Muslims Under Siege in Tajikistan: Harsh Policies and Absolute Suppression

The oppression of Muslims in Tajikistan has escalated with the government taking additional controversial measures. On May 30, 2024, the Tajikistan government, notorious for its repressive policies against Muslims, imposed strict new restrictions on Islamic practices.

Repressive Steps

In a provocative move, the Tajik parliament passed a law banning women from wearing burqas and niqabs, citing support for national culture and traditions in the face of foreign cultures and combating religious extremism.

The new law stipulates a fine of 3,500 somoni (equivalent to $322) for any woman wearing a burqa.

This has been seen as a new chapter in the ongoing persecution of Muslims, which has garnered international and local human rights attention.

These recent measures are an extension of years of repression and restrictions on Muslims, who constitute the majority of the population in this central Asian country.

Why does the Tajik regime persecute Muslims? What justification does it have? How does it suppress Islam as a belief and identity there? What are the local reactions to these measures?

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

With a total area of ​​143,100 square kilometers, its capital is Dushanbe, and Islam is the predominant religion, representing about 90% of the population.

In addition to Muslims, there are Ismaili, Christian, and Jewish minorities, and the population speaks Tajik, with some also speaking Russian due to its long history of Soviet occupation.

Tajikistan officially declared independence from the Soviet Union on September 9, 1991, and became an independent republic.

Despite being an official member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, its secular government under President Emomali Rahmon has taken an anti-religious stance and imposed severe restrictions on Muslims, leading to persecution.

Tajikistan, a country belonging to the Sunni Islamic sect, is known for its devout adherence to the Islamic faith, respect for traditions rooted in Islamic teachings, and reverence for religious scholars and clergy.

However, the society faces systematic religious defamation campaigns and restrictions imposed by authorities aimed at dismantling religious values and Islamic identity, and suppressing personal and social freedoms, according to Asia Plus.

The Most Prominent Prohibitions

The site reported on May 31, 2024, among the most prominent prohibitions, that women are prohibited from wearing hijab in public institutions, schools, and even hospitals where head covering is essential. Further, patients wearing hijab are barred from entering hospitals.

Patrols against hijab roam the streets, threatening veiled women with fines of up to 65,000 Tajik somoni (approximately $5,900) and forcing them to uncover their heads.

According to Asia Plus, Tajikistan has imposed a ban on Islamic religious education, with no courses on religious sciences available in the educational system from elementary to university levels. Only one university with a theology faculty in the capital, Dushanbe, offers very few curricula related to Islamic sciences such as philosophy, law, and Tajik language.

Simultaneously, studying Islamic sciences abroad is strictly prohibited, and Tajik students are not allowed to receive invitations to study religion in Islamic countries. Non-compliance results in pressure on parents, who are periodically summoned for questioning and risk having their names blacklisted.

Moreover, there is a more serious issue concerning the Parental Responsibility Law regarding child upbringing. This law mandates that parents prevent their children from attending mosques and learning the Quran; otherwise, they face administrative lawsuits, effectively prohibiting families from teaching the Quran to their children.

Additionally, Tajikistan's government prohibits Quranic courses and bans its teaching in mosques, as well as forbidding the use of Arabic names that Tajik people have inherited for centuries. On May 10, 2015, the parliament passed a bill banning Arabic names, stating that registry offices will not register names deemed inaccurate, foreign to local culture, including those denoting objects, plants, animals, or of Arabic origin.

Cafes Instead of Mosques

Further, the state prohibits youth, children, and women from entering mosques, with internal and external police monitoring at entrances. Families are also prohibited from taking their children on pilgrimage or Umrah.

Regarding religious appearances, Muslim men are prohibited from growing beards, and young men who do grow them in public are forced to shave and face security threats.

On January 21, 2016, the U.S. Radio Free Europe reported that Tajikistan's government compelled 13,000 men to shave their beards in 2015. Citizens seeking to leave the country due to religious pressures are falsely charged and threatened with imprisonment.

At times, families of individuals involved in extensive religious activities are warned and falsely accused of connections to terrorist organizations.

Several mosques were closed under the pretext of lacking necessary licenses.

These closed mosques were repurposed into nightclubs, cafes, police stations, or government offices. People are prohibited from praying at workplaces; opening mosques in schools and large commercial centers is forbidden.

Individuals who pray at their workplaces face threats of dismissal and fines. Even private businesses like shops risk closure if prayers are allowed. Pilgrimages to Mecca and Umrah are closely monitored, with those under 18 prohibited from participating.

Tajikistan's government has banned the use of microphones for the call to prayer in mosques and restricts many women from praying there. All Islamic groups in the country, including Sufi orders, are prohibited. There are cases where influential imams and preachers, popular among Muslims for their role in spreading Islam, are isolated and replaced with unqualified speakers who comply with state orders, even if these contradict religious teachings.

There is a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of Islam on official channels, portraying Muslims as practitioners of sorcery. Tajik journalists on Ozodi warn that if religious suppression and obstruction continue, Tajikistan could become a smaller-scale version of what happened to the Uyghurs in East Turkestan under the Chinese Communist Party.

Rahmon's Rule

The origins and reasons for the suppression of Muslims in Tajikistan date back to the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Tajikistan was in the midst of a period known as Perestroika or civil war, marked by widespread protests demanding the resignation of Qahhor Mahkamov, the first secretary of the Tajik Communist Party who was elected as the country's first president in November of the same year.

Over 4,000 people gathered in front of the Central Committee building of the Communist Party, with some entering the building and setting it on fire. In response to police gunfire, protesters retaliated by burning down commercial shops and kiosks the same day.

By the evening, demonstrators responded to police gunfire by burning down commercial stores, kiosks, and shops. On February 13, 1992, Dushanbe saw a halt in transportation, railroads, institutes, schools, nurseries, and post offices until the overthrow of Mahkamov's Communist rule.

During that period, Tajikistan witnessed a strong resurgence of the Islamic movement. Following the dismantling of Rahmon Nabiyev's regime, who was dubbed one of the "new communists" and hailed from Leninabad city, the Islamic Renaissance Party emerged as a nucleus of strong Tajik opposition, also joined by the Democratic Party.

Supporters of President Nabiyev from the "new communists" became representatives of the Communist elite and formed the basis of the state that would follow. This conflict escalated into a comprehensive civil war between communists and Islamists, essentially pitting the economically developed north against the agrarian south, which was home to many members of the Islamic movement.

In 1992, the southern part of the country witnessed armed clashes between supporters of the president, supported by units of the Russian army, and opposition formations of Islamists. The confrontation resulted in the displacement of over 140,000 people, with the task of guarding important strategic objectives being assigned to the Russian infantry stationed in the cities.

Ultimately, the conflict concluded with the resignation of President Nabiyev, who had threatened victims of the civil war and Islamists with execution by firing squad.

In late September 1992, units of the Popular Front (communists) supported by Uzbekistan and Russia entered the Tajik city of Qurgonteppa to prevent the Islamization of the country and the rise of Islamists to power, an outcome that could have spelled the end for the communists and Moscow supporters.

In December 1992, the Tajik capital saw units of the Popular Front enter Dushanbe, forcing Islamic opponents to flee to neighboring Afghanistan and the eastern regions of the country.

Emomali Rahmon, who was then appointed as the new head of government, decided to oppress Muslims in general and prevent them from playing any political or social role.

In an interview with BBC on May 30, 2024, the leader of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party in Tajikistan Muhiddin Kabiri stated that the people of Tajikistan have been ruled by one person, Emomali Rahmon, and one family for 30 years; “this nation suffers from difficult living conditions; half of Tajikistan's workforce toils abroad under harsh circumstances,” he added.

“Tajikistan is among the 15 countries with the highest levels of corruption and extreme poverty, where political freedoms are nonexistent, with parties banned and the fate of political and media activists being imprisoned or forced migration from the country,” he said.

Kabiri pointed out that due to Rahmon's policies, waves of severe violence and extremism have begun affecting the youth. He further elaborated, “Restrictions on religious freedoms, absence of political engagement, and lack of transparency in elections have created fertile ground for extremist ideologies as a reaction among a segment of youth who see no future for themselves.”

Kabiri predicted that internal forces within Tajikistan are planning measures and practices that could drive youth towards violence. This is aimed at intimidating regional states and attracting further economic and security support from Russia, China, and Central Asian countries, exploiting the volatile situation in the region and Tajikistan's proximity to Afghanistan, where the Khorasan group of the Islamic State operates.