The Transformation of Tajikistan by John Heathershaw Edmund Herzig

Author:John Heathershaw, Edmund Herzig [John Heathershaw, Edmund Herzig]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780415500159
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 13710934
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2012-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami

In the late 1990s, small clandestine cells of Muslim activists in Central Asia began to refer to ideological concepts distributed by the London-based ‘virtual’28 Islamic association Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami. It is beyond the scope of this paper to give a satisfying introduction to HT or research relating to it.29 However, Turajonzoda’s refutation of HT deserves some attention since he is the first Tajik official with a more nuanced approach to HT. Firstly, he refers to several pamphlets distributed by HT and offers a detailed analysis of central aspects of HT’s programme concluding that it does not comply with central Islamic teachings (Turajonzoda 2006, p. 146).30 Secondly, Turajonzoda rejects the government statements that HT recruits followers predominantly among the Uzbek minority in Tajikistan, stressing the involvement of Tajiks (ibid., p. 123). Thirdly, he admits that the exclusively security-driven approach of the governments of Central Asia is one of their ‘weak points (nuktai zaifi davlathoi Osiyoi Markazi)’ (ibid., p. 144) and is inadequate to deal with the complex ideology of HT (ibid., p. 124).

Turajonzoda methodically repudiates central theses of HT’s ideology referring mostly to the Koran, hadith and a selection of Hanafi textbooks. He counters HT’s postulate that democracy is an alien concept in Islam with a lengthy interpretation of the Sura ash-Shura (42:38) demonstrating that Islam has its own genuine democratic tradition (Turajonzoda 2006, pp. 125ff.). While HT demands the abolition of private property and the return to a centrally planned economic system, Islam supports and protects individual property rights and economic activity (ibid., p. 126). Furthermore, HT’s ideology is based on intolerance and rejects the idea that different cultures and civilizations could co-exist in peace, while Islam actually facilitated the coexistence of various ethnic and religious groups by establishing a social order based on tolerance (tahammul) and moderation (e’tidol) (ibid., pp. 128–131).31 Finally, Turajonzoda criticises HT’s political objective of re-establishing the Caliphate since this would imply the abolition of nation-states. The concept of the modern nation-state, Turajonzoda continues, is the fundamental political and spiritual value of human societies. In particular, he argues that the Tajik nation, which regained independence in 1991 after more than 1000 years (since the Samanids), understands the importance of its own statehood (davlatdori) since it guarantees peace (sulh) and stability (oshti). Here Turajonzoda is not arguing within a traditional Islamic framework of reference but merging this with the nationalist sentiment that has been consolidated since the late 1980s. Considering the convergence of national and Islamic values, Turajonzoda concludes, HT violates fundamental principles of Hanafi Sunni Islam since it attempts to create a division within Tajik society (ibid., pp. 140–143). Previously, Turajonzoda even elevated Tajikistan’s statehood and independence to a manifestation of God’s grace (fazli khudavand) (ibid., p. 7), therefore accusing HT of the ultimate political, but also religiously charged, crime.

Turajonzoda’s otherwise remarkably coherent analysis of HT eventually takes an idiosyncratic twist. Discussing the origins of HT, he argues that HT is not particularly successful (or even active) in the Middle East. Only in countries under the influence of Freemasons and Zionists (Turajonzoda 2006, p.

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