VZCZCXRO9039
RR RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0357/01 0840807
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 250807Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0172
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0060
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 0297

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000357 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KIRF KISL TI
SUBJECT: EMBASSY DUSHANBE REACHES OUT TO RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN THE 
FERGHANA VALLEY 
 
REF: 09 DUSHANBE 346 
 
DUSHANBE 00000357  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: EmbOffs and William Trigg, USAID's Regional 
Society and State Advisor based in Bishkek, travelled to the 
Ferghana Valley in Northern Tajikistan to conduct outreach 
events with young people and members of the religious community. 
 EmbOffs met students at a madrassa and worshippers at a Friday 
praying mosque in the remote Asht district; spoke to members of 
the religious community in Isfara; and gave presentations to 
students at the American Corner in Khujand.  EmbOffs were 
enthusiastically received at each venue, and we can see the 
enormously positive impact that a robust public diplomacy 
strategy can have in this country.  End summary. 
 
 
 
ISFARA TO KHUJAND 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) We started off by calling on Domullo Safokhon, the imam 
khatib of the Central Mosque in Isfara, and his deputy, Hoji 
Homidullo Karimov.  Isfara is often described as the most 
religious part of Tajikistan, and both Safokhon and Karimov 
spoke to us frankly about issues affecting their work (reftel). 
Safokhon and Karimov work closely with the imams in the 
district's Friday praying mosques, proactively arranging 
meetings between imams and secular government officials to 
discuss issues of mutual interest.  We had expected that the 
imams would be somewhat reluctant to speak at length with us, 
given the sensitivity of religious issues; we even doubted that 
they would show up for our meeting.  We were surprised at how 
open our discussion was, however.  The Central Mosque provides 
after-school religious instruction in Isfara, and Karimov said 
he would be happy to work with us in reaching out to young 
people. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Our next stop was the American Corner in Khujand, where 
we gave presentations on Muslim life in America and on Barack 
Obama.  We were met by a crowd that was bigger than we had 
previously seen at that American Corner; the room was packed 
with about 50 students, mostly from Khujand State University. 
The students were amazed to find out that there are about as 
many Muslims in the United States as there are people in 
Tajikistan.  They were even more amazed to find out that members 
of different Islamic sects - Sunni and Shia, for example - even 
prayed at the same mosque.  The students had many questions 
about the new administration, and it was obvious that they had a 
positive impression of President Obama.  After the session, the 
students mobbed us and asked us even more questions about life 
in the United States. 
 
 
 
ASHT - WHERE FEW AMERICANS HAVE TREAD 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) The next day, we drove to the remote Asht district, which 
borders Uzbekistan and has a population of about 180,000.  This 
was the first trip that an EmbOff had made to Asht in about ten 
years.  There are many Uzbek villages throughout the district, 
and many Tajiks also speak Uzbek.  One resident of Shaydon, a 
town in the center of the district, told us that the only work 
that people could find was in Russia.  He also said that he had 
not had electricity since January 14. 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Our first meeting was with Mullo Sadullo, the director 
of a madrassa near Shaydon.  Tajikistan has 19 madrassas, and 9 
of them are in Sughd Province.  Sadullo told us that all of the 
madrassas report to the Council of Ulamo, the 
government-affiliated religious council.  The Council approves 
the madrassas' curricula, and the Council's regional 
representatives monitor the examination process.  The curriculum 
in the madrassas throughout the country should essentially be 
the same, with only a few minor variations. 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) There are 59 students at Sadrullo's madrassa - 40 men 
and 19 women.  The madrassa does not take the place of secular 
education; students range in age from 16 to 22 and must first 
complete compulsory secondary school.  The normal course of 
study lasts 4 years and encompasses 25 subjects, 10 of which are 
secular.  Women generally stay about two years, then leave to 
get married.  Students receive a diploma, and then can go on to 
an institution of higher education.  Sadrullo said his goal was 
 
DUSHANBE 00000357  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
not to prepare imams, but rather to give students a firm 
religious base.  Of the madrassa's 162 graduates since 1999, 
only 8 have become imams. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Sadrullo arranged for us to speak separately with the 
men and women students.  The men were fascinated by Trigg's 
descriptions of religious life in the United States - that there 
were prayer rooms in public buildings, and that women can freely 
wear hijabs in school.  The majority of their questions involved 
personal conduct and appearance ("can Americans get a passport 
if they have a beard?").  The women were less vocal with us, and 
about half of them looked at the floor while we were in the 
room; one woman asked us whether women and girls can wear hijabs 
in schools in the United States. 
 
 
 
AMERICAN PERFORMS A MIRACLE 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) We finished off our trip to Asht by visiting a Friday 
praying mosque in the village of Sahrob.  The mosque had just 
been completed in 2008 (funded from Saudi Arabia, reportedly), 
and there were about 1000 to 1500 men - mainly in their 20s and 
30s.  Oddly, the imam-khatib of the Central Mosque in Shaidon 
was also there, which made us wonder who was leading the prayers 
at the Central Mosque.  Nevertheless, he handed the mosque's 
imam the prepared sermon that had been faxed from Dushanbe.  We 
were surrounded by curious onlookers; we were clearly the center 
of attention. 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Trigg and PolAssistant went into the mosque to pray. 
The imam invited Trigg to address the worshippers, and Trigg 
accepted - speaking in both Uzbek and in English.  After Trigg 
finished, the imam declared, "Could you ever imagine that an 
American would come and pray at our mosque? It is a miracle." 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment: The events and meetings that we attended 
confirm that the demand for information about Americans and the 
United States in Northern Tajikistan is enormous.  The more we 
engage, the better we look, and there are enormous 
opportunities.  Our interaction with Mullo Sadullo was 
interesting, but it appeared to us as though the authorities 
view the madrassas as yet another instrument to control 
religious communities.  End comment. 
JACOBSON