As part of a major investigation to establish to what extent
the Uzbek authorities exert control over Muslim believers, Forum 18 News
Service questioned several dozen Muslims in Tashkent, Bukhara (western
Uzbekistan) and in Namangan region (the Uzbek section of the Fergana valley,
the most religiously active region of the country). Virtually all those with
whom Forum 18 spoke agreed to talk only on condition of anonymity because they
feared persecution.
Forum 18 established that the Muslim clergy is almost completely under the
control of the Uzbek authorities. The leadership of the muftiate's spiritual
administration is virtually an agency of state authority. The current muftiate
headed by chief mufti Abdurashid Qori Bakromov - is merely an imitation of
the Soviet system, when religious communities were formally separated from the
state, but in fact were merely compliant instruments of the communist
authorities. Speaking to Forum 18, the leaders of the muftiate stated their
full support for the authorities' religious policy. It is curious that these
leaders denied such obvious facts as the closure of a number of mosques and a
ban on wearing Islamic clothing in general education institutions.
Imams do not have the right to compose the Friday addresses themselves, but are
obliged to read out texts that have been approved by the muftiate. It is
noteworthy that after the United States-led invasion of Afghanistan began in
late 2001, imams in all Uzbekistan's mosques read out an address condemning
terrorism on the instructions of the authorities. The chief imam of Tashkent,
Anvar-haji Tursunov, welcoming the start of the campaign, said that the action
would contribute towards stability in Uzbekistan.
This year - after military action by the US and Britain began in Iraq in March
it was a little different. Although imams received no instructions from the
authorities to support the action, many - taking their cue from Uzbek
television coverage - repeated in their addresses that Iraqi president Saddam
Hussein was a friend of Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and that therefore the
military operation in Iraq was a continuation of the battle against
international terrorism. All the imams Forum 18 spoke to confirmed that
"an imam who decided to condemn the action by the US and Britain in Iraq
would have been sacked immediately". Moreover, Forum 18 found that almost
all the population of Uzbekistan strongly condemned the military operation in
Iraq. It is noteworthy that imams interviewed by Forum 18 told the interpreter
that "of course they did not support the US military operation in Iraq,
but they should not say that to the correspondent".
Imams told Forum 18 that formally the secular authorities have no right to
dismiss the imams they did not like, but in fact all they have to do is to
write a letter to the muftiate, which would immediately carry out their wishes.
Formally the imams are chosen by the believers themselves, while the muftiate
simply approves or rejects the applicant. But in practice imams are appointed
by the muftiate without reference to believers. Additionally, according to
article 9 of the law on religion "citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan
who have the relevant religious education may be leaders of religious
organisations". But the phrase "relevant education" is not
entirely clear. In fact imams are appointed who have only just completed their
studies at Islamic school, the medresseh.
The medressehs, Forum 18 observed, are strictly controlled by the authorities
and it is virtually impossible for a student viewed as "unreliable"
from the government's point of view to graduate from them. For example,
students at the Mir Arab medresseh (Central Asia's largest medresseh in
Bukhara, western Uzbekistan) and at the Namangan medresseh told Forum 18 that
they were periodically summoned to the military enlistment office, as men of
military service age, where officers of the National Security Service (the
former KGB) found out whether any of the students were making critical comments
about the government.
Because religious leaders can be people who have simply received a specialist
education, today most imams are relatively young. "Today I calculate that
around 80 per cent of imams in Namangan region are under 30 years old. This is
against our traditions," the head of the regional department of the Independent
Organisation for Human Rights in Uzbekistan Gulyam Khalmatov told Forum 18 in
Namangan on 6 May. "Such young people do not wield enough authority with
many believers."
Another means of control over imams is their attestation, which takes place on
average two to three times a year. Formally the muftiate carries out the
attestation, but in fact representatives of the secular authorities are almost
always present. The questions posed at the exams often bear no relation to
religion. One imam related how he was asked at his exam how many stars there
were on Uzbekistan's state flag. Imams who want to pass the attestation also
have to know when Uzbek president Islam Karimov was born and the words of the
state anthem.
"Four years ago the muftiate did carry out the attestation of imams,"
Shoazim Minovarov, chairman of the government's Committee for Religious
Affairs, confirmed to Forum 18 on 12 May in Tashkent. "It was important to
ensure that people without elementary religious education were not preaching in
the mosques." Minovarov admitted that representatives of the CRA were
present at the exams, but denied that imams were re-assessed annually. "No
assessment exams have been planned for this year," he claimed.
Article 8 of Uzbekistan's law on religion declares that "religious
organisations may have the status of juridical persons and pursue their
activity after registration with the justice ministry of the Republic of
Uzbekistan or with its local agencies in a manner prescribed by law". If
believers gather to pray in unregistered prayer houses, the authorities assess
this as being against the law and will take punitive action, going so far as to
bring criminal charges.
When Forum 18 remarked that this part of the article of the law on religion was
against the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which
Uzbekistan is a signatory, and also the principles of the Organisation for
Security and Co-operation in Europe, of which Uzbekistan is a member, Minovarov
responded: "This section of the law certainly does not mean that people
have no right to meet together in private apartments and pray, but they are not
allowed to have a leader, and none of them is allowed to teach religious
doctrines." Nevertheless, he contradicted himself by adding that "the
police will never allow an unregistered community to hold regular
meetings".
In fact, the police and special services make sure that believers do not meet
in unregistered mosques. After the law on religion came into force in 1998, all
mosques were required to re-register. Yet the majority of functioning mosques
have not managed to be registered. On many occasions Forum 18 has come across
closed mosques in various regions of the country. Moreover, many of them are
being used as clubs, libraries and museums, just as in Soviet times. Even
Minovarov confirmed that many mosques have been closed since 1998. He told
Forum 18 that mosques "started to spring up like mushrooms" after
Mikhail Gorbachev launched perestroika in the late 1980s. "For example, in
Namangan region there were twice as many mosques as schools. Of course we could
not put up with that situation."
An effective means of control over believers is a social institution of Uzbek
society, the mahalla. However, if one looks deeper, this is a distinctive
community. Here, unlike in city tower blocks, it is impossible to conceal one's
private life from neighbours. All members of a mahalla celebrate feasts
together. If a misfortune afflicts a local resident, neighbours have to help.
Today, the government is actively reviving this traditional institution of
Uzbek society. In every town sector of this kind a mahalla committee is formed,
the chairman of which is officially called the aksakal (meaning the eldest).
The mahalla committee has the right not only to allow a church or mosque to be
built on its territory, but even to turn out residents whose behaviour has
rankled with members of the community. The territory of this sort of town
sector is guarded by posbony (literally, wardens). However, in practice, this
medieval institution has been radically adapted to modern-day realities. The
chairman of the mahalla committee is appointed by the authorities and carries
out their wishes unquestioningly, while the posbony are casual police
employees. For example, when Forum 18's correspondent went to a mahalla to
visit an acquaintance, the resident refused to let him into his home,
explaining: "I am afraid that the posbony will report back that a foreign
correspondent visited me."
With tight government control over the appointment and conduct of imams, the
selection of Islamic students, the content of sermons and the approval of
mosques, Islam is ironically the faith in Uzbekistan that is most thoroughly
controlled by the authorities.