DUSHANBE, June 30, 2008, Asia-Plus — The Sughd authorities are taking measures to toughen control over activities the unregistered Islamic group of Salafi sect in the province, the Sughd regional prosecutor Khairullo Saidov said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, such a decision was taken at a meeting of senior representatives of local authorities, Khujand mayor’s office and the law enforcement agencies that was held in Khujand at the end of last week.
Many countries formally labeled the Islamic group of Salafi sect as an extremist organization; however, in Tajikistan, Salafis are not officially banned because they have not yet been involved in any illegal actions and security violations, the prosecutor said.
Saidov said that that the majority members of the Salafi sect in northern Tajikistan and are young people.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the Sughd police directorate chief Abdurahim Qahhorov said that Salafis do not pose threat to the country’s security, however, their activities are under control because they “share ideas of Wahhabits.”
The International Religious Freedom Report 2007 released by the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor noted that in 2006, a new unregistered Islamic group of the Salafi sect began worshipping in Friday mosques in Dushanbe, Sughd, and Khatlon. An estimated 5,000 Salafis practice in Dushanbe without interference from other Muslims or the Government.
Salafism is a Sunni Islamic school of thought that takes the pious ancestors (Salaf) of the patristic period of early Islam as exemplary models.
Salafis view the first three generations of Muslims, who are Muhammad”s companions, and the two succeeding generations after them as examples of how Islam should be practiced. This principle is derived from the following Sunni hadith by Muhammad: The people of my generation are the best, then those who follow them, and then those who follow the latter (i.e. the first three generations of Muslims)
The principal tenet of Salafism is that Islam was perfect and complete during the days of Muhammad and his companions, but that undesirable innovations have been added over the later centuries due to materialist and cultural influences. Salafism seeks to revive a practice of Islam that more closely resembles the religion during the time of Muhammad. S
alafism has also been described as a simplified version of Islam, in which adherents follow a few commands and practices.
Salafism is often used interchangeably with “Wahhabism”. Adherents usually reject this term because it is considered derogatory and because they believe that Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab did not establish a new school of thought nor self-describe themselves as such.
