Tajik textbooks misinterpret Islam: MP

DUSHANBE — Tajik textbooks are misinterpreting the Islamic teachings and Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him), a top Muslim scholar and lawmaker said, Radio Free Europe reported on Thursday, December 18.

"(Textbooks' authors have taken an) unprofessional, irrational, and sometimes insulting and offensive stance toward Islam and Islamic values," Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda said in an open letter to the Ministry of Education.

He said textbooks portray Prophet Muhammad as the creator of Islam, not a messenger of God, and that the pillars of Islam were his suggestions.

"Among many others issues, there are three major matters in Islam that were divine revelation and they include the status of the holy city of Makkah as the center of Islam, the status of the Ka`bah as the most sacred site in Islam, and making the hajj the fifth pillar of Islam."

The MP cites a book for the sixth-grade students, "The History of the Middle Ages", which says the three issues were the fruits of a political deal between the Prophet and Makkah tribal leaders.

"Even Soviet-era textbooks, which were openly atheistic, didn't deny historical facts like our current authors do."

The Education Ministry has not yet officially responded to the Muslim MP's letter.

Education Minister Abdujabbor Rahmonov earlier said that his ministry has been planning to "rewrite some of the textbooks".

"We're going to revise [the textbooks], but not now, because we have other priorities at the moment. All in good time."

• Campaign

Turajonzoda insists the misinterpretation is part of a wider campaign to restrict the influence of Islam in Tajik society.

"I don't think the order has come from the president himself," he said.

"Government officials who deal with education and ideological issues, most of whom came through the Soviet-era atheistic schools, are involved in it."

Tajik authorities have closed down dozens of mosques nationwide in the past two years.

Earlier this week, a mosque in the capital Dushanbe was closed down on claims of lacking an official license.

Tajik authorities have also turned many closed mosques into pool halls, public baths and beauty salons.

Tajikistan has further banned hijab in public schools and government offices.

Tajikistan, one of the five Central Asian countries of the former Soviet Union, won independence in 1991.

It has been trying to modernize since a civil war in the 1990s between Islamists and President Imomali Rakhmonov's Moscow-backed government.

Source: IslamOnline