DUSHANBE, February 20, Asia-Plus — Nineteen mosques for daily prayers in the Vahdat district have got permit to hold Friday prayer service.
Among them is the Muhammadiya Mosque in the village of Turkobod, some 30 kilometers east of Dushanbe. This mosque belongs to the Turajonzoda family and the functioning of the mosque was suspended on December 9, 2011 after Saidmukarram Abduqodirzoda, the head of the Council of Ulamo (a group of scholars and imams that provides interpretations of religious practice), accused the Turajonzoda brothers of commemorating the Ashura ceremony.
Solehjon Zavqiyev, the head of the department for religious organizations within the Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) under the Government of Tajikistan, has told Asia-Plus that ten mosques for daily prayers were granted permit last year to hold Friday prayer service. “Nine other regular mosques have been granted such a permit this year,” Zavqiyev said.
He added that the CRA is currently considering an offer by the Hisor local authorities to give permit for Friday prayer service to eight local mosques for daily prayers.
According to the statistical data from the Committee on Religious Affairs, Tajikistan now has 3,882 mosques.
Friday prayer is a congregational prayer that Muslims hold every Friday, just after noon in lieu of zuhr.
The Friday prayer is half the zuhr prayer, for convenience, preceded by a khutbah (a sermon) and followed by a congregational prayer, led by the imam. In most cases the khatib (a person who delivers the sermon during the Friday prayer) also serves as the imam. The khatib is usually the imam (prayer leader), but the two roles can be played by different people.
The communal prayers have higher compliance of worshippers, as compared to the non-communal ritual prayers.
