Legislation requiring people to “stick to traditional national clothes and culture” has been introduced in Tajikistan – a move widely interpreted as an attempt to stop women from wearing Islamic clothing.
Women in the central Asian country traditionally wear a scarf tied behind the head, rather than a hijab, which wraps under the chin.
Despite being a majority Muslim country, Tajikistan’s Minister of Culture, Shamsiddin Orumbekzoda, told Radio Free Europe Islamic dress was “really dangerous”.
He said that “everyone” looked at women wearing hijabs “with concern, worried that they could be hiding something under their hijab.”
Although the legislation – an amendment to an existing law on traditions in the country – did not mention the hijab specifically, authorities have previously said the Islamic veil represents an “alien culture”.
Under existing laws, women wearing hijabs are already banned from entering the country’s government offices. At the beginning of August, officials approached more than 8,000 women wearing hijabs in the capital of Dushanbe and ordered them to wear their scarves in the Tajik style.The new legislation does not introduce a penalty for breaking the rule, but some have claimed that fines could be introduced at a later date. (Source: The Independent 01/09/17)
Comment:
As nations desperately try to curb the spread and practise of Islam, Tajikistan, despite its 98% Muslim population, insists on playing fashion police by forcing women tie their hijabs in their traditional way around their head, rather than under their chins as is mandated by the Sharia. Apparently, covering the neck is such a cause for concern that the Minister of Culture, Shamsiddin Orambekzoda, has taken the laughable step to approach and order 8000 women to change their hijab style.
The Tajik government, a staunchly secular remnant of its Soviet past, has not progressed to anywhere near the Western standard that it so ardently aspires to. Although it may enshrine freedom of religion in its constitution, the state actively controls all aspects of Islam.
In recent months, Tajikistan has further steadied its grip on the practice of Islam with the president commenting on ‘proper attire’ with reports of forced beard-shavings and new regulations on travel to Mecca on Hajj. Following calls by some for the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) to be labeled a terrorist organization, the country’s official religious authorities have called for it to be banned.
The list of nations that try to crush the hijab outright, or attempt to reform it into a mere fashion accessory by promoting mipsters and YouTuber’s illustrates the fear liberal secularists in the East and West have of the holistic value system of Islam. The fact is that Muslims are becoming convinced of the superiority of the social system which values and protects the relationships between men and women in social matters, and prefer to abide by Islam to progress their lives and societies.
The intellectual battle between secular and Islamic values has been lost by liberals and the Capitalist nations that have long championed these freedoms only to withhold them as soon as their way of life has been challenged.
This should give utmost hope and inspire confidence to all Muslims that the return of the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) will be welcomed by the masses and supported by the ones with strength and capability from among the Muslim nations. This agreement toward the fitra of man will naturally attract non-Muslims to appreciate Islam in its systemic form too, thus making the return of Islam by way of the Khilafah and unstoppable reality.
بَلْ نَقْذِفُ بِالْحَقِّ عَلَى الْبَاطِلِ فَيَدْمَغُهُ فَإِذَا هُوَ زَاهِقٌ وَلَكُمُ الْوَيْلُ مِمَّا تَصِفُونَ
“Nay, We hurl the Truth against falsehood, so it knocks out its brains, and lo! it vanishes. And woe to you for what you describe!”
(Surah Al Anbiyyah: 18)
Maleeha Fahimuddin