This is like a second thread already on the same thing. Are you sincerely inquiring of what Islam teaches or are you just intending to flame on and flame on.
Who is the taliban? Can you identify a person if they are walking and say they are a taliban. Or will you say anyone brown skin and a 'towel head' is a taliban.
I've watched several documentaries and interviews of the Taliban and what they say and how they live is completely contrary to what the media portrays.
The media megalith is out and about with a political agenda, strongly anti-islam. My major is computer animation/media and I studied how to influence people via media and how the whole shenanigans works. That's why I deplore the mainstream media.
It is a tool that can educate, it is a tool that can brainwash, it is a tool that can inform and it is a tool that can misinform, depending on who is wielding that power and to what purpose. There are Muslim channels that showcase what Islam is and what Muslims are but you don't even know about them, all you know is, abc, bbc, cbc, nbc, cnn, fox, and all the other deriatives pretty much owned and operated by the same 4 or so giant media owners.
Everything is labeled 'taliban' if some atrocity is done, if drugs are sold by some 'muslims', if someone is killed, if someone is raped, if someone had acid thrown on them.
Now that out of the way Islam is quite clear, throughout the qur'an imploring mankind (men and women) to learn, to think, to use their God given intellect, to seek knowledge, to ponder, etc...
Muhammad (pbuh) did the same thing, even after one of the battles against the pagans when Muslims captured prisoners of war, in exchange for their freedom they were offered to teach Muslims how to read and write. Education was a rare thing at the time. Hence as Islam spread, wherever Muslims spread, knowledge was key! Hence why the islamic golden age basically gathered, improved and spread knowledge globally. Knowledge is important for Muslims, even if unfortunately there are people who ignorantly are following pre-islamic tribal cultures today.
Pakistan, India, some parts of Arab countries, some places in Africa, they hold onto pre-islamic practices and cultures while still being 'muslim', while Islam overrides all these non-sense beliefs... unfortunately people are not educated in Islam and are just cultural. That was in fact one of the things I had to confront after becoming Muslim, dealing with Muslims who did not have as much knowledge of islam, too much pride (in race/culture/nationality) and not following islam.
You can't seem to differentiate between the two and thus put islam on trial. Even before being Muslim I had a problem with this. Whenever some news came about "honor killings" in Pakistan it was blaring 24/7 on tv. And I KNEW this was not because of islam but because of backwardness of certain people following preislamic cultural practices/beliefs.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "The seeking of knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim." - Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 74
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “One who treads a path in search of knowledge has his path to Paradise made easy by God…” - Riyadh us-Saleheen, 245
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "A servant of God will remain standing on the Day of Judgment until he is questioned about his (time on earth) and how he used it; about his knowledge and how he utilized it; about his wealth and from where he acquired it and in what (activities) he spent it; and about his body and how he used it." - Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 148
The Prophet also said: "Knowledge from which no benefit is derived is like a treasure out of which nothing is spent in the cause of God." - Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 108
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "God, His angels and all those in Heavens and on Earth, even ants in their hills and fish in the water, call down blessings on those who instruct others in beneficial knowledge." - Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 422
The Prophet also said: "Acquire knowledge and impart it to the people." - Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 107
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, God will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge. The inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and (even) the fish in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of the learned over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave (no monetary inheritance), they leave only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion. - Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 1631