An imam at a Dushanbe mosque has been detained on extremism charges after he called a late Islamic cleric “one of great leaders of the country,” Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on April 22.
State media outlets reported on April 22 that 44-year-old Imam-khatib Abdulhaq Obidov (aka Makhsumi Abdulhaq) from a mosque in Dushanbe's Shohmansur district had been detained on suspicion of being a follower of the Salafi branch of Islam, which has been labeled as extremist and banned in the Central Asian country.
The State Committee for National Security said on April 22 that Obidov was detained along with four other men on unspecified criminal charges.
The day before, the website Bomdod reported that Obidov was detained after a speech he delivered last week at the burial ceremony of well-known Islamic cleric Domullo Hikmatullo Tojikobodi, during which he called him a great leader of Tajikistan.
Bomdod cited sources in Tajikistan's law enforcement structures as saying that authorities considered Obidov's statement as questioning the official title of authoritarian President Emomali Rahmon, who, in accordance with a 2016 law, is officially known as the leader of the nation.
