KABUL, Afghanistan — Bareheaded students were sent home from school Thursday because they were not wearing turbans as demanded by the ruling Taliban, who say the headdress is part of Islamic tradition.
The Taliban's reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, recently ordered all students to wear turbans after the third grade. The order took effect when the new school year began last week. Younger students are required to wear small caps.
"Wearing a turban is in keeping with the Islamic traditions of the prophet, who wore a turban," said Maulvi Mohammed Yunus Siddiqi, principal of Amani High School, who sent several bareheaded boys home.
With 2,200 students and 48 teachers, his boys-only school is one of the largest in the capital.
"One hundred percent tomorrow I will have one. It is Islamic," said Ahmed Shamshed, a ninth-grader who wandered the war-scarred halls of his high school after he was ejected from class.
In poor Afghanistan, ravaged by relentless war and drought, a turban appropriate for students costs about $1.25. More elaborate head wraps can cost up to $15. The average monthly salary in Afghanistan is about $10.
The hard-line Taliban, which rule 95 percent of Afghanistan, have imposed a harsh brand of Islam. Schools are open only to boys. Girls attend school until they are 8 years old, and only to study the Quran, the Muslim holy book.
Women must wear a garment called a burqa, that envelops them from head to toe. Men must wear untrimmed beards and head coverings. Government workers are required to wear turbans, because the Taliban says it was the headdress worn by Islam's prophet Mohammed in the seventh century.