Educating Girls Is an Islamic Obligation

Girls have an intrinsic right to education. This simple truth should be abiding and nonnegotiable. Yet reactionary forces, warping Islamic teaching, too often limit or deny girls their education. This is cruel and defies the core tenets of the world's second-largest religion. Educating girls is not heresy; it is consistent with the faith's first command. The Quran's first word revealed to the Prophet Muhammad was "read." It then identified al-insaan -- the gender-neutral Arabic term for human -- as the recipient of God's teachings. Reading is the tool, and knowledge is the objective, for all Muslims, regardless of sex.