Top Tajik cleric urges faithful to shun homosexuals
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 7 February 2014 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Top Tajik cleric urges faithful to shun homosexuals, 7 February 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5331452414.html [accessed 21 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
February 07, 2014
By RFE/RL's Tajik Service
DUSHANBE – The leader of the Tajik Council of Ulemas (Islamic clerics) has called on Muslims to shun homosexuals, saying they will face "awful punishment" on Judgment Day.
Speaking at Friday Prayers in the Grand Mosque in Dushanbe on February 7, Saidmukarram Abdukodirzoda also called on all Muslims to bring up their children in the "right way" so that they avoid "sinful behavior."
Mullahs in Tajikistan's other mosques delivered similar messages on February 7 as the Tajik government's Committee for Religious Issues asked all clerics to discuss the issue of "nontraditional sexual relations" in their sermons.
Tajikistan and other former Soviet states decriminalized same-sex relations in the 1990s but societies in those nations remain largely hostile toward gays.
In Kyrgyzstan, acting Grand Mufti Maksat Hajji Toktomushev issued a fatwa against same-sex relations last month.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
