The de facto Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Amr bil Ma’ruf wa Nahi ‘an al-Munkar) has initiated a widespread “belief reform” (Eslah-e Akaid) examination targeting faculty members, department heads, and administrative staff across Kabul University.
A leaked copy of the 12-page examination document, obtained by Zawia News, reveals a comprehensive questionnaire designed to vet academic staff for ideological compliance with the regime’s strict interpretation of Hanafi jurisprudence and state doctrine. The testing process marks a significant escalation in central efforts to systematically reshape higher education institutions, replacing professional academic benchmarks with mandatory religious loyalty tests.
Systematic Ideological Screening and Faculty Displacement
According to university sources, failure to pass the standardized questionnaire or demonstrating views deemed inconsistent with state-approved theology carries severe professional consequences:
- 12-Page Ideological Audit: The examination queries academic and administrative personnel on fine points of religious creed, obedience to central leadership decrees, and strict behavioral codes, serving as a formal mechanism to screen existing staff.
- Marginalization of secular academics: Senior professors report that the exam is being utilized as an administrative tool to justify the termination or demotion of veteran scholars—particularly those holding foreign postgraduate degrees—and clear positions for regime-affiliated clerics.
- Erasure of Institutional Autonomy: Monitored directly by inspectors from the Vice and Virtue Ministry, the mandatory testing bypasses traditional academic Senate structures, transferring faculty oversight from academic peers to religious enforcement bodies.
Escalating Restructuring of Higher Education
The imposition of the “belief reform” test arrives alongside a broader, multi-year overhaul of Afghanistan’s higher education system. Over the past three years, de facto authorities have systematically reduced female faculty access, eliminated humanistic and social science disciplines, altered core syllabi, and replaced departing academics with madrasa graduates lacking traditional research credentials.
Education advocates and remaining faculty members warn that subjecting university professors to arbitrary theological screenings further dismantles the country’s higher education infrastructure, accelerating brain drain among remaining intellectuals and converting former research institutions into ideological training centers.