DUSHANBE, July 2, 2013, Asia-Plus — Idibek Ziyoyev, former Vice-Chancellor of the Tajik Islamic Institute has set his hopes on the upcoming meeting of President Emomali Rahmon with clerics.
“This meeting is important and I expect changes and new approach to all religious issues,” Ziyoyev told Asia-Plus in an interview.
He considers that the issue of raising level of education of clerics themselves should be raised at the meeting. Clerics should go with the times, while our clerics have failed to keep pace with the times, Ziyoyev noted.
“We have many issues to solve, including the problems of religious education,” said Ziyoyev. “We are now behind Russia and Kazakhstan in terms of religious education. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have introduced scientific degrees in theology. We must upgrade the basis we have. We should provide our religious educational institutions with modern equipment, libraries, and electronic books in order to train proper religious personnel.”
According to him, the problem of personnel shortages in Tajikistan results from the low level of wages. “Wages in higher educational institutions are low, and therefore, nobody wants to work with them,” said Ziyoyev. “Employees of madrasahs and mosques live only on donations.”
Meanwhile, some local experts suppose that setting salaries for imam-khatibs (leaders of congregational prayer in mosque) will be one the major topics of the upcoming meeting of the president with clerics.
Muzaffar Olimov, Director of the Research Center “Sharq,” says that setting salaries for imam-khatibs will run counter to the country’s Constitution, which separates Religion and State. “It will be the government interference with religion,” said the expert. “But if the authorities decide to do so, we should explain this to the population or at least carry out referenda in order to change that part of the Constitution, which concerns this issue.”
We will recall that Mavlon Mukhtorov, the deputy head of the Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) under the Government of Tajikistan told Asia-Plus last March that the is currently considering the issue of setting salaries for imam-khatibs, following an order by President Emomali Rahmon. “The funds will be earmarked by the national budget,” Mukhtorov said. At present imam-khatibs live on donations made by parishioners.
