Latest news with #girls
The Independent
3 hours ago
- General
- The Independent
With no access to education beyond the 6th grade, girls in Afghanistan turn to religious schools
For six hours every day after school, Nahideh works in a cemetery, collecting water from a nearby shrine to sell to mourners visiting loved ones' graves. She dreams of becoming a doctor — but knows it is a futile dream. When the next school year starts, she will be enrolling in a madrassa, a religious school, to learn about the Quran and Islam — and little else. 'I prefer to go to school, but I can't, so I will go to a madrassa,' she said, dark brown eyes peering out from beneath her tightly wrapped black headscarf. 'If I could go to school then I could learn and become a doctor. But I can't.' At the age of 13, Nahideh is in the last grade of primary school, the limit of education allowed for girls in Afghanistan. The country's Taliban government banned girls from secondary school and university three years ago — the only country in the world to do so. The ban is part of myriad restrictions on women and girls, dictating everything from what they can wear to where they can go and who they can go with. With no option for higher education, many girls and women are turning to madrassas instead. The only learning allowed 'Since the schools are closed to girls, they see this as an opportunity,' said Zahid-ur-Rehman Sahibi, director of the Tasnim Nasrat Islamic Sciences Educational Center in Kabul. 'So, they come here to stay engaged in learning and studying religious sciences.' The center's roughly 400 students range in ages from about 3 to 60, and 90% are female. They study the Quran, Islamic jurisprudence, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, and Arabic, the language of the Quran. Most Afghans, Sahibi noted, are religious. 'Even before the schools were closed, many used to attend madrassas,' he said. 'But after the closure of schools, the interest has increased significantly, because the doors of the madrassas remain open to them.' No recent official figures are available on the number of girls enrolled in madrassas, but officials say the popularity of religious schools overall has been growing. Last September, Deputy Minister of Education Karamatullah Akhundzada said at least 1 million students had enrolled in madrassas over the past year alone, bringing the total to over 3 million. Studying the Quran Sheltered from the heat of an early summer's day in a basement room at the Tasnim Nasrat center, Sahibi's students knelt at small plastic tables on the carpeted floor, their pencils tracing lines of Arabic script in their Qurans. All 10 young women wore black niqabs, the all-encompassing garment that includes a veil, leaving only the eyes visible. 'It is very good for girls and women to study at a madrassa, because … the Quran is the word of Allah, and we are Muslims,' said 25-year-old Faiza, who had enrolled at the center five months earlier. 'Therefore, it is our duty to know what is in the book that Allah has revealed to us, to understand its interpretation and translation.' Given a choice, she would have studied medicine. While she knows that is now impossible, she still harbors hope that if she shows she is a pious student dedicated to her religion, she will be eventually allowed to. The medical profession is one of the very few still open to women in Afghanistan. 'When my family sees that I am learning Quranic sciences and that I am practicing all the teachings of the Quran in my life, and they are assured of this, they will definitely allow me to continue my studies,' she said. Her teacher said he'd prefer if women were not strictly limited to religious studies. 'In my opinion, it is very important for a sister or a woman to learn both religious sciences and other subjects, because modern knowledge is also an important part of society,' Sahibi said. 'Islam also recommends that modern sciences should be learned because they are necessary, and religious sciences are important alongside them. Both should be learned simultaneously.' A controversial ban The female secondary and higher education ban has been controversial in Afghanistan, even within the ranks of the Taliban itself. In a rare sign of open dissent, Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Abbas Stanikzai said in a public speech in January that there was no justification for denying education to girls and women. His remarks were reportedly not well tolerated by the Taliban leadership; Stanikzai is now officially on leave and is believed to have left the country. But they were a clear indication that many in Afghanistan recognize the long-term impact of denying education to girls. 'If this ban persists until 2030, over four million girls will have been deprived of their right to education beyond primary school,' UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement at the start of Afghanistan's new school year in March. 'The consequences for these girls — and for Afghanistan — are catastrophic. The ban negatively impacts the health system, the economy, and the future of the nation.' The importance of religious education For some in this deeply conservative society, the teachings of Islam are hard to overstate. 'Learning the Holy Quran is the foundation of all other sciences, whether it's medicine, engineering, or other fields of knowledge,' said Mullah Mohammed Jan Mukhtar, 35, who runs a boys' madrassa north of Kabul. 'If someone first learns the Quran, they will then be able to learn these other sciences much better.' His madrassa first opened five years ago with 35 students. Now it has 160 boys aged 5-21, half of whom are boarders. Beyond religious studies, it offers a limited number of other classes such as English and math. There is also an affiliated girls' madrassa, which currently has 90 students, he said. 'In my opinion, there should be more madrassas for women,' said Mukhtar, who has been a mullah for 14 years. He stressed the importance of religious education for women. 'When they are aware of religious verdicts, they better understand the rights of their husbands, in-laws and other family members.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- General
- Arab News
With no access to education beyond the 6th grade, girls in Afghanistan turn to religious schools
KABUL: For six hours every day after school, Nahideh works in a cemetery, collecting water from a nearby shrine to sell to mourners visiting loved ones' graves. She dreams of becoming a doctor — but knows it is a futile dream. When the next school year starts, she will be enrolling in a madrassa, a religious school, to learn about the Qur'an and Islam — and little else. 'I prefer to go to school, but I can't, so I will go to a madrassa,' she said, dark brown eyes peering out from beneath her tightly wrapped black headscarf. 'If I could go to school then I could learn and become a doctor. But I can't.' At the age of 13, Nahideh is in the last grade of primary school, the limit of education allowed for girls in Afghanistan. The country's Taliban government banned girls from secondary school and university three years ago — the only country in the world to do so. The ban is part of myriad restrictions on women and girls, dictating everything from what they can wear to where they can go and who they can go with. With no option for higher education, many girls and women are turning to madrassas instead. The only learning allowed 'Since the schools are closed to girls, they see this as an opportunity,' said Zahid-ur-Rehman Sahibi, director of the Tasnim Nasrat Islamic Sciences Educational Center in Kabul. 'So, they come here to stay engaged in learning and studying religious sciences.' The center's roughly 400 students range in ages from about 3 to 60, and 90 percent are female. They study the Qur'an, Islamic jurisprudence, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, and Arabic, the language of the Qur'an. Most Afghans, Sahibi noted, are religious. 'Even before the schools were closed, many used to attend madrassas,' he said. 'But after the closure of schools, the interest has increased significantly, because the doors of the madrassas remain open to them.' No recent official figures are available on the number of girls enrolled in madrassas, but officials say the popularity of religious schools overall has been growing. Last September, Deputy Minister of Education Karamatullah Akhundzada said at least 1 million students had enrolled in madrassas over the past year alone, bringing the total to over 3 million. Studying the Qur'an Sheltered from the heat of an early summer's day in a basement room at the Tasnim Nasrat center, Sahibi's students knelt at small plastic tables on the carpeted floor, their pencils tracing lines of Arabic script in their Qur'ans. All 10 young women wore black niqabs, the all-encompassing garment that includes a veil, leaving only the eyes visible. 'It is very good for girls and women to study at a madrassa, because … the Qur'an is the word of Allah, and we are Muslims,' said 25-year-old Faiza, who had enrolled at the center five months earlier. 'Therefore, it is our duty to know what is in the book that Allah has revealed to us, to understand its interpretation and translation.' Given a choice, she would have studied medicine. While she knows that is now impossible, she still harbors hope that if she shows she is a pious student dedicated to her religion, she will be eventually allowed to. The medical profession is one of the very few still open to women in Afghanistan. 'When my family sees that I am learning Qur'anic sciences and that I am practicing all the teachings of the Qur'an in my life, and they are assured of this, they will definitely allow me to continue my studies,' she said. Her teacher said he'd prefer if women were not strictly limited to religious studies. 'In my opinion, it is very important for a sister or a woman to learn both religious sciences and other subjects, because modern knowledge is also an important part of society,' Sahibi said. 'Islam also recommends that modern sciences should be learned because they are necessary, and religious sciences are important alongside them. Both should be learned simultaneously.' A controversial ban The female secondary and higher education ban has been controversial in Afghanistan, even within the ranks of the Taliban itself. In a rare sign of open dissent, Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Abbas Stanikzai said in a public speech in January that there was no justification for denying education to girls and women. His remarks were reportedly not well tolerated by the Taliban leadership; Stanikzai is now officially on leave and is believed to have left the country. But they were a clear indication that many in Afghanistan recognize the long-term impact of denying education to girls. 'If this ban persists until 2030, over four million girls will have been deprived of their right to education beyond primary school,' UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement at the start of Afghanistan's new school year in March. 'The consequences for these girls — and for Afghanistan — are catastrophic. The ban negatively impacts the health system, the economy, and the future of the nation.' The importance of religious education For some in this deeply conservative society, the teachings of Islam are hard to overstate. 'Learning the Holy Qur'an is the foundation of all other sciences, whether it's medicine, engineering, or other fields of knowledge,' said Mullah Mohammed Jan Mukhtar, 35, who runs a boys' madrassa north of Kabul. 'If someone first learns the Qur'an, they will then be able to learn these other sciences much better.' His madrassa first opened five years ago with 35 students. Now it has 160 boys aged 5-21, half of whom are boarders. Beyond religious studies, it offers a limited number of other classes such as English and math. There is also an affiliated girls' madrassa, which currently has 90 students, he said. 'In my opinion, there should be more madrassas for women,' said Mukhtar, who has been a mullah for 14 years. He stressed the importance of religious education for women. 'When they are aware of religious verdicts, they better understand the rights of their husbands, in-laws and other family members.'
Associated Press
4 hours ago
- General
- Associated Press
With no access to education beyond the 6th grade, girls in Afghanistan turn to religious schools
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — For six hours every day after school, Nahideh works in a cemetery, collecting water from a nearby shrine to sell to mourners visiting loved ones' graves. She dreams of becoming a doctor — but knows it is a futile dream. When the next school year starts, she will be enrolling in a madrassa, a religious school, to learn about the Quran and Islam — and little else. 'I prefer to go to school, but I can't, so I will go to a madrassa,' she said, dark brown eyes peering out from beneath her tightly wrapped black headscarf. 'If I could go to school then I could learn and become a doctor. But I can't.' At the age of 13, Nahideh is in the last grade of primary school, the limit of education allowed for girls in Afghanistan. The country's Taliban government banned girls from secondary school and university three years ago — the only country in the world to do so. The ban is part of myriad restrictions on women and girls, dictating everything from what they can wear to where they can go and who they can go with. With no option for higher education, many girls and women are turning to madrassas instead. The only learning allowed 'Since the schools are closed to girls, they see this as an opportunity,' said Zahid-ur-Rehman Sahibi, director of the Tasnim Nasrat Islamic Sciences Educational Center in Kabul. 'So, they come here to stay engaged in learning and studying religious sciences.' The center's roughly 400 students range in ages from about 3 to 60, and 90% are female. They study the Quran, Islamic jurisprudence, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, and Arabic, the language of the Quran. Most Afghans, Sahibi noted, are religious. 'Even before the schools were closed, many used to attend madrassas,' he said. 'But after the closure of schools, the interest has increased significantly, because the doors of the madrassas remain open to them.' No recent official figures are available on the number of girls enrolled in madrassas, but officials say the popularity of religious schools overall has been growing. Last September, Deputy Minister of Education Karamatullah Akhundzada said at least 1 million students had enrolled in madrassas over the past year alone, bringing the total to over 3 million. Studying the Quran Sheltered from the heat of an early summer's day in a basement room at the Tasnim Nasrat center, Sahibi's students knelt at small plastic tables on the carpeted floor, their pencils tracing lines of Arabic script in their Qurans. All 10 young women wore black niqabs, the all-encompassing garment that includes a veil, leaving only the eyes visible. 'It is very good for girls and women to study at a madrassa, because … the Quran is the word of Allah, and we are Muslims,' said 25-year-old Faiza, who had enrolled at the center five months earlier. 'Therefore, it is our duty to know what is in the book that Allah has revealed to us, to understand its interpretation and translation.' Given a choice, she would have studied medicine. While she knows that is now impossible, she still harbors hope that if she shows she is a pious student dedicated to her religion, she will be eventually allowed to. The medical profession is one of the very few still open to women in Afghanistan. 'When my family sees that I am learning Quranic sciences and that I am practicing all the teachings of the Quran in my life, and they are assured of this, they will definitely allow me to continue my studies,' she said. Her teacher said he'd prefer if women were not strictly limited to religious studies. 'In my opinion, it is very important for a sister or a woman to learn both religious sciences and other subjects, because modern knowledge is also an important part of society,' Sahibi said. 'Islam also recommends that modern sciences should be learned because they are necessary, and religious sciences are important alongside them. Both should be learned simultaneously.' A controversial ban The female secondary and higher education ban has been controversial in Afghanistan, even within the ranks of the Taliban itself. In a rare sign of open dissent, Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Abbas Stanikzai said in a public speech in January that there was no justification for denying education to girls and women. His remarks were reportedly not well tolerated by the Taliban leadership; Stanikzai is now officially on leave and is believed to have left the country. But they were a clear indication that many in Afghanistan recognize the long-term impact of denying education to girls. 'If this ban persists until 2030, over four million girls will have been deprived of their right to education beyond primary school,' UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement at the start of Afghanistan's new school year in March. 'The consequences for these girls — and for Afghanistan — are catastrophic. The ban negatively impacts the health system, the economy, and the future of the nation.' The importance of religious education For some in this deeply conservative society, the teachings of Islam are hard to overstate. 'Learning the Holy Quran is the foundation of all other sciences, whether it's medicine, engineering, or other fields of knowledge,' said Mullah Mohammed Jan Mukhtar, 35, who runs a boys' madrassa north of Kabul. 'If someone first learns the Quran, they will then be able to learn these other sciences much better.' His madrassa first opened five years ago with 35 students. Now it has 160 boys aged 5-21, half of whom are boarders. Beyond religious studies, it offers a limited number of other classes such as English and math. There is also an affiliated girls' madrassa, which currently has 90 students, he said. 'In my opinion, there should be more madrassas for women,' said Mukhtar, who has been a mullah for 14 years. He stressed the importance of religious education for women. 'When they are aware of religious verdicts, they better understand the rights of their husbands, in-laws and other family members.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The wild risk so many wives are taking that could END their marriages - and the worst part is, they don't even class what they're doing as cheating: TRACEY COX
I remember being at a university party when I was 21 where two straight girls snogged for ages in the corner while their boyfriends watched with amusement and more than a little lust. I asked them the next day why they did it. 'To turn the guys on, of course,' they said.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Investigating rumor that 3 missing girls were found alive in hollow tree 10 days after Texas floods
Claim: Three girls were found alive inside a hollow tree more than a week after the July 2025 Texas flash floods. Rating: A story that spread on social media in July 2025 claimed three girls were found alive in a hollow tree more than a week after floods devastated the area around Texas' Guadalupe River in July 2025. The floods, which took place during the Fourth of July weekend, killed at least 135 people and, as of this writing, three people were still missing. For example, one Facebook post (archived) with the claim read: "3 Missing Texas Girls Found Alive in a Hollow Tree 1 Mile From Camp — They Survived Nearly 10 Days Thanks to These 2 Things...," reaching over 5,800 reactions. The post displayed three pictures seemingly showing scenes from the 2025 Texas floods. Many commenters on the post expressed joy and gratitude, celebrating the story as a miracle and thanking God for the girls' alleged survival. One Snopes reader asked over email, "Wondering if the article about three girls surviving the Texas flood by staying in a hollowed out tree is true." Another wrote, "This post has been going around Christian socials and I can't find any news stories on it." Google reverse image search results showed that the collage spread via multiple Facebook posts, but the rumor also spread on other social media platforms including Threads and X. However, the story of three missing girls surviving in a hollow tree after the 2025 Texas floods was a work of fiction, part of a growing trend of stories generated using artificial intelligence (AI) and designed to attract clicks and advertising revenue on unreliable websites. Searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo found no news media outlets reporting about such events. Prominent news media outlets would have widely reported this rumor, if true. Because there were no credible reports or evidence to support this narrative, we have rated this claim false. From Facebook posts to ad-filled blogs The false story spread widely through social media posts that redirected users to ad-saturated blog sites designed to generate clicks and revenue. The blog articles often lacked sources, bylines or any verifiable details, and many appeared to be copy-pasted or lightly reworded versions of each other. One such article, titled, "3 Missing Texas Girls Found Alive in a Hollow Tree 1 Mile From Camp — They Survived Nearly 10 Days Thanks to These 2 Things…," began: In what's being called one of the most miraculous survival stories in American history, three girls who vanished during the Texas flood disaster have been found alive — tucked inside the hollow of an ancient oak tree just one mile from the ravaged Camp Wrenwood. The girls — Emily Rivera, Zoey Nash, and Hope Lin, ages 8 to 10 — survived for nearly 10 days with no food, using only rainwater and lessons from a wilderness safety drill they had completed days before the storm. The story claimed the girls survived on rainwater alone, using skills from a wilderness safety drill completed days before the floods — a highly improbable scenario for children aged 8 to 10. Notably, none of the girls' names — Emily Rivera, Zoey Nash or Hope Lin — appeared in any credible reports of missing or rescued children from the floods. What's more, some of the articles ended with a vague mention of likely an attempt to add legitimacy, reading: "This story will continue to be updated as more details become available. For support, donations, or volunteer opportunities in the ongoing Texas flood recovery, visit Another article, titled, "The Hollow Tree Miracle: How Three Missing Texas Girls Survived 10 Days Alone Using Only Rainwater, Instinct—and One Unbelievable Lesson," featured a nearly identical narrative: In the aftermath of the devastating Texas flood that swept through Camp Wrenwood and left 27 children unaccounted for, a discovery stunned the nation: three missing girls were found alive after nearly 10 days, hidden inside a hollow oak tree less than a mile from the campgrounds. Their survival—against all odds, without food, shelter, or adult guidance—is now being called one of the most remarkable child survival stories in modern American history. What saved them? Not just luck. But something far more powerful: memory, improvisation, and an unbreakable bond. None of these articles cited or linked to any credible sources, official statements or news reports. They also repeatedly referenced "Camp Wrenwood" as the location tied to the girls' survival, but we found no evidence that any such camp exists in Texas. In reality, the camp most impacted by the flooding was Camp Mystic, a riverside Christian camp for girls in Hunt, Texas. (Another nearby camp, Heart O' the Hills, was also significantly affected by the floods, though it did not experience the same scale of loss as Camp Mystic.) Additionally, AI-detection websites such as and all flagged the text of the blog articles as at least partially generated using AI tools. ( Overall, the story contained multiple warning signs, and the combination of AI-generated text published via profit-driven blog sites helped the rumor spread online — even in the absence of any credible news coverage. Similar story about 2 missing girls The fabricated story about three girls surviving in a hollow tree appears to have been inspired by an earlier false claim that rescuers had saved two girls clinging to a tree during the Texas floods. The now-retracted article stated, "Two girls were rescued alive from a tree nearly 30 feet high Sunday in the flood zone between Comfort and Homillus Road in Center Point, according to multiple sources, as search teams also recovered four bodies in the area." Though some rescuers initially repeated the claim, the Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha ultimately confirmed it was "100% inaccurate." Kerr County Flood Event Joint Information Center warned that such misinformation often spreads during disasters. In fact, we have investigated numerous rumors related to the Texas floods — from fabricated rescue stories to false celebrity donation claims — many of which were fueled by AI-generated content. "AI Detector - Free AI Checker for ChatGPT, GPT-4, Gemini & More." Copyleaks, Accessed 21 Jul. 2025. AI Detector - Trusted AI Checker for ChatGPT, GPT4 & Gemini. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025. Christensen, Laerke. "Watch out for Story about Rescuers Saving 2 Young Girls Clinging to Tree in Texas Floods." Snopes, 7 Jul. 2025, "Floods Turned Beloved Texas Camp into a Nightmare. At Least 27 Girls Remain Missing." AP News, 4 Jul. 2025, Liles, Jordan. "Caitlin Clark Offered to Pay Texas Flood Victims' Funeral Expenses?" Snopes, 11 Jul. 2025, ---. "Toddler Girl Lost in Texas Floods Rescued by 'guardian Angel' Dog?" Snopes, 14 Jul. 2025, Rescuers Find 2 Girls in Tree, 30-Feet up, near Comfort – The Kerr County Lead. 6 Jul. 2025, Texas Floods Articles | Accessed 21 Jul. 2025. Solve the daily Crossword
