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Domestic education has been banned, which forced Islamic teachers to go un-
derground and organise small secret study groups, as was the case in the Soviet
period. Other forms of religious education have also come under increasing pres-
sure. Religion can be taught at registered institutions only, such as mosques or
madrasa, although the last one was closed in 2016. There is only one Islamic Uni-
versity in the country, located in Dushanbe, named
after Imam Azam Abu Hanifa, and a school for girls
attached to this institution.
In an attempt to further constrain Islam’s social
impact, the government banned children under the
age of 18 from attending mosques and participating in
religious activities outside of the family. While women
were never welcomed in mosques in Central Asia, the
tradition was challenged by the IRPT and other modernists in the post-war period,
and a limited number of places became available for women to pray. Now, how-
ever, all of them have been closed down by the authorities and women’s religious
activities have been again limited to attending holy places (mazars).
In 2010 Tajikistan’s president, Emomali Rahmon, called for all Tajiks studying
at Islamic universities and madrasas abroad to return to the country, which he saw
as a necessary means to protect the youth from the influence of radical Islamic
ideologies. Prior to this decision, there were more Tajiks studying Islam abroad
than any other nation from Central Asia. They attended religious schools in Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran. Undoubtedly, there were people who studied in
madrasas which spread radical ideas linked to some terrorist organisations. How-
ever, the purpose of the policy was not to fight extremism, but any potential threat
to the authority and influence of local religious leaders.
At the same time, the state has not offered any alternative religious programmes
be it at home or abroad. Moreover, the government introduced a ban on religious
groups which have been classified as terrorist and extremist, such as the Salafi groups,
the Islamic Movement of Turkestan, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and even the proselytic, but
quite neutral, Jamaati Tabligh, without an effort to verify the nature of their activities.
Recently, the list has also been complemented by the IRPT and Group 24, despite
the fact that the latter has a rather loose connection to religion in its programme.No more beardsIn its hunt to locate extremists and enemies of the state, the Tajik government
introduced a ban on loud wailing, wearing black clothes and other mourning prac-Religion can be
taught at registered
institutions only,
such as mosques
or madrasa.Opinion & Analysis In search of the enemies of the state, Anna Cieślewska