Spheres: Dressing for the State TJ moral laws

Published by Spheres of Influence (Canada) on 10 June 2025, this long-form article by Marine Krauzman (edited by Khushi Mehta) examines Tajikistan’s moral laws regulating dress and religious expression. The article finds that on 20 June 2024, the Tajik government signed Law No. 2048 banning clothing “alien to national culture” (notably the hijab) and imposing rules on religious celebrations. The report states that two months later, in August 2024, the Ulema Council issued guidelines prohibiting “tight-fitting” and “black” clothes for women. The document reports that in 2017 a special commission was appointed to define appropriate clothing and in 2018 a 367-page guidebook was distributed. The article cites President Emomali Rahmon’s rule since 1992 in a 96% Muslim country, and a 2007 starting point for progressive hijab bans in state institutions. The report states that non-compliance with dress or celebration rules can incur fines up to $740, and notes the 2015 banning of the Islamic Renaissance Party, arrests of religious scholars, and the case of journalist Avazmad Ghurbatov sentenced for extremism. The 2023 case of Instagram influencer Jonon Ashurova and activist Firuza Mirzoyeva’s documentation of intimidation are cited. The document reports condemnation by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Union of Muslim Scholars, and the Islamic Human Rights Commission, which called on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to act.