Mursal’s Voice for Change | Column 5

I am a girl from a land of war and silence, a place where being a girl is still a crime, where a woman’s voice gets lost within walls, and where her pain creates danger if she writes. But in the heart of this darkness, there is a light that refuses to die, giving hope and a chance to raise our voices and fight for our rights, a light called feminism.

According to the definition from  Encyclopedia Britannica, feminism is a social and intellectual movement that aims for full equality of political, economic, and social rights between women and men. 

But for me, feminism is not just a Western ideal or academic debate.  Feminism is a girl in Jawzjan who studies her books in secret, a woman in Kabul who works as a journalist, risking her life to tell the truth. In my belief, feminism is the right to choose, the right to choose one’s education, work, marriage, thoughts, faith, and even in silence. 

Many people in Afghanistan believe that the ideas of feminism came from the West, but history tells us that women in Afghanistan have fought for their rights since old times, and before any global feminist movements reached our borders. It has its own roots in our soil. During the time of King Amanulla Khan (1929-1919), his wife Queen Soraya was the very first woman in Afghanistan who worked and advocated for the rights of education and freedom of women. She established schools for girls and discoursed in public places, something without precedent for women in Afghanistan. In 1926, the Queen gave a speech on the anniversary of Afghanistan's independence. She said that: “independence belongs to all of us,” and asked a question, “Do you think our nation from the outset needs only men to serve it? Women should also take their part. This speech showed how she was concerned about women and their role in Afghanistan. She was the first woman who was formally demanding rights for women in Afghanistan, and her belief was that we, women, do not want to overtake men; we just want to walk alongside them. 

But even after the era of Amanullah, the struggle continued, this time not through government officials, but through ordinary Afghan women. Those living in villages who raised educated children, female teachers who kept classrooms alive even in the middle of wars, and mothers who fought quietly and bravely for the future of their daughters.  

After the return of the Taliban in 2021, millions of Afghan girls lost the right to get an education. According to a 2024 report from UNICEF, more than 1.5 million girls aredeprivedofeducationinAfghanistan.. According to another article published in The Guardian, women are not even allowed to speak in public places.  . But the fact is that you can close schools, not minds. I myself have seen girls continuing their studies in small groups inside homes and behind closed doors in my country. They might be silent now, but they are wiser, stronger, and more aware than ever before; this is what prevents them from giving up.

Some people believe that feminism goes against Islam, but I believe that Islam is the real defender of women. Our Prophet Muhammad himself emphasised the rights of women. The Prophet said, “Seeking Knowledge is obligatory upon every male and female.” 

When knowledge is obligatory in our religion, no one has the right to close the doors of schools. If Khadija, the wife of the Prophet, was a respected and successful businesswoman, why should women not be allowed to work today?

To me, feminism does not mean a separation from religion; it means restoring the dignity, respect, and rights that Islam itself has given to women. 

Today, darkness has covered the sky of Afghanistan for women, but in my belief, feminism is still alive. It is breathing inside every Afghan woman who still refuses to give up.

Malalai Joya, one of the bravest women in Afghanistan, wrote in her book ‘The Woman Who Will Not Be Silenced’: “But I do not fear death, I fear remaining silent in the face of injustice.” 

I also feel the same. I fear silence more than anything. I believe that silence is the slow and real death of a society, while speaking is the beginning of life for one. To me, feminism is the bravery to speak when no one wants to listen. It is the voice of a girl in Afghanistan who refuses to stay silent. 

I believe that the future of Afghanistan will change. Girls will write, read, and rebuild what was taken from them. No power can destroy awareness, because it takes root in the mind, in the book, and in the dreams of every Afghan girl. I believe that one day feminism will no longer need explanation because equality between women and men will no longer be just a political demand but a human truth. A day when no girl will fight for the right of education, a day when the voice of a woman will be considered as the voice of reason and wisdom, not a threat. On that day, we will no longer be suspended between fear and hope but will build the future of our country alongside men. 

I believe that day will come when Afghan girls are no longer victims, but the heroines of their own stories. 

This is what feminism means to me: Girls read, write, and live freely. 

Welcome to 'Mursal’s Voice for Change'

"Mursal’s Voice for Change” is a monthly column that sheds light on the untold stories of Afghan women and their struggles, both inside the country and in exile. Written from the perspective of Mursal Qaisari, an Afghan student of International Relations and writer who has lived through war, displacement, and resilience, the column explores the challenges of women’s rights, the pain of exile, and the hopes for a more just and equal world. Through personal reflections and broader narratives, it connects the realities of Afghan women and Afghanistan as a whole to the wider struggles faced by people across the globe.