“The education that we say is obligatory at every stage for both men and women is religious education, not other education,” he said.

KABUL, JUL 26: Mohammad Hashim Shaheed Wror, General Director of the Invitation and Guidance Directorate (an independent body that determines religious policies within the interim government), said that modern education is not obligatory but Islamic education is obligatory for both men and women.

“The education that we say is obligatory at every stage for both men and women is religious education, not other education,” he said.

Speaking at a gathering in Kabul, Shaheed Wror also said that the necktie originated from the Christian cross and that it is “ordered in Shariah that you should break it and eliminate it.”

“The history of (the necktie) is obvious in Islam. What is a tie? It is the cross. The cross looks like this. It is ordered in Shariah that you should break it and eliminate it,” he said. “The cross is a symbol of pagans. The cross is the symbol of Jesus’ martyrdom. They say Jesus was hung like this.”

Meanwhile, speaking at the same gathering, the deputy Minister of Higher Education, Mohammad Tahir Ahmadi, said that learning modern education is also obligatory and that the Afghans need to learn it.

“The education that this Muslim nation needs is obligatory and through it the people can be saved from poverty, misery and other problems, so getting an education that rescues a human from misery is obligatory,” he said.

“An educated human is thousands of times better than an individual who is not educated,” said Amir Jan Saqib, deputy head of the Academy of Science.

Mohammad Hasham Shaheed Wror also said that doctor’s lack Islamic lessons and they perform haram acts and that the treatment of women by the male doctors is haram (prohibited).