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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Turkmenistan
Index
The current government oversees official Islam through a structure
inherited from the Soviet period. Turkmenistan's Muslim Religious Board,
together with that of Uzbekistan, constitutes the Muslim Religious Board
of Mavarannahr. The Mavarannahr board is based in Tashkent and exerts
considerable influence in appointments of religious leaders in
Turkmenistan. The governing body of Islamic judges (Kaziat) is registered
with the Turkmenistan Ministry of Justice, and a council of religious
affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers monitors the activities of clergy.
Individuals who wish to become members of the official clergy must attend
official religious institutions; a few, however, may prove their
qualifications simply by taking an examination.
Since 1990, efforts have been made to regain some of the cultural
heritage lost under Soviet rule. President Niyazov has ordered that basic
Islamic principles be taught in public schools. More religious
institutions, including religious schools and mosques, have appeared, many
with the support of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Turkey. Religious classes
are held in both the schools and the mosques, with instruction in Arabic
language, the Koran (Quran) and the hadith, and the history of Islam.
Turkmenistan's government stresses its secular nature and its support
of freedom of religious belief, as embodied in the 1991 Law on Freedom of
Conscience and on Religious Organizations in the Turkmen Soviet Socialist
Republic and institutionalized in the 1992 constitution. That document
guarantees the separation of church and state; it also removes any legal
basis for Islam to play a role in political life by prohibiting
proselytizing, the dissemination of "unofficial" religious
literature, discrimination based on religion, and the formation of
religious political parties. In addition, the government reserves the
right to appoint and dismiss anyone who teaches religious matters or who
is a member of the clergy. Since independence, the Islamic leadership in
Turkmenistan has been more assertive, but in large part it still responds
to government control. The official governing body of religious judges
gave its official support to President Niyazov in the June 1992 elections.
On the other hand, some Muslim leaders are opposed to the secular
concept of government and especially to a government controlled by former
communists (see Centers of Political Power, this ch.). Some official
leaders and teachers working outside the official structure have vowed to
increase the population's knowledge of Islam, increase Islam's role in
society, and broaden adherence to its tenets. Alarmed that such activism
may aggravate tensions between Sunnis and Shiites and especially alienate
Orthodox Slavs, the government has drawn up plans to elevate the council
of religious affairs to ministry status in an effort to regulate religious
activities more tightly.
Data as of March 1996
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