Islamic Revival, Not Revolution in Tajikistan
Islamic Revival, Not Revolution in Tajikistan
A leading expert on Islam in Tajikistan says the country has no need to fear a religious-led revolution.
Saidjon Ahmadov told IWPR that the resurgence of active Muslim observance stemmed from a return to tradition and search for identity in this Central Asian state.
He acknowledged that radical groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir and Tabligh-e Jamaat were active in the country, but said it was not Tajikistan’s high level of poverty that was the main force swelling their numbers since their members were frequently among the better-off.
Geography is also a factor, with Afghanistan close by, Ahmadov said, noting there were also many counterbalancing factors– relations with Russia and other European states, and with the other secular states of Central Asia, and the “immunity” that people in Tajikistan had developed against wishing for bloodshed as a result of the 1992-97 civil war.
“People who make forecasts generally get it wrong,” he said. “But it’s impossible to suggest that some kind of Islamic revolution is likely to emerge in the near future.”
Ahmadov said the Tajik government was taking steps to foil extremist groups and prevent young people being exposed to fundamentalism abroad. (See Tajik Government Targets “Illegal” Mosques and Tajikistan: Islamic Students Told to Come Home for more on these themes.
The audio programme, in Russian and Tajik, went out on national radio stations in Tajikistan, as part of IWPR project work funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
