Taliban have “forced” more than 10,000 university students in western Afghanistan to sign religious pledge forms committing themselves to their social and religious rules, according to documents and accounts obtained by Amu TV.
The findings suggest that Taliban have intensified enforcement of their so-called morality law and ideological oversight within Afghanistan’s higher education system over the past month.
A copy of a 14-point pledge distributed to students at Ghor University requires students to formally commit to Taliban-approved standards of appearance, religious practice and behavior.
Under the document, students are instructed to maintain their hair and beards according to Taliban rules, wear traditional clothing such as the perahan tunban, avoid appearing in public without a cap or turban and refrain entirely from listening to music or viewing images of living beings.
The document also emphasizes full compliance with the Taliban’s morality law, known as the Law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and calls on students to sever ties with political groups opposed to the Taliban.
One clause specifically requires students to declare adherence to the Sunni Hanafi school of Islam, the dominant Islamic legal tradition in Afghanistan and the school officially endorsed by the Taliban.
“Given that the people of Afghanistan are followers of Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama’ah and the Hanafi school of Imam Abu Hanifa, I also follow this school in order to preserve unity and solidarity,” the pledge states.
Several students told Amu TV that Taliban had intensified pressure on students to sign the documents in recent weeks.
“For more than two years they have told us to grow beards, wear caps and pray,” one student said on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “But for the past month they have issued notices almost every day telling us to come and sign the Dawat wa Irshad pledge.”
Students and university sources also said Taliban religious had sharply increased mandatory ideological seminars and religious sessions on campuses this year.
According to the sources, students at universities across western Afghanistan are required twice each month to suspend regular classes and attend sessions focused on Taliban religious teachings and directives from their supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.
“We no longer know whether we are university students or madrasa students,” another student, identified only as Turyalai, said.
Former university professors and education specialists warned that growing ideological pressure and fear inside universities could further weaken Afghanistan’s already struggling higher education system.
“Pressure, intimidation and threats can have deeply negative impacts on society, specifically on students,” said Basir Ahmad Daneshyar, a former professor at Herat University. “Universities should provide an environment for growth, not discourage students by focusing on their appearance and personal beliefs.”
The Taliban’s Dawat wa Irshad departments operate in both public and private universities across Afghanistan and are tasked with enforcing their interpretation of Islamic law and social conduct.
The offices oversee religious seminars, ideological examinations, prayer leadership and monitoring of compliance with Taliban rules on campuses.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have steadily expanded restrictions across Afghanistan’s education sector, including bans on girls’ secondary and university education and tighter ideological control over curricula, faculty and student life.
Human rights groups and education advocates have repeatedly warned that increasing political and religious interference in universities risks accelerating the collapse of Afghanistan’s higher education system and driving more students and academics out of the country.
Afghanistan currently has about 40 public universities and 106 private universities with more than 208,000 students nationwide, according to available education data.
Previous reports have also documented growing pressure on students in some universities to adopt Taliban-approved religious practices and publicly affirm adherence to the Hanafi school of Islam.
