Mufti of Uzbekistan speaks about hijabs, children and mosques

In the US, the chairman of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, Mufti Usmonkhon Alimov had an interview with the “America ovozi” (Voice of America) correspondent.

Speaking about the employees of the internal affairs agencies, who are standing near mosques, he said that they do not control people.

“When employees of the internal affairs agencies are standing by the mosques, it seems that they control something. In fact, it is not so. To find out the truth, you need to take part in this process, you have to go to a mosque, pray and learn why they are standing and what they ask. Those who go to the mosque know why they are standing there,” he noted.

Usmonkhon Alimov also said that no one in Uzbekistan prohibited young people from attending mosques.

“If I go to the mosque, I always see children there. Nobody says anything to them. There is no such a document that prohibits children from entering mosques. This order has never existed. But there is one another point - children should study. What is more important: knowledge or confession? Of course knowledge. This does not mean that children should not come to the mosque,” he said.

The Mufti of Uzbekistan also focused on the problems of wearing hijabs. It should be recalled that Uzbeks often discuss this problem on social networks.

“Today great attention is paid to women in our country. Speaking of hijab, we cannot draw a conclusion from just a few examples. This is actually not a hijab, but a shawl. This is a part of the national grooming. In this sphere, no one has yet banned anything. Sometimes we are told that women are forced to take off their scarves. This is unreliable information. Schools have their own rules. They also work by their own regulations,” the Mufti said.

He also declared that religious organizations and the government removed more than 20,000 people from the “black list”.

“Now no one can tell them that they are on the “black list”. We are trying to help these people. Sometimes mahallas and other departments try to help them, but some people perceive it differently,” the Mufti concluded.