Tajik authorities have embarked upon an extensive campaign of fighting islamization in the country. The authorities are concerned with the fact that increasing numbers of Tajik citizens, and especially young people, are interested in religion. Even though state officials have so far not produced any legal directives, the state is becoming more active in appealing to the masses, calling for a moderation of their religious views. In addition to general calls for preventing the spread of extremist views among the Muslims of Tajikistan, the authorities have as part of the campaign prevented young people from studying religion abroad, banned girls from wearing hijabs in school, and imposed unofficial restrictions on wearing long beards.

The authorities claim that two thousand Tajiks officially receive religious education abroad on the basis of grants, quotas and intergovernmental agreements. However, Faridun Hodizoda, an expert on religious issues, says that only about five hundred young people from Tajikistan attend the Al-Ahzar university in Egypt officially, while two thousand do so unofficially (i.e. without authorized permission from the Tajik Ministry of Education). Many others study in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran and Pakistan.

Tajik officials have repeatedly emphasized that graduates of foreign religious schools, and especially of unofficial madrasah, often become sources of extremism and terrorism. Thus, before the beginning the current academic year, President Emomali Rahmon stated during his visit to southern Tajikistan that it is necessary to return these students from abroad; “otherwise they will become traitors, betrayers of their motherland”. Perhaps as a consequence of this, more than seventy students and professors were not allowed to embark on their flight from Dushanbe to Iran in September. Officials of the Ministry of Education later explained that the authorities did not have enough information about the purposes of their flight. Furthermore, as reported by Mavlon Muhtor, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Religious Issues, about fifty Tajik students returned from abroad voluntarily “heeding the call of the head of state”. During a press conference on October 18 he also noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently identifying Tajik citizens who study in foreign religious institutions illegally, and that they will be returned in the nearest future.

Another target of the campaign is the traditional Muslim female head cover, the hijab. The popularity of this garment among Tajik women and girls has increased significantly during the last couple of years. Along with the campaign for a “secular appearance of women”, the authorities especially stress the importance of following the dress code in educational institutions. Thus, as a part of the campaign women are recommended not to wear black chadors, or even hijabs. Educational institutions in Tajikistan have established a dress code for their students, which certainly does not include the hijab.

While most students comply with the norms of the educational institutions, Tajik officials still pay careful attention to cases of dress-code violations. For instance, while attending the opening ceremony of a lyceum in the Tajik national university in Dushanbe, Minister of Education Abdujabbor Rahmonov asked several girls and their mothers who were wearing hijabs to leave. President Emomali Rahmon also expressed discontent with the fact that Tajik girls “like foreign Muslim styles”, stating during a meeting with students of the Tajik national university that traditional Tajik clothing suits them much better. In addition, the administration of a market in the city of Kurgan-Tyube prohibited saleswomen from wearing hijabs at the market. Those doing so will be fined 100 somoni (US$ 22).

There is also an unofficial restriction on wearing long beards. While government officials say this is not prohibited, increasing numbers of men wearing beards report being stopped on the streets and asked to shave. As Mavlon Muhtor, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Religious Issues, explained: “Wearing a beard is one of the Islamic traditions, and we have no right to forbid it. Nonetheless, in ministries, agencies, organizations, enterprises, and educational institutions, there are norms and discipline which should be followed”.

The influence of Islam in Tajikistan has become more appreciable during the last several years. Thousands of mosques have been built after Tajikistan’s independence, and major Muslim holidays have been announced as state holidays. At the same time the official clergy, which is largely controlled by the government, is not very popular and especially younger people have become receptive to young theologians who were educated abroad. Therefore, many local experts think that the popularity of radical religious groups in Tajikistan will inevitably grow over time.