(Asghar Ali Mubarak)
Islamabad (TNS) The ‘Islamabad Declaration’ has been issued at the end of the World Education Conference held in the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, in which comprehensive recommendations have been made for the promotion of girls’ education in Muslim societies.
The declaration issued at the end of the two-day conference has emphasized that education is the fundamental right of every girl and its attainment should be ensured without any hindrance.
Governments were urged to increase the budget for educational resources, provide scholarships, and enable the production of modern digital content to ensure access to education in remote areas. Religious leaders have been encouraged to highlight the Islamic principles of education and raise public awareness.
The participants in the ‘Islamabad Declaration’ stressed that to promote education in Islamic societies, the correct interpretation of religious injunctions should be ensured and misunderstandings should be addressed. The declaration also emphasizes the need to implement international agreements and commitments regarding girls’ education and ensure equal provision of educational resources.
The conference participants recognized that promoting girls’ education is not only a religious duty but also important for social progress and social stability.
The conference has been described as a revolutionary step for educational reforms in the Islamic world, which aims to recognize the right of girls to education in accordance with Islamic teachings and lead Muslim societies on the path of development.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the conference in Islamabad, he said that ‘this conference is being organized under the leadership of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. This conference is primarily an initiative of the Muslim World League to highlight the importance of girls’ education.’ The Secretary General of the Muslim World League said that ‘the opening ceremony of the conference was attended by education ministers, diplomats and Malala Yousafzai, an activist for girls’ education from all over the world, whose services in the field of education are valuable. At the end of the conference, an ‘Islamabad Declaration’ will be issued, which will send a good message to the whole world regarding Islam and women’s education in Islam.’
He said, ‘We want the effects of this conference to be far-reaching and our future generations to benefit from it. That is why agreements will be signed with several international organizations during this conference. An agreement was also signed between the OIC and the Muslim World League during the opening ceremony, under which scholarships will be issued for women’s education.’
He said, ‘We have been repeatedly saying that the whole world should be sent this message that all schools of thought in Islam are in favor of women’s education and women must be educated for the development of society.’
In response to a question, Dr. Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa said, ‘The speeches given during this conference have negated the misconceptions regarding women’s education. Therefore, we will spread these speeches all over the world. When this word spreads, those who are misinterpreting Islamic teachings regarding women’s education will be discouraged.
He said, “Those who obstruct women’s education have no evidence. The scholars are agreed that education is very important for women and the minority that insists that women’s education is not right is on the wrong path and has nothing to do with Islam.”
He clarified that “the purpose of this conference is not to target any particular country or community but our message is for all people. It is true that some people have reservations regarding women’s education and we have tried to remove their reservations. We also accept that some people are against women’s education and some are against women’s specialization in a particular field, but there is no such prohibition in Islam at all. Therefore, we have tried to correct this impression. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in his address to the inaugural session of the conference, said that girls’ education is a big challenge in Islamic societies and we need to raise our voice for it. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that he is grateful to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman for organizing the conference. 23 percent of children in Pakistan are out of school, a large number of whom are girls. ‘The Islamic world, including Pakistan, is facing a challenge of girls’ education.’ The Prime Minister said that ‘education is a basic need of a society, and ignoring girls’ education is actually hindering social progress.’ He stressed that ‘one of the major challenges of the present era includes girls’ education, and the Muslim world will have to make collective efforts to solve this problem.’ Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan urged leaders of Muslim countries not to ‘legitimize’ the Taliban government in Kabul and to ‘show real leadership’ by opposing restrictions on women and girls’ education in Afghanistan. On the last day of the conference, Malala told education officials to ‘not give them (the Afghan Taliban) legitimacy.’ ‘Now is the time for you as Muslim leaders to raise your voice, use your power. You can show real leadership.’ ‘To put it simply, the Taliban do not see women as human beings. They cover their crimes with cultural and religious justification.’
