Worrying about radical Islam, Tajik authorities are continuing to target ‘illegal’ mosques. 1,938 ‘illegal’ mosques have reportedly been shut down in Tajikistan. All of them have been converted into social facilities such as medical centers, kindergartens, teahouses (chiakhana), etc.
In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Sulaimon Davlatzoda, the head of the Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) under the Government of Tajikistan, noted on February 5 that those mosques have been shut down for lack of documents on land, on which they have been built.
“Moreover, some of them have not been registered as religious organizations,” the CRA head said.
231 other mosques have been given time to process all necessary documents, Davlatzoda added.
According to data from the CRA, Tajikistan has 48 central mosque, 3,528 "five-time" prayer mosques, 326 Friday prayer mosques (larger facilities built for weekly Friday prayers), three Ismaili centers, and 67 non-Muslim religious associations.
A government campaign to shut down unofficial mosques in Tajikistan appears to be driven by fears some of them may be used to preach Islamic fundamentalism.
The authorities cite a law on religion passed in 2009 which included the requirement that only purpose-built premises can qualify as places of worship, and set specific criteria for whether a community is entitled to build one. The law also sparked a process where religious institutions of all kinds had to re-register with the government.
Meanwhile, the CRA head told reporters on February 5 that 3,694 Tajik students were illegally studying at foreign religious schools last year.
“That means that they were studying at those religious schools without permission of the Ministry of Education of Tajikistan,” Davlatzoda said, noting that 3,077 of those students have been returned to Tajikistan.
Recall, the return of the Tajik students from Muslim countries began in August-September 2010 after President Emomali Rahmon said students at illegal Islamic schools too often “fall under the influence of extremists.” Rahmon advised parents to bring their children back to Tajikistan.
