On June 24, more than 40 persons were arrested by the Tajik intelligence service during a sermon in a Dushanbe mosque. Among them was the leader of the Islamic movement Salafiya in Tajikistan, Mullo Sirojiddin. All arrested are accused of propagating “Salafi” ideas, which are officially banned in Tajikistan by a January 2009 Supreme Court decision. Furthermore, the Prosecutor General will charge the supporters of the movement with fomenting religious animosity in Tajikistan.

Despite the ban, members of the Salafiya movement were actively conducting their sermons in a mosque in uptown Dushanbe. Law enforcement authorities decided to interfere when the leader of the movement, Mullo Sirojiddin, called upon his supporters to struggle against state authorities. As a result, it is expected that supporters of the movement will be accused of inciting national, racial, and religious hatred, with expected prison sentences of twelve years. A representative of the public prosecutor’s office confirmed the group’s arrest and announced that “members of banned radical Islamic movements are suspected of extremist propaganda aimed at destabilizing the situation in the country”.

The Salafiya fundamentalist school rejects any forms or movements of Islam except itself, particularly condemning Shiism. For instance, supporters of the movement call Shiites, of which there are about 300,000 in Tajikistan, “infidels”. It is assumed that members of Salafiya get financial support from Saudi Arabia to proselytize.

State authorities are particularly alarmed about the Salafiya, as the movement becomes increasingly popular in Tajikistan, particularly among young people. The first supporters of the movement appeared in Tajikistan in 2005. Now, they number more than 20,000 according to state authorities, are mainly 25-35 years old, and wear long beards and shortened pants.

Nevertheless, whether the Salafiya movement is dangerous is a subject of debate. For several years, supporters of the movement were not detected to be engaged in any illegal activities. Some experts on religion claim that their ideology is harmless. At the same time, others argue that the movement is not as inoffensive as it looks. For instance, a member of the Parliament of Tajikistan, who requested to remain anonymous, considers the development of the Salafiya movement to be “a dangerous tendency for Tajikistan” as the supporters of the movement “deny any other movements in Islam and consider Muslims of the Hanafi schools, which constitute the  majority of the population in Central Asia. ‘erroneous’. Moreover, they argue for the extermination of the Shiites and Ismailis. Furthermore, he argues that the supporters of the Salafiya conduct active missionary work not only in Tajikistan but also among the Tajik labor migrants in Russia.

Another member of Tajikistan’s Parliament and a cleric, Haji Akbar Turajonzoda stated that most members of the Salafiya are young people who got their education in large Islamic educational institutions in Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and other countries where supporters of the Salafiya are particularly strong. He argues that those students were financed by different public organizations in Arabic countries. Furthermore, according to him, the movement in Tajikistan is also financed from abroad. Turajonzoda believes that the Salafiya threatens stability in the country.

Nevertheless, many experts are against oppressive actions, claiming that repression can worsen the situation. “It is necessary to debunk their ideology. One cannot be imprisoned because of religious beliefs. It gives the reverse effect. For instance, supporters of the radical Islamic movement Hizb ut-Tahrir actively propagate their ideology in prisons and successfully enlarge their movement with prisoners, argues Turajonzoda.

While experts and religious figures disagree on whether the Salafiya movement threatens the stability of the country, state authorities banned the movement and started a crackdown against its supporters. For instance, besides supporters of the Salafiya, law enforcement authorities arrested 93 members of different radical Islamic movements only over the last three months. The question is whether the repressive actions of the authorities can be effective against rapidly spreading radical Islamic movements. Perhaps mild regulation of the activities of such religious movements would be sufficient in the early stages of their development, in order to avoid perceptions of oppression on the basis of religious affiliation among the people of Tajikistan.