ISLAMABAD: Islam places no restrictive conditions on girls’ education, and anyone opposing it is deviating from the global Muslim community, Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Kareem Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League (MWL), said on Saturday at an international conference in Pakistan focusing on the issue.
Muslim communities have often faced criticism for not providing sufficient opportunities to women in fields like education, though many of their countries have made significant strides in promoting women’s participation across various fields.
The issue of girls’ education has drawn heightened attention recently, particularly after Afghanistan’s interim administration, led by the Taliban, imposed restrictions on girls’ education, including shutting down secondary schools and barring women from attending universities.
The two-day conference, co-hosted by Pakistan and the MWL, comes at a time when global leaders, organizations and activists have urged the Taliban to reverse their policies. The conference aims to address the issue by signing a consensus “Islamabad Declaration,” reaffirming that Islam does not prohibit women’s education in any way.
“Our Islamic faith has always celebrated the education of every Muslim, both male and female, because the message of Islam was to enlighten all, regardless of gender,” Al-Issa told participants. “Therefore, Muslim women in Islam had a significant and active presence in all spheres of life — in religious matters and in the sciences, politics, economics and societal affairs throughout history.”
The MWL chief said any reservations toward girls’ education must be understood as stemming from non-Islamic customs that have no basis in the Muslim faith.
“Those who deviate from this Islamic consensus are deviating from the ummah [community of believers],” he said, adding, “The Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, warned that whoever desires the best place in paradise must stick to the community.”
The global summit, which aims to find ways to advance girls’ education across the Muslim world, has brought together over 150 dignitaries from 44 Muslim and other friendly states, according to the foreign office of Pakistan.
Al-Issa noted all participants of the gathering unanimously agreed on the need for girls’ education.
“They are all here to say with one voice that Islam is innocent of depriving women of education in any field and at any level of education,” he added.
The MWL chief arrived in Pakistan a day earlier and held separate meetings with high-ranking officials, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the keynote speaker at the conference’s inaugural session.

PESHAWAR/KARCHI: Police in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said on Saturday efforts were being made to secure the safe release of kidnapped workers of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) after a banned militant network released a video featuring some of them while listing demands for their release.
The Pakistani Taliban kidnapped more than a dozen workers of the sensitive government agency responsible for nuclear energy projects from the volatile Lakki Marwat district on Thursday.
Eight of them were later released through joint efforts by tribal elders amid a search operation conducted by police and security forces in the dense forest area where the militants had reportedly taken them.
While the government did not issue a statement on the incident, Shahid Marwat, a police spokesperson in the district, confirmed that a group of nearly 18 “civilians” working on “atomic and mining projects” had been kidnapped by armed gunmen. The militants later shared their credentials on social media, identifying them as PAEC employees.
Speaking to Arab News on Saturday, Marwat said the militants had made demands for the release of the abductees, adding that local elders and officials from security forces and the district administration were holding meetings to ensure their safe release.
“Local elders and police and security officials are evaluating the kidnappers’ demands,” he said. “Efforts are on to secure their safe release at the earliest. So far, officials are busy tackling the issue through negotiations.”
Asked if the video released by the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), featured the kidnapped PAEC workers, he responded affirmatively.
In the video, a man flanked by two others mentions the date, saying: “Today, it is 11th January 2025; this is our third consecutive day in the [Pakistani] Taliban captivity.”
“Day before yesterday, reports emerged that the mujahideen [freedom fighters] had released ‘these people,’ while the reality is that even right now, 10 of us are in their custody.”
He then read out the TTP demands, requesting the government to “immediately” accept them.
The demands included the release of militants arrested in Lakki Marwat, the release of families of militants allegedly in government custody, a commitment not to demolish the homes of militants and their relatives in the future, and compensation for the homes already demolished.
Lakki Marwat is situated on the edge of Pakistan’s northwestern tribal districts bordering Afghanistan, where the TTP has frequently targeted security force convoys and check-posts, in addition to engaging in targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in recent months.