Despite Its Muslim Majority: How the Tajik Government Is Fighting Islam as a Faith and Identity

As part of a series of new laws that claim to be aimed at "strengthening national identity" and preventing "superstition and extremism," Tajikistan’s authoritarian government, located in Central Asia, has passed strict restrictions on wearing the hijab in certain public places.

This decision sparked great outrage in the central Asian country of approximately 10 million people, 98% identify as Muslim, according to research by the Pew Research Group.

The recent ban on hijab has led some to ask: Why such Islamophobic restrictions are imposed in Tajikistan, a country where Islam is an inherent part of its history and national identity?

Observers also found that this measure represents a new restriction on religious freedoms and a reflection of the political line pursued by the government since 1997.

Tajikistan is bordered to the east by China, to the south by Afghanistan, to the west by Uzbekistan, and to the north by Kyrgyzstan.

Although the state is an official member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, its secular government, led by President Emomali Rahmon, took an anti-religious stance and restricted all Muslims, to the point of persecution.

Repressive Policies

Tajikistan’s government, known for its repressive policy and cruelty against all Muslims in the country, imposed strict new restrictions on Islamic manifestations in the country, sparking a state of intense anger among Muslims inside and outside the country.

In a provocative move, the Tajik Parliament issued a law prohibiting wearing the hijab and celebrating Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in the country, under the pretext of supporting “national culture and traditions, in confronting foreign cultures, and fighting religious extremism.”

The bill was passed by the lower house of the Parliament on May 8, and approved by the upper house on June 19, after Eid celebrations. 

Tajikistan’s president Emomali Rahmon also decided to ban the entry of veiled women into several places, including schools, public places, government hospitals, and religious institutions.

He had signed 35 laws, including a new version of the laws related to regulating the wearing of clothing foreign to the national culture, celebrations and rituals, the responsibility of parents for teaching and raising children, and prohibiting children’s celebrations on Islamic holidays.

He also explained that “deviating from the etiquette and rituals of dress constitutes cultural alienation that undermines the independence of thought and the national and cultural identity of the Tajik nation, pointing out that national clothing has received global recognition, including from UNESCO.”

It is noteworthy that the recent measures in the Asian country are an extension of long years of oppression and harassment of all Muslims, who constitute the majority of the population.

According to media reports, under the newly enacted legislation, individuals could face fines up to $740, while legal entities could be fined $5,400. Government officials and religious authorities face even higher penalties.

At the end of last May, another law was also issued in Tajikistan prohibiting the wearing of the niqab and burqa by women, considering that this decision aims to “strengthen national culture and traditions to confront imported culture and combat religious extremism.”

The law stipulates that any woman wearing the niqab will be fined $322.

Although citizens in Tajikistan are entitled to freedom of belief, the government, starting in 2010, implemented a series of measures to confront what it calls “the phenomenon of religious extremism.”

The Parental Responsibility Law, which entered into force in 2011, penalizes parents who send their children to religious educational institutions outside the country, while those under the age of 18 are prohibited from entering places of worship without the permission of their families, according to the same law.

The report of the Religious Affairs Committee of Tajikistan in 2017 also indicated the closure of 1,938 mosques in just one year, as these places were converted into cafes and medical centers.

In 2007, Tajikistan’s government began with a ban on hijabs in educational settings, later expanding it to all other public institutions.

Tough Approach

After a peace deal to end a five-year civil war in 1997, Rahmon - who had been in power since 1994 - found a way to coexist with the opposition Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), which was granted a series of concessions.

According to the UN-brokered agreement, representatives of the IRPT shared 30% of the government.

The IRPT was recognized as the first political party during the post-Soviet era to be based on Islamic values in Central Asia.

However, Rahmon managed to keep the Tajikistan Islamic Revival Party out of power even though the party became more secular over time.

In 2015, he managed to completely shut down the Party of Islamic Liberation and classify it as a terrorist organization after he claimed that the party had participated in a failed coup attempt.

According to the Asia Plus website, there is a ban on learning the Islamic religion, as there are no religious science courses in the educational system from the primary stage to the university, and studying Islamic sciences abroad is strictly prohibited.

On May 10, 2015, Parliament passed a bill banning names of Arabic origin, including those symbolizing objects, plants, and animals.

Several reports indicated that in early 2016, police in Tajikistan’s government carried out a campaign to shave the beards of 13,000 men as part of claims to combat extremism and also forced more than a thousand women to remove their hijab.

In December 2016, Parliament granted Rahmon and his family lifelong immunity from the judiciary, naming him Leader of the Nation and Founder of Peace and Unity in Tajikistan.

Following his return from Umrah in 2016, Rahmon tightened restrictions on citizens wishing to perform the Hajj or Umrah, in a new attempt to separate Muslims from their religious traditions.

Religious Violation

The Union of Muslim Scholars condemned the attempts to change the identity of the Muslim people and their Islamic law in Tajikistan, indicating that these attempts are doomed to failure, as happened in other countries in previous times.

It called on officials to change this policy, respect the principles of Islam, and leave freedom to the Muslim Tajik people who preserved their religion even under communist rule.

“History is a witness that advanced civilization was not and will not be built by injustice, tyranny, dictatorship, but rather was built by knowledge, justice, conviction, responsible freedom, and creativity,” the statement said.

America's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has condemned Tajikistan's new legislation that seeks to prohibit the wearing of the hijab.

CAIR's Research and Advocacy Director, Corey Saylor, expressed concern over the implications of such a law, denouncing it as a severe violation of religious liberties.

“We condemn this draconian, repressive law and urge the Tajik government to reverse this decision,” he said.

On their part, human rights organizations criticized the hijab ban in Tajikistan, considering it a violation of religious freedom in a Muslim-majority country.

In turn, Sheikh Mustafa al-Khatib explained, in a statement to Al-Estiklal, that the hijab is not just a garment, but rather a symbol of respect for Muslim women in Islam and to protect them from all forms of harassment.

He called on the government of Tajikistan to engage in dialogue with the Muslim community and find a peaceful and respectful solution, calling on it to reconsider its strict measures against the country’s Muslims, and to put forward a more comprehensive approach that respects religious rights.