Sixteen imam-khatibs ((worship leaders of Friday mosques) have been dismissed in the northern Sughd province since the beginning of this year. They have reportedly been dismissed for failing to undergo reregistration or for not matching the position.
In a report released at a news conference in Khujand, the head of the Sughd department on religious affairs, Suhrob Rustamzoda, noted on August 2 that imam-khatibs of sixteen mosques have been dismissed over the first six months of this year for failing to undergo reregistration or for not matching the position and their deputies are currently fulfilling their duties.
“Preference is given to graduates of our higher educational institutions,” Rustamzoda said.
According to him, among the dismissed imam-khatibs are three each from Bobojon-Ghafourov and Isfara, two from Panjakent, and one each from Khujand, Zafarobod, Istaravshan, Konibodom, Mastchoh, Guliston, Asht, Spitamen and Jabbor-Rasoulov.
He further added that imam of the five-time-daily prayer mosque in the Choruk-Darron settlement, Ilhomiddin Abdulloyev, 42, had been sentenced to 5 ½ year in prison for membership in the banned Salafi group and for calling on parishioners to join that extremist group.
Recall, imam-khatibs of 20 Friday mosques in the Sughd province were jailed for membership in the Muslim Brotherhood organization.
Meanwhile, Rustamzoda also told reporters in Khujand yesterday that all five local madrasahs have still remained closed.
Tajik authorities suspended teaching at five madrasahs in the northern part of the country in June 2013.
The madrasahs were temporarily suspended because they failed to receive operating licenses from the ministry of education. The ministry has reportedly not granted licenses for resumption of functioning of the madrasahs because their rules do not meet requirements set for studying in a madrasah.
There were six madrasahs in Tajikistan and five of them were functioning in Sughd province. In Sughd, the madrasahs were functioning in Istaravshan, Khujand, Konibodom, Panjakent and Bobojon-Ghafourov. A total of 300 students studied at these madrasahs.
