Is Purdah part of Pashtoon Culture?

[pashtanajan]

Islam or Islamism is not the only responcible for this, if I am correct what is now Afghanistan had also a lot of influece from helenic culture, you can find a lot of budhas statues in greek cloths, and in greek society there was also the thing that women were not allowed to go outside, or go to school, they had actualy no rights at all. So you can say that they took that custome from them... Islam doesn't restrict women that much like our culture does with the Purdah, in Islam a women can go and seek education and be part of the society. In Pashtunwali this is almost not heard of.

But thank God this slowly changing, in a lot of Pashtun regions were girls going to school was unheard of, like Khost for example, grils are now going and are educating themself and becoming active participants of the society.

Where in Pashtunwali is mentioned that girls can't go to school?

The idea was brought into Afghanistan by wahabbis. Previously, education wasn't seen as an important institution by most Afghans, so both men and women barely went to school; but there wasn't any tradition directly against women going to school. Schools for females weren't bombed like they are today.

[RevolutionThroughReason]

Where in Pashtunwali is mentioned that girls can't go to school?

The idea was brought into Afghanistan by wahabbis. Previously, education wasn't seen as an important institution by most Afghans, so both men and women barely went to school; but there wasn't any tradition directly against women going to school. Schools for females weren't bombed like they are today.

Pashtunwali are cultural customs than some written doctrine. I mean you're right in one sense; but when people became settled in villages and towns. The stress of women being solely restricted to domestic enterprise was surely pushed. Only women who were some more privileged families had more leeway, but those women just wrote poems.

[pashtanajan]

Pashtunwali are cultural customs than some written doctrine. I mean you're right in one sense; but when people became settled in villages and towns. The stress of women being solely restricted to domestic enterprise was surely pushed. Only women who were some more privileged families had more leeway, but those women just wrote poems.

But cultural customs amongst Pashtuns vary. Pashtunwali are a set of codes that nearly all Pashtuns adhere to (or at least adhered to in the past). However, unwritten cultural customs have always varied amongst pashtuns. Women were (still are) perhaps prohibited from going to school in the more isolated villages in some regions of Afghanistan, but from what I know in Nangarhar, Laghman etc., women were never prohibited from going to school. In fact, education was always encouraged in these regions, even amongst the poor. Nonetheless, you can't deny that fundamentalism and extremism has grown in Afghanistan due to Wahhabi influence. Suicide bombing, mutilating women, etc., was unheard of in the past.

[RevolutionThroughReason]

But cultural customs amongst Pashtuns vary. Pashtunwali are a set of codes that nearly all Pashtuns adhere to (or at least adhered to in the past). However, unwritten cultural customs have always varied amongst pashtuns. Women were (still are) perhaps prohibited from going to school in the more isolated villages in some regions of Afghanistan, but from what I know in Nangarhar, Laghman etc., women were never prohibited from going to school. In fact, education was always encouraged in these regions, even amongst the poor. Nonetheless, you can't deny that fundamentalism and extremism has grown in Afghanistan due to Wahhabi influence. Suicide bombing, mutilating women, etc., was unheard of in the past.

certain custom vary sure, but the main ones stay pretty consistent. Ideas regarding female behavior and female roles for example are pretty constant. The only exceptions are people who have become more enlightened by education or by self reflection. As a normative pattern it was always there.

Wahhabism only galvanized that attitude.

what you're describing are policies that were "top down" meaning implemented by the royals who were trying to modernize Afghanistan.

[Khostai]

Where in Pashtunwali is mentioned that girls can't go to school?

The idea was brought into Afghanistan by wahabbis. Previously, education wasn't seen as an important institution by most Afghans, so both men and women barely went to school; but there wasn't any tradition directly against women going to school. Schools for females weren't bombed like they are today.

Nope this idea was among Afghans before wahabist, they recisted modern education for men, en for women they wanted no education at all and the fruits of theire backwardness brought us to this misseralble situation.

Its actulay after the saur rvolution a lot of Pashtun who moved to Kabul wanted there daughters to get educated but in the major villages and small towns it was the same mentality as before.

And Pashtunwali is culture, its not a religion that it is written somewhere its culture, and like I said its is now changing and a lot of Pashtuns now also want their daughters to go to school and get educated, that is what I hear from my family in Khost and other people in Afghanistan....

[Khostai]

But cultural customs amongst Pashtuns vary. Pashtunwali are a set of codes that nearly all Pashtuns adhere to (or at least adhered to in the past). However, unwritten cultural customs have always varied amongst pashtuns. Women were (still are) perhaps prohibited from going to school in the more isolated villages in some regions of Afghanistan, but from what I know in Nangarhar, Laghman etc., women were never prohibited from going to school. In fact, education was always encouraged in these regions, even amongst the poor. Nonetheless, you can't deny that fundamentalism and extremism has grown in Afghanistan due to Wahhabi influence. Suicide bombing, mutilating women, etc., was unheard of in the past.

Oke yes you are right about the stoning mutilation and that stuff this thing never happend before, the arab brought them to Afghanistan, but the education for women was still kind of restricted......

[Khailzai]

The slow march of Education

A lot of interesting points raised.
Although going off-topic, I think one of the dilemmas for women education in our rural societies is that if for instance the girl studies and becomes a doctor, in my experience, she usually does not want to marry a cousin or relative who is lesser educated e.g. a farmer or driver. Whereas if there is a boy who becomes a doctor he does not mind marrying a girl who would be a less educated or uneducated and would not work and be a housewife.

As more boys / men become educated they naturally will want educated wives and so girls start becoming educated. I have seen this transition in my own Pashtun village. It is slow, but sure. People naturally and happily accept it.

My father and his brothers were the first in our village to pursue education and when my grandfather encouraged them to study, a lot of his relatives told him he was “wasting his time” and that by educating them his family would become “weak” and would not be able to fight!

However, they persisted with their studies, ended up getting good jobs and when others saw this and the wealth associated with this pursuit they started to educate their boys. Now people are educating their girls because now men want wives with some education.

The problem with the West is that they want things to happen in Afghanistan overnight that took centuries to occur in the UK or Europe / America.

It says in the Quran, "Truly, God does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” (Quran 13:11)

The change will occur slowly but surely and then it will stay.