Female Jihadis: Afghan Women Show Support for the Taliban - They Are Not Victims

On September 11, 2021, several hundred fully veiled Afghan women gathered in the amphitheater of a university in Kabul to express their support for the new Taliban and their sharia-adherent regime. It is dangerous and inaccurate for westerners to perceive these Muslim women as victims.

The women dressed in black niqabs and burkas. The burqa, which the Taliban has previously mandated, covers the entire face and eyes. Under Islamic law (Sharia), women are required to cover themselves.

The sharia-adherent women waved the flags of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as they listened to the speakers who had come to defend the new regime’s measures. They also marched along Taliban fighters waving their flags and chanting “Allahu Akbar,” which means that “Allah is greater” than any other god. 

“Women are safe under the Taliban’s control,” declared supporters. “We support our government with all our might,” shouted on the of the Sharia-adherent protesters. “The outgoing government abused women. Women were recruited only for their beauty.”

The speakers in the amphitheater of Shaheed Rabbani University criticized the women who had recently taken to the streets in recent days in Afghanistan to demand the Taliban respect their rights. They also defended the new executive, which banned all demonstrations unless authorized by the government.

A female student at the university, Shabana Omari, agreed with the Taliban’s policy that women should all wear their Islamic coverings stating, “Those who do not wear the veil hurt us, all of us.” Omari ended her speech by leading a chorus of “Allahu Akbar.”

Another speaker, Somaiya, expressed that things have changed for the better since the Taliban returned to power. 

“We will no longer see bihijabi (people not wearing a headscarf),” she said. “Women are safe. We support our government with all our might.” 

A number of women university and madrassa students on Saturday at a gathering in Kabul announced their support for the Taliban government and for the gender-based separation of classes. pic.twitter.com/rJNHhKylzf

— Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan (@IEAenglish1) September 11, 2021

At the end of the speeches, the demonstrators marched in the street waving placards on which one could read in particular, “the women who left Afghanistan cannot represent us” and “we are happy with the attitude and of the behavior of the Mujahideen .”

Taliban Women: Victims or Perpetrators?

The west often pains the picture of female jihadis as being naive, confused, or as victims. On the contrary, however, women are just as dedicated to jihadism as men.

Female jihadis play vital roles in Islamic organizations fighting for the cause of Islam and Islamic law worldwide. From birthing and indoctrinating the next generation of jihadists to financing, enabling, and committing acts of violence.

Many female jihadis in the last decade have attempted to and successfully carried out terrorist attacks in the west. They have also assisted men in the abduction, rape, torture, and slaughter of Yezidis and Christians in Iraq, Syria, and the Middle East. In addition, a 2017 report by the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service, titled “Jihadist women, a threat not to be underestimated” explains,

They pose a threat…by recruiting others, producing and disseminating propaganda, and raising funds. Moreover, they indoctrinate their children with jihadist ideology. Women form an essential part of the jihadist movement…”

In Osama bin Laden 1996 declaration of war against America and its allies, he praised women for their important role in their jihad,

Our women had set a tremendous example for generosity in the cause of Allah; they motivate and encourage their sons, brothers and husbands to fight for the cause of Allah in Afghanistan, BosniaHerzegovina, Chechnya and in other countries.

Our women only eulogize and sing the praises of the men fighting for God, as the following poem says: Extol only the lions who are brave in raging wars, let me die an honored death in war for glory in death is better than life itself.

They urge their brothers to go to jihad for Allah, as the following poem says: Be ready for struggle for this is a serious matter. Would you abandon us with all these wolves of heresy biting at our wings, wolves who continue to promote evil everywhere? Who among the freemen of my religion will defend freedom with arms? Death is better than life in humiliation and shame.

In 2009, the wife of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri penned “A letter to the Muslim sisters,” encouraging women not only to continue assisting their husbands in jihad but encourages them also to be suicide bombers, which she refers to as “martyrdom missions.”

In the seven-page letter, Omaima Hassan outlines the ways in which women can assist their men with jihad. She called supporting jihad “an obligation for all Muslims, men, and women.”

Omaima Hassan stressed to her fellow female jihadis the importance of indoctrinating and protecting male mujahideen’s children. However, she explains they should “fulfill whatever they [the commanders of jihad] ask of us, may it be through monetary aid to them or any service or information or suggestion or participation in fighting or even through a martyrdom operation.”

Despite the many dangerous roles females play within Islamic terrorist organizations, the West continues to paint them as victims and downplay their threat.