DUSHANBE, June 29, 2011, Asia-Plus — Some 60 topics deemed suitable for sermons are still being considered by the Council of Ulamo (an Islamic council that issues fatwas (religious rulings) and religious guidance to Islamic religious organizations) and the Tajik Islamic Institute.
Idibek Ziyoyev, head of the religious education department within the Committee on Religious (CRA), says that after consideration of the sermon topics by religious scholars they will compile the list of the sermon topics and deliver it to imam-khatibs and imam-khatibs have been instructed to conduct their sermons in keeping with the recommended topics.
According to him, subjects for sermons were proposed by imam-khatibs of Friday mosques (facilities built for weekly Friday prayers).
“The sermons are based on historical Islamic sources, including the most popular sermons dating to 17th and 18th centuries as well as hadiths,” said Ziyoyev, “The list of subjects for sermons focused mainly on virtues, such as respect for parents and kindness to neighbors, rights of women and children in Islam and so on.”
Mosque sermons in Tajikistan are conducted once a week, before Friday Prayers, and usually last for an hour. The sermons have become hugely popular in Tajikistan in recent years, and attract thousands of people. Some preachers have become so popular that people record their sermons, which make their way to wider audiences in the form of DVDs and CDs sold at the bazaars.
