DUSHANBE, February 7, 2012, Asia-Plus — Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda, the head of the Council of Ulamo (a group of scholars and imams that provides interpretations of religious practice), has refused to accept terms offered by the Turajonzoda brothers for reconciliation.
Hearing over defamation lawsuit filed by Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda, a prominent Tajik religious figure, against Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda, was continued on February 6.
Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda refused to accept terms offered by the Turajonzoda brothers for reconciliation and withdrawal of lawsuit by the Turajonzoda brothers.
Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda told reporters yesterday that according to the defendant, members of the Council of Ulamo had refused to meet again because they were not going to change the adopted decision. “I do not believe in this. We know the majority of members of the Council of Ulamo and they said that they are ready to express their opinion at the meeting,” said Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda. “We will demand that all members of the Council of Ulamo are invited to the hearing.”
The head of the Council of Ulamo again refrained from making any comment.
The next hearing is scheduled for February 8.
The trial of the case pitting Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda, a prominent Tajik religious figure, against Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda began in a court of Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district on January 26.
The judge presiding over the trial offered the Turajonzoda brothers and Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda to come to an agreement. After discussion of conditions for reconciliation the sides reportedly agreed to take necessary efforts to come to an agreement.
Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda told reporters after the hearing that they were ready to withdraw the lawsuit if the defendant fulfilled three conditions.
“Firstly, the mufti and the Council of Ulamo must disavow the statement accusing us of performing the Ashura ritual and the Council of Ulamo must make a statement that the previous one was invalid; secondly, the Muhammadiya Mosque must be reopened for parishioners and attending Friday prayers; and thirdly, our bother will reestablished as imam-khatib of this mosque,” Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda said.
According to him, the defendants should also invite them to the meeting of the Council of Ulamo that will release the new statement.
Eshon Nouriddinjon Turajonzoda also expressed satisfaction with the proposal of the judge and expressed home that the sides would come to an agreement.
Lawyer Buzurgmehr Yorov, representing the Turajonzoda brothers in the trial, told journalists that Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda had agreed to discuss the conditions for reconciliation and withdrawal of lawsuit by the Turajonzoda brothers.
As far as Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda is concerned, he refrained from making any comment.
We will recall that Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda filed a defamation lawsuit against Abduqodirzoda on December 20.
Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda, and his brothers, Nouriddinjon and Muhammadjon, came under pressure from the authorities in early December.
On December 6, 2011, the Council of Ulamo accused the Turajonzoda brothers of commemorating the Ashura ceremony, which is commemorated by Shi’a Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad.
The statement by the Council of Ulamo alleged that Nouriddinjon and Muhammadjon performed the Ashura ritual at the Muhammadiya Mosque on December 2.
“We are surprised that the ritual [of Ashura] was performed by members of the prominent religious family of Turajonzoda who claim to belong to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam,” the statement said, adding “This ritual is entirely in contradiction to the Hanafi tradition…”
Responding to the statement, Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda said that none of his brothers had commemorated the Ashura ceremony. He also noted that the statement attributed to the Council of Ulamo was invalid because several members of the council had called him and insisted that they had not signed the document. According to Turajonzoda, the statement was part of an effort aimed at “discrediting his family in the eyes of President Emomali Rahmon.”
The authorities have suspended the functioning of the Muhammadiya Mosque in the Vahdat district for three months. Turajonzoda, told Asia-Plus that the Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) under the Government of Tajikistan stated on December 9 that the functioning of the mosque has been suspended for celebration of the Ashura ceremony.
The Muhammadiya Mosque in the village of Turkobod, some 30 kilometers east of Dushanbe, belongs to the Turajonzoda family. Muhammadjon Turajonzoda served as the mosque’s imam after the elder brother, Nouriddinjon, had been forced by the authorities to resign in January 2011.
The Day of Ashura is on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar and marks the climax of the Remembrance of Muharram. It is commemorated by Shi’a Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram in the year 61 AH (October 10, 680 AD). According to Sunni Muslim tradition, Muhammad fasted on this day and asked other people to fast. In some Shi”a regions of Muslim countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Bahrain, the Commemoration of Husayn ibn Ali has become a national holiday and most ethnic and religious communities participate in it. Even in predominantly Hindu country like India, Ashura (10th day in the month of Muharram) is a public holiday.
