DUSHANBE, July 5, 2013, Asia-Plus – On Thursday July 4, President Emomali Rahmon met with clerics. The meeting was held at the Kokhi Vahdat State Complex.
Imam-khatibs (leaders of congregational prayer in mosque), sarkhatibs (incumbents of the mosque), members of the Shuroi Ulemo (A council that issues fatwas and religious guidance to Islamic religious organizations), senior representatives from the Committee on Religious Affairs as well as teachers and students from the Tajik Islamic Institute attended the meeting.
Speaking at the meeting, Emomali Rahmon noted that he had ordered to provide official salaries for imam-khatibs and sarkhatibs.
He noted that he had ordered the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) jointly with other relevant bodies to solve the issue and imam-khatibs would receive official salaries starting from the beginning of next year.
“I have set an official salary for you so that you would not be in need of those 100 dollars those from abroad are giving or attempting to give you,” said Rahmon. “Giving you 100 dollars, they will ask you for hundred services.”
The president also noted that besides the religious activity, imam khatibs should have any other specialty.
He also offered to design dress code for clerics embroidered with national symbols.
President Rahmon ordered the Islamic Center and the CRA to design the dress code for imam-khatibs embroidered with national symbols before the end of this year.
It should be noted that imam-khatibs and sarkhatibs had been obliged to have uniform dress for the meeting with President Emomali Rahmon.
The uniform dresses for them were sewn at the Yoqout-2000 clothing factory in Dushanbe. One of sarkhatibs said that uniforms cost 435 somoni per sarkhatib and 320 somoni per imam-khatib.
Meanwhile, 15 imam-khatibs spoke at the meeting, and five of them raised the issue of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP).
Religion does not have need in political parties, they said, noting that there ought to remove the word “Islamic” from the name of the Islamic Revival Party.
According to them, IRP activists say that those who do not join the IRP are not Muslims. “Political party must be engaged in politics but not to speak on behalf of Islam,” they said.
President Rahmon noted that specialists would study that issue.
