Freedom of religion in Tajikistan is provided for in Tajikistan's constitution. The country is secular by law. However, respect for religious freedom has eroded during recent years, creating some areas of concern.
Tajikistan's policies reflect a concern about Islamic extremism, a concern shared by much of the general population. The government actively monitors the activities of religious institutions to keep them from becoming overtly political. A Tajikistan Ministry of Education policy prohibited girls from wearing the hijab at public schools. The government uses the registration process to hinder some organizations' religious activity. Some religious organizations and individuals face harassment, temporary detention, and interrogation by government authorities. The Tajikistan government, including President Emomali Rahmon, continue to enunciate a policy of active secularism.
Some mainstream Muslim leaders occasionally express, through sermons and press articles, their opinion that minority religious groups undermine national unity.
In 2023, the country scored zero out of 4 for religious freedom; minors and most women are banned from attending mosques, and religious groups need to be registered.
In the same year, the country was ranked the 44th worst place in the world to be a Christian; it was noted that less than 1% of citizens are Christians and the Russian Orthodox Church is recognised by the government.
Religious demography
The country of Tajikistan has an area of and a population of more than 7 million people, although it is difficult to determine an accurate figure due to absence of birth registrations in some rural areas.
In 2020, 97.45% of the population were Muslim (Mainly Sunni), 1.67% had no religion and 0.69% were Christian; the largest non-Muslim groups include Russian Orthodox, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lutherans, Baha'is, Zoroastrians and Jews.
Situation in the early 2000s
This article is informed by the US State Dept 2007 report. Later reports are available.US State Dept 2022 report
The degree of religious observance varies widely. Overall, active observance of Islam appears to be increasing steadily, especially among previously less observant city residents. The majority of Muslim inhabitants (approximately 87% of the population) are of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam. Approximately 10% of Muslims are Shi'a, the majority of whom are Ismailis. Most Ismailis reside in the remote eastern Gorno-Badakhshan region as well as certain districts of the southern Khatlon region and in Dushanbe, the capital. In 2006 a new unregistered Islamic group of the Salafi sect began worshipping in Friday mosques in Dushanbe, Sughd, and Khatlon. By 2023, the Salafi movement was illegal throughout the country.
Legal and policy framework
Tajikistan's constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice; however, the government monitors the activities of religious institutions to keep them from becoming overtly political or espousing "extremist tendencies," and some local administrative offices have interpreted the term "secular state" to require a government bias against religion.
The Law of the Republic of Tajikistan "On Religion and Religious Organizations" was established December 1, 1994, and amended in 1997. The law provides the right of individuals to choose and change their religion and practice their religion of choice. The law also protects the right of individuals to proselytize. The law protects religious freedom, but in practice the government, including the Tajikistan justice system, does not always rigorously enforce the law in a nondiscriminatory fashion.
Although there is no official state religion, Tajikistan recognizes two Islamic holy days, Eid Al Fitr and Idi Qurbon (Eid al-Adha), as state holidays.
According to the Law "On Religion and Religious Organizations," religious communities must be registered by the Department for Religious Affairs. In November 2006 the Government dissolved the State Committee on Religious Affairs (SCRA) and established the Department for Religious Affairs (DRA) within the Ministry of Culture. The former head of the SCRA is now a Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Culture. The official justification for registration is to ensure that religious groups act in accordance with the law; however, some religious groups alleged that the practical purpose is to ensure that they do not become overtly political. To register with the DRA, a national religious group must submit a charter, a list of at least 10 members, and evidence of local government approval of the location of a house of worship, if one exists. Religious groups are not required to have a physical structure in order to register, but they cannot hold regular meetings without one. Individual believers - up to 10 persons - do not have to register with the DRA in order to worship privately.
The DRA and local authorities share responsibility for the registration of neighborhood mosques and must agree on the physical location of a given mosque. The DRA is the primary authority for registration of non-Muslim groups; however, such groups must also register their place of worship with local officials. According to the DRA, local authorities may object to the registration of a place of worship only if the proposed structure does not meet sanitation or building codes, or if it is located on public land or immediately adjacent to government buildings, schools, or other places of worship. If the local government objects to a proposal, the religious community requesting permission must suggest an alternative. In the absence of registration, local authorities can force a place of worship to close, and fine its members.
There were no cases of the DRA permanently denying registration to religious groups in recent years. There were no reports of groups declining to apply for registration out of a belief that it would not be granted; however, the DRA rejected some applications on technical grounds, stalling registration. There were isolated cases of local government refusal to register religious groups in their areas, such as in the city of Tursonzade, where the DRA demanded local registration for a branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses in addition to their national registration.
The country has 2,842 registered mosques for daily prayers. This represents a decline from 2,885 registered mosques in 2006; however, the DRA claimed that it did not officially close any mosques during the reporting period. So-called "Friday mosques" (larger facilities built for weekly Friday prayers) must be registered with the DRA. There are 262 such mosques registered, not including Ismaili places of worship. Only one such mosque is authorized per 15,000 residents in a given geographic area. Many observers contend that this is discriminatory because no such rule exists for other religious groups.
There are 19 madrassahs at the college level, and one Islamic university. Tajikistan permits private religious schools, but they must be registered. In 2022, no madrassahs school-level operated in the country as they were not able to meet the Ministry of Education’s requirements.
The law does not prohibit parents teaching religious beliefs to their own children in the privacy of their homes, but restrictions exist that prohibit home-schooling children outside of the family. In 2022, the law criminalizes providing “unapproved religious education” (including online learning), with fines of up to US$5700 for providers, as well as fines for students. Students must also have government permission to study abroad.
President Rahmon continued to strongly defend "secularism," a politicized term that carries the strong connotation of being "anti-extremist" rather than "nonreligious." In national speeches the President cautioned against outsiders unfairly linking Islam to terrorism. While the vast majority of citizens consider themselves Muslim, there is a significant fear of Islamic extremism, both within the government and among the population at large.
A 1999 constitutional amendment permits religiously based political parties, although a 1998 law specifying that parties may not receive support from religious institutions remains in effect. Two representatives from a religiously oriented party, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), were members in the lower house of the national Parliament; this party was then banned as an extremist organization.
An executive decree generally prohibits government publishing houses from publishing anything in Arabic script; however, some have done so in special cases if they presented the material for review prior to printing. They generally do not publish religious literature in general, but have done so on occasion, including producing copies of the Qur'an. There is no legal restriction on the distribution or possession of the Qur'an, the Bible, or other religious works; however, in practice the government restricts distribution of Christian literature. There are no reported restrictions on the religious-oriented press. The IRPT distributes four publications and an Iranian news agency broadcasts a weekly radio program.
The new draft religion law introduced by the SCRA in January 2006 was distributed domestically for review but had not been sent to Parliament. The law entitled "On Freedom of Conscience, on Religious Associations and Other [Religious] Organizations," would replace the current law on religion and add restrictions, such as increasing to 400 the number of petition signatures required to form a religious association; prohibiting religious education in private houses; prohibiting proselytizing; prohibiting religious associations from participating in political activities; and prohibiting political parties from having a religion-based ideology (which would effectively forbid the IRPT). On June 28, 2007 representatives of 22 minority religious groups, including Baháʼís, Catholics, Baptists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Lutherans, Pentecostals and other Protestant denominations, signed an open letter to the President and Parliament expressing concern that the draft law would effectively outlaw minority religious groups in the country.
The Tajikistan government issued a textbook to high schools in 2005 on the history of Islam, and a course on the history of religions is taught in public schools at the 10th grade level. Observers have interpreted such government-imposed instruction as a way of controlling religious indoctrination. President Rahmon also declared that the Islamic University would be funded by the state, and the curriculum would include science and math.
Restrictions on religious freedom Each week, the government will approve a subject to be spoken on at Friday mosque services.
All religious organizations must register with the government. In May 2022, the Committee on Religion, Regulation of Traditions, Celebrations, and Ceremonies (CRA) announced that they will no longer register any new Christian churches.
Production and distribution of all religious literature must go through the CRA. In 2022, they approved about 40% of materials submitted to them. Any violation of this law is subject to fines of up to US$6700. Several bookshops were closed down in 2022.
The local government of Tursonzade continued to use administrative barriers to prevent the registration of a place of worship for the Jehovah's Witnesses, in spite of their national registration and DRA efforts on their behalf.