, it is obvious that without their education, the progress of the nation and society is inevitable. They are endowed with both worldly and religious knowledge.
Today, society is in dire need of educated women. The person in charge should establish a good system for their training so that they can live a clean, pure life according to the Islamic way. May Allah Almighty protect the mothers, sisters, and daughters of the Muslim Ummah, (Amen)
