Uzbek Muslims denounce IMU extremists

An Uzbek court in July sentenced 6 Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) members to various prison terms. Uzbek Muslims are decrying the extremists, noting that they are distorting the tenets of Islam 

Uzbek Muslims perform evening prayers in Tashkent July 23. Uzbek Muslims are denouncing members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) for not following the principles laid out in the Koran. [Maksim Yeniseyev]

By Maksim Yeniseyev2014-08-05

TASHKENT – Uzbekistan continues to fight efforts by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) to spread its message of extremism in the Central Asian country.

A court in Qashqadaryo Oblast July 7 sentenced three male and three female IMU extremists to various prison terms.

"During the past three years, the terrorists underwent training in undisclosed locations, learning skills with weapons and the theory of Islamic 'jihad,'" Uzbek Public Prosecutor's Office spokesman Arif Atajanov said. "The criminals planned to join their peers in Pakistan, collected funds for them and spread their own ideas among Uzbeks."

The terrorists aimed to overthrow the government and to establish the extremist idea of a caliphate, the court found. They went to prison for breaking laws on terrorism and extremism, and for participating in anti-government plots.

"Otabek Ochilov, Zafar Pulatov, Bakhtiyer Bozorov, Lolahon Kudratova, Nigora Ernazarova and Aziza Mukhitdinova will be serving sentences from nine to 15 years," Atajanov said.

Unanimous rejection of IMU ideology

In Uzbekistan, the IMU's ideas find no support and its efforts are doomed to fail, Muslims and clerics said.

"Organisations like the [IMU] distort Islam's ideas," Uzbek theologian Sheikh Abdulaziz Mansur said. "That much is obvious to all true believers. Extremist networks are appealing only to the illiterate and confused; all of their dogmas are lies. The treachery of the IMU, which uses the Koran to mask its terrorism, is obvious to all Uzbek Muslims."

"Islam is a peace-loving and tolerant religion," Mansur said. "For a believer who has undergone the soul-cleansing fast and other obligatory rituals, it is obvious that the cruelty and violence that constitute a way of life for extremists and terrorists have nothing in common with the true meaning of the Muslim life."

During Ramadan, which concluded with Eid ul Fitr July 28, Uzbek Muslims donated more than 60m UZS (about US $26,000) to charities and benevolent causes, the Administration of Muslims of Uzbekistan stated.

"Every mosque in Uzbekistan holds evening prayer," Zukhriddin Islamiddino, an Administration of Muslims spokesman, said. "Law enforcement personnel provide order and security for the faithful. Special meetings with theologians were organised across the entire country during the past month, who explained the meaning of rituals and how to hold the iftar. More than a half-million people participated in these events."

These rituals are a more accurate representation of the way Muslims should behave, he said.

Large mosque being built

Meanwhile, Uzbek Muslims are eagerly waiting for completion of the largest mosque in their country, which could possibly become the largest in Central Asia.

"The 'Minor' mosque, which is being built in the centre of Tashkent, was conceived by Uzbek President Islam Karimov," Tashkent city hall spokesman Malik Bobojanov said. "The president visited the construction site July 18, where he gave his personal recommendations and observations. ... The future mosque will hold 2,400 seats and will be operational by November 1."

The government also has been building a road meant to link the mosque with Hast-Imam, the country's largest religious complex. It includes a mosque, seminary and a museum with a copy of the 7th-century Othman Koran, the world's oldest surviving version of the holy book.

Source http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/main/2014/08/05/feature-01