• The Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis reviewed a draft law to fine parents up to $670 or 15 days in jail for involving their children in Islamic education.
• Limited official Islamic education in Muslim-majority Uzbekistan drives parents to underground options.
On June 25, the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis reviewed a draft law proposing fines for involving children partaking in Islamic education. The draft passed its first reading without objections.
If enacted, the amendments will update Article 47 of the Administrative Code (“Failure to fulfil obligations to raise and educate children”) to impose fines on parents or legal guardians who involve their children in religious instruction. The fines will range from 3.4 million to 5.1 million Uzbek soms ($270 – $404), with repeated offences resulting in fines up to $670 or 15 days of imprisonment.
Last year, there was an increase in hujras- religious classrooms, across the country. Parents, eager for their children to receive an Islamic education, unavailable under Soviet atheism and tightly controlled during President Islam Karimov’s tenure, now send their children to underground classes.
Uzbekistan, a Muslim-majority nation where 88-94 percent of its 37 million inhabitants follow Islam, has only 15 educational institutions dedicated to Islamic studies. Thirteen of these institutions are under the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, including three higher education institutions and ten secondary schools, two of which are exclusively for girls. This is starkly insufficient given the 2,125 mosques where Muslims pray five times daily.
Students can only enrol in these institutions after completing secondary school, around 15-16 years old—an age. This has become frustrating for many parents who are eager to start their children’s Qur’an memorisation journey earlier. Moreover, admission to these schools is highly competitive due to limited seats.
Studying Islam abroad presents additional challenges. For many families, it is prohibitively expensive, and students often must be 18 or older. Since 2021, Egypt’s Al-Azhar University requires Uzbek applicants to have a recommendation from the Committee on Religious Affairs.
Many ulema (Islamic scholars) have called to lift the ban on private religious education. However, this has been consistently rebuffed.
In 2021, the Committee on Religious Affairs issued letters asserting no urgent need for private religious education, arguing that sufficient opportunities already exist through 17 “Quran and Tajweed” courses, call centres, and e-platforms addressing inquiries about the Islamic lifestyle.
Currently, administrative penalties exist for those offering religious education without a permit from the Committee on Religious Affairs, including fines or up to 15 days of jail time. The draft law, if passed, will extend these penalties to parents seeking Islamic education for their children outside the limited legal opportunities available.
