海角大神

With little fanfare, a Taliban delegation from Afghanistan quietly visited the world鈥檚 most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, in July. The trip was yet another attempt by the rulers in Kabul to gain any sort of foreign recognition of their harsh regime nearly two years after taking power. One place the Afghan delegation certainly did not visit was the Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre outside the capital, Jakarta.

There they might have seen why the rest of the world has kept the Taliban at arm鈥檚 length. The center is educating Afghan girls who have fled their country. 鈥淗ere, women can be a boss; they can be teachers, they can be students ... they are strong,鈥� Khatera Amiri, manager of the center, told Al Jazeera.

In other words, the Afghan girls are treated as equal to the boys. Indonesia itself 鈥� unlike the Taliban 鈥� puts such an emphasis on educating girls that they outnumber boys at the secondary level. 鈥淚ndonesia can serve as an important model for the Taliban of how Muslim nations and faith-based organizations can play an important role in expanding girls鈥� education,鈥� M. Niaz Asadullah, a University of Malaya professor, wrote in The Conversation in 2021 after the Taliban takeover.

Most Muslim-majority nations view educating girls as crucial to their society. 鈥淓very time I went to one of these Muslim countries, they did reinforce the fact that Islam did not ban women from education or from the workplace,鈥� says Amina Mohammed, the United Nations deputy secretary-general, who is herself a Muslim. Islam, she added, is 鈥渁 living religion,鈥� and that influences how the world can move 鈥渢he Taliban from the 13th century to the 21st.鈥�

Gaining official recognition from Indonesia is key to the Taliban鈥檚 hunt for friends in the Muslim world. Yet Indonesian leaders insist the Taliban end their ban on girls going past the sixth grade as well as the ban on women working in many government jobs or with humanitarian agencies. 鈥淭oday, we are able to do more things [in Indonesia] because we have women who excel,鈥� Yahya Cholil Staquf, chair of the large Muslim association Nahdlatul Ulamam, told BenarNews last year.

The U.N. regards Afghanistan under the Taliban as the most repressive country in the world regarding women鈥檚 rights. Yet the Taliban are desperate to boost their ruined economy and to maintain legitimacy, both inside and out the country.

The regime鈥檚 leaders pay 鈥渃lose attention to what the international community thinks,鈥� writes Andrew Watkins, an expert on Afghanistan at the United States Institute of Peace. Their level of detail on policies toward women, he adds, suggests the regime feels compelled to explain and defend its actions to the Afghan people and the world.

The Taliban delegation鈥檚 visit to Indonesia was a chance to perhaps win over 鈥� but also perhaps listen to 鈥� another Muslim country.