KABUL — Taliban are once again awarding academic degrees to graduates of Darul Uloom Haqqania, a conservative Islamic seminary in Pakistan long associated with senior Taliban figures and militant ideology.
According to documents released Wednesday by the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education, at least 200 individuals who studied at the seminary in Akora Khattak, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, will receive bachelor’s and master’s degrees during ceremonies scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
The move is part of a broader pattern by the Taliban to issue formal academic credentials to religious clerics and madrasa graduates, including many educated in Pakistan. Four lists published by the ministry show that a total of 2,231 individuals are set to receive degrees — 951 bachelor’s and 1,280 master’s. A significant portion studied outside Afghanistan.
Roughly one in five of the listed recipients attended Pakistani madrasas, with nearly 200 linked specifically to Darul Uloom Haqqania, according to an analysis by Amu TV, an independent Afghan outlet.
Founded in 1947 by Maulana Abdul Haq, the seminary has produced some of the most prominent figures in the Taliban leadership, including former leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, Haqqani network founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, current interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.
Researchers and analysts describe the seminary as a cornerstone of Taliban ideological training. “Haqqania has become the Taliban’s unofficial university,” said Mujib Khalwatgar, a Kabul-based journalist and analyst.
“Darul Uloom Haqqania has played a leading role in spreading extremist ideology in Afghanistan and the region,” Khalwatgar said. “It has produced a generation of Taliban leaders trained to advance Pakistan’s strategic interests — directly or indirectly. By treating their religious certificates as university degrees, the Taliban are eroding Afghanistan’s academic foundations.”
The decision has sparked public criticism inside Afghanistan, especially as the Taliban continue to bar girls and women from secondary and higher education.
“The Taliban have shut down education for women, yet they hand out degrees to clerics who studied for years in Pakistani madrasas,” said one Kabul resident, who asked not to be named for safety reasons. “It’s shameful. There are thousands of qualified young Afghans out of work, and instead the Taliban install mullahs trained across the border.”
Another resident echoed the concern: “They’ve transformed schools and universities into seminaries. Seasoned professors have been dismissed and replaced by religious clerics. This is a tragedy for our generation.”
Since returning to power in 2021, Taliban have steadily reshaped Afghanistan’s education system. Analysts say they have replaced modern curricula with religious subjects, removed academic staff seen as secular or independent, excluded women from universities, and increasingly formalized clerical credentials as academic qualifications.
“These are not isolated decisions — they represent a strategic remaking of the education system in the Taliban’s image,” Khalwatgar said. “And they are pushing Afghan higher education into a deep and lasting crisis.”
