DUSHANBE, January 31, 2011, Asia-Plus — Attestations of imams of 17 mosques in Dushanbe, quizzing them on their knowledge of Islamic principles, will be held at the Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) under the Government of Tajikistan within the next few days.
The source at a CRA says imams who will fail a test will be given time to improve their knowledge of Islamic principles or removed from their positions.
We will recall that the commission charged by the government with assessing the professionalism of imam-khatibs vetted 242 imam-khatibs last year. Two imam-khatibs of Friday prayer mosques and 26 imam-khatibs of mosques for daily prayers failed the test and were given time to improve their knowledge of Islamic principles.
The source noted that election of imam-khatibs of Friday prayer mosques is held only after endorsement of candidacies by the CRA.
According to the statistical data from the CRA, Tajikistan now has 3,347 registered mosques for daily prayers, 327 Friday prayer mosques (larger facilities built for weekly Friday prayers) and 31 central mosques.
