Muslim world but are rapidly increasing. In the Eastern Middle East, Iran has a high level of youth literacy at 98%, whereas Iraq's youth literacy rate has sharply declined from 85% to 57%, during the American-led war and subsequent occupation. Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country in the world, has a very high youth literacy rate at 99%. In Afghanistan, seminaries are operated by politically active religious organizations and have taken the place of basic education not provided and funded by the government. A 2016 Pew Research Center study about religion and education around the world found that Muslims have the lowest average
Female labor force in the Muslim world in majority Muslim nations. Academic literature is mixed on this subject, however. Some scholars do not believe that gender inequality in majority Muslim states is a product of Islam. Feminist sociologist Valentine Moghadam has written extensively on gender inequality, including employment inequality, in the Muslim World. According to Moghadam, women are victims of clear political, economic, and social disparities in many Islamic countries which create gender distinctions within the public and private spheres. This inhibits the ability of women to participate in the government or to advance in the private sector. Moghadam specifically points to low female labor force participation