Date: 10/07/1404
University professors who do not maintain a beard or comply with Taliban-style dress codes are being denied academic promotion. The Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has ruled that any university lecturer who does not adhere to the group’s requirements regarding attire and facial hair will be barred from academic advancement. According to an official document obtained by Afghanistan International, the promotion of professors whose “conduct and appearance are not in accordance with Sharia” will be suspended.
The ministry’s official letter states that the issue of suspending academic promotions for university professors was discussed in the Leadership Council of the Ministry. Based on the council’s decision, “the academic staff whose conduct and appearance do not comply with Sharia shall have their promotion files postponed.”
The document instructs university presidents not to submit promotion files to the Ministry of Higher Education until they have verified the “conduct and appearance” of their academic staff.
With the beginning of the new academic year 1404, the Taliban issued specific directives regarding the dress and behaviour of professors and students. These guidelines reflect the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic Sharia and their highly conservative cultural norms.
According to the directive, university students and professors must wear traditional perahan tunban, cover their heads with a cap or turban, and refrain from trimming their beards.
The Taliban Ministry of Education has also enforced these strict regulations in boys’ schools.
Students and university attendees who do not comply with these rules are barred from entering classrooms.
Since the Taliban’s takeover in Asad 1400 (August 2021), Afghanistan’s universities have undergone extensive changes. Female students are no longer allowed to attend universities, and the higher education curriculum has been heavily altered and censored.
Hundreds of university professors and academic staff have fled the country, while the Taliban have imposed stringent social and religious control over higher education institutions.

This entry documents a directive by the Ministry of Higher Education conditioning academic promotion on compliance with Taliban-imposed dress and appearance requirements, including maintaining a beard and adhering to prescribed attire. According to the directive, university leadership must verify that academic staff conform to these standards before submitting promotion files, and the promotion of those deemed non-compliant is to be suspended. The measure reflects the institutionalization of morality-based criteria within academic governance, linking professional advancement to personal conduct and appearance in line with the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia. It further reinforces the extension of ideological and social control over higher education institutions and academic personnel.