On Wednesday May 30, President Emomail Rahmon laid the cornerstone for a new building of Islamic University named after Imam Abu Hanifa al-Nu’man bin Thabit in Dushanbe.
The main building of Islamic University will consist of five seven-story blocks, including educational buildings, administrative buildings, library, gym hall, dormitory, conference hall and cafeteria.
The new educational buildings will able to accommodate 1,500 students.
Established in 1991, the Tajik Islamic University now offers programs in the following disciplines: 1) Quran Studies; 2) Arabic Philology; 3) History of Islam and Other Religions; Theology and Philosophy of Islam; and 5) Islamic Sciences.
136 million somoni will be allocated for construction of new building of Islamic University, which will be built on Nizami Ganjavi Street, not far from Central Cathedral Mosque, construction of which is nearing completion.
Recall, President Emomali Rahmon began construction of Central Asia’s largest mosque not far from downtown Dushanbe in October 2011, a month after officially raising the country’s flag on the world’s tallest unsupported flagpole in Dushanbe.
The mosque will be able to accommodate up to 115,000 worshipers. When completed, Tajikistan will be home to the Central Asian largest mosque, dwarfing the Turkmenbashi mosque in neighboring Turkmenistan, which can hold 10,000 people.
Critics say the mosque is an extravagance and that the money would be better spent on poverty reduction.
