Press Release
Banning the Hijab and Banning the Eid Celebrations in Tajikistan Is a War on Islam and its People
(Translated)

Several newspapers and media outlets reported the news that the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, signed 35 laws with the aim of protecting the values ​​of the national culture of the Tajik people, including a law prohibiting the wearing of clothing that is “foreign” to the country’s culture, such as the “hijab”! The statement of the press office of the head of state said: “The President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon signed 35 laws, including a new version of the laws related to the organization of celebrations and rituals, the responsibility of parents for the education and upbringing of children, and the ban on children’s celebrations on Islamic Eid known as “Idgardak” (which is a custom associated with Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha; on those occasions, children wander the streets and go from door to door to exchange greetings and wear clothes that are alien to the “national culture.”)

In March 2024, Rahmon pointed out in a meeting with public and religious figures that national clothing reflects the material and spiritual values ​​of its people’s past and makes it possible to identify the nation through the form and style of clothing, noting that “imitating an alien culture in dress, such as wearing foreign clothing such as the hijab constitutes another problem for Tajik society." He explained that “departing from the etiquette and rituals of dress” amounts to “cultural alienation that undermines the independence of thought and the national and cultural identity of the nation,” drawing attention to the fact that Tajik national clothing has received global recognition, including from the UNESCO. In this regard, he said: “We must avoid the penetration of so-called religious clothing that does not meet our religious needs, and is alien to our customs and culture, in order to protect our national truth and values,” stressing that the penalty for those who violate the decision to ban the hijab and celebrate Eid may reach a fine of up to $740.

This president was elected on November 6, 1994, and was sworn in ten days later, thus becoming the third president of Tajikistan. This was during the civil war that the country witnessed, which lasted from 1992 to 1997, in which up to 100,000 people died. Since March 18, 1998, Rahmon has also served as leader of the left-wing People's Democratic Party, which dominates the parliament in Tajikistan. He was opposed by the United Tajik Opposition and survived an assassination attempt on 30 April 1997 in Khujand, in addition to two coup attempts; in August 1997 and November 1998. On 30 September 1999, he was elected Vice-President of the United Nations General Assembly for a period of one year.

On 22 May 2016, in a national referendum, this president made major changes to the country’s constitution, including raising the maximum limit for presidential terms, which effectively allowed him to remain in power for the terms he desired and allowed other changes that banned religious political parties, thereby removing the Islamic Ennahda Party from politics. These changes also reduced the minimum age of eligibility for presidential candidates from 35 to 30 years, enabling his eldest son to run for presidency. In a strange irony, this arrogant and monopolistic communist president enacts laws that strike the creed of a country where the percentage of Muslims is more than 98 percent, in a blatant challenge to them and an effort to obliterate their identity and civilization! He works hard and tirelessly to prevent Muslim women from wearing the hijab under the pretext that it is alien to Tajik society, and he wants to distract children from the manifestations of the Muslim Eid celebrations in order to erase them from their memory and uproot them from everything related to Islam.

He says that the hijab is alien, how can this be in a society that is almost entirely Muslim?! How can a Muslim woman’s dress be an alien dress in a Muslim country?!

This president cites that Tajik dress is the one that has received international recognition and recognition from UNESCO! What insolence is revealed and what subordination is exposed by a president who has ruled tyrannically, usurped power, and rules people with iron and fire?! A president who only gained his rule by rigging “elections,” which the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said that it lacked “real choice and meaningful pluralism”.

O People of the country, O Muslims of Tajikistan:

You represent the majority, so how can you allow this spiteful communist to impose on you the concepts of his rotten civilization that history discarded decades ago... He considers the hijab to be a garment of extremism and considers the manifestations of Eid celebrations as superstitions, thereby declaring his hateful crusade war against your Deen and so that he can abuse you. So, stand firm, for he and those loyal to him despise you only because you have believed. They only want you to disbelieve as they disbelieved, so that you will be equal!

O our Sisters in Tajikistan: Endure with patience and steadfastness and do not allow them to remove your hijab... They despise you for your chastity, modesty, and adherence to your Deen, so remain steadfast, indeed the great reward is from Allah, Allah willing.

O Ummah of Islam, O the best nation brought to mankind! Another member (of your body) is complaining, another member is calling, asking for help, and pleading for help. Will you wake up? The slumber and hibernation lasted for so long?! How long will you wait before mobilizing your armies and your sincere sons so that they rise to gather the diaspora and unite the Ummah under the banner of la ilaha ila Allah Muhammad Rasool Allah in a state that restores your pride and destroys all the enemies and criminals?!

We, in the Women’s Section of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir, support our sisters in Tajikistan and say to them remain steadfast and patient. We affirm that we will not tire of calling on the sincere sons of our Ummah to stand with us and call for this criminal and his aides to cease from harming our sisters and sons, and we will not tire of urging them to join us and work with us in order to establish the second Khilafah Rashidah (Rightly Guided Caliphate) state on the method of the Prophethood, until the body of the Ummah is healed of all ills and none of its members remain complaining of pain, and until the mercy that Allah has sent to His servants spreads throughout the world.