"Mullah sorcerer" in Tajikistan received seven years for debauchery
Dushanbe. the 25th of October. INTERFAX - A Muslim cleric in Tajikistan was found guilty of committing sexual assault against a young woman and sentenced to seven years in prison and a large fine, a court representative told Interfax.
The trial of the clergyman, who was nicknamed the “mullah the sorcerer” on social networks, took place in the Sino district of Dushanbe.
The convict was also prohibited from conducting religious activities for five years after the expiration of his sentence.
The article incriminated against the defendant provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of five to seven years, that is, he was sentenced to the maximum term under this article.
According to the investigation, the now former clergyman was engaged in healing at home. One of his patients was the victim, a 25-year-old resident of the capital, who secretly recorded a video of a “treatment session” with the defendant on her mobile phone. The recording was circulated in the Tajik social media sector. It shows how a man with a beard, accompanied by an audio recording of a Koran reader, moves his hands over a woman’s body, while making movements of a sexual nature. Both are dressed.
The convicted person A. Ibrokhimov himself agreed during the trial that he had violated the norms of Sharia, but did not violate secular laws, since the woman came to him voluntarily and several times, knowing what exactly was happening at the “sessions.” He also asked the court for leniency because he is the only worker in a family with eight children.
The former clergyman's lawyer told reporters that the victim demanded that his client marry her, and when she was refused, she decided to take revenge on him by contacting law enforcement agencies. The defense plans to appeal the verdict.
In order to get to Polynesia or Black Africa, a Soviet person did not need to obtain a visa and go through a commission at the district committee, answering questions about the personnel of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Southern Rhodesia or Western Samoa. It was enough to fly to any of the republics of very Central Asia and drive away from the capital to the 101st kilometer and beyond.
If General von Kaufmann and other conquerors and leaders of Turkestan during the times of two Alexanders - the Liberator and the Drunkard - as well as one Mykola, did not pretend to introduce the natives to European civilization in its Russian version, then the Soviet government announced the introduction of all citizens to it under the sauce of Marxist-Leninist ideology - and badly crap in this matter...
However, savagery has its own advantage: savages are not able to join the intricacies of a bookish monotheistic religion, so Islamic fundamentalism has little chance in those parts. However, the envoys of Al-Qaeda or ISIS can simply drag some clan or tribe to their side and use them, like the British - the Gurkhas, who were not required to understand the essence of the British imperial idea.
In one village, neighbors quarreled - an old collective farmer and the mullah of the local mosque. And they not only quarreled, but became sworn enemies. In Central Asia, the presence of an enemy obliges one to be active: the enemy is supposed to cause trouble and, if possible, complicate life. In this case, the forces of the enemies turned out to be unequal: the capabilities of the old collective farmer were limited by nature, while the mullah was not just a mullah, but also a powerful sorcerer. And he used his witchcraft power in various ways to the detriment of the old man, his family and his household. In a short time, misfortunes befell the old man: the grapes froze, the sheep began to get sick and die, some worm devoured the pomegranate harvest. Family members fell ill with various rare diseases, and some of them even died. Moreover, the arrogant mullah not only did not hide or deny that these troubles came from him, but even boasted to the residents of the village, inflating the price of his witchcraft talents and showing how dangerous it was to be at enmity with him.
The poor old man tried to fight the mullah with the same weapon, but his amateur witchcraft was much weaker than the professionalism of his enemy and did not have any serious consequences. And the old man could not complain to Allah, for the clear reason that the representative of Allah in the village was precisely his mortal enemy. Then the completely desperate old man decided to appeal to the last, highest authority. He went to the district center, appeared at the district party committee and asked to see the first secretary. Having received an audience, the old man told the secretary his sad story, adding that he did not have the strength to continue the fight, and asked the party to protect him and his family from the machinations of the mullah.
The secretary of the district committee became very angry and ordered the mullah to be brought to him immediately. Soon the mullah was brought to the district committee; the secretary asked him if what he heard from the old peasant was true, and the mullah was forced to admit everything: you cannot lie to the party. Then the secretary of the district committee said: “This is an unheard of disgrace. In the days when our country is experiencing a technical revolution, when Soviet cosmonauts are exploring the universe, when in all areas of science and technology we are moving forward by leaps and bounds and leaving even the most advanced capitalist countries far behind us - in such days you, a politically illiterate mullah, have the impudence to bewitch the working collective farmers - and where?! In my region. I can't stand this. This is some kind of Middle Ages. This, finally, contradicts the scientific worldview. Break the spell on him immediately!
And the mullah was forced right there, in the office of the district committee secretary, to disenchant his neighbor. Moreover. The mullah swore that he would not harm the old man in the future, and even magically restored his neighbor’s farm that he had damaged. And, of course, obeying the will of the party, he stopped being at enmity with him. Thus, to everyone's satisfaction, this conflict ended, showing the true extent of the power of the party.
Crime reports in Tajikistan continue to include stories involving local mullahs practicing witchcraft and alternative medicine. One of the last such cases resulted in the death of a person whom they tried to “heal.”
The inappropriate behavior of individual religious figures has recently attracted the attention of even the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, who spoke about this at a meeting with representatives of the public. Religious scholars state that people without proper education and upbringing often become “mullahs” in Tajikistan, and their “witchcraft practice” remains in demand due to widespread superstitions among the people.
The latest criminal story of this kind became known last week. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, a 19-year-old local resident who suffered from mental illness died after they tried to “drive out the jinn” from him. The ritual, according to investigators, was performed by a certain Abdulvokhid Kodirov, a mullah from the Pyanj region bordering Afghanistan, who specialized in this kind of “healing.”
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Kodirov first beat the patient with rods and then made several cuts on his body with a knife. The young man died from beatings and blood loss. Mullah was later detained.
A few weeks earlier, a trial in Tajikistan ended in another case that received significant publicity. In the dock was a certain Asadullo Ibrokhimov, known as the “mullah the sorcerer.” He was accused of harassing a patient whom he undertook to treat. The charges were based on a video recording of the “healer” hugging a woman and making sexual movements. As noted by Radio Ozodi (the local service of Radio Liberty), he accompanied his actions by reading surahs from the Koran.
Ibrokhimov’s lawyer argued that his client was a victim of a “set-up” - allegedly the patient wanted to marry Ibrokhimov (or rather, become his second wife, since he was already married), but was rejected by him and decided to take revenge. The “mullah the sorcerer” himself stated that “he was guilty of sins before the Almighty, but according to the laws of the country he did not commit a crime.” The court eventually found him guilty and sentenced him to seven years in prison.
Another sentence against a religious figure was handed down in September. A resident of the Vose region (western part of the country), Sobir Gieev, who married his own underage stepdaughter, was sentenced to prison. As it turned out, Gieev, known as Mullo Sobir, married a woman several years ago; later he married her eldest daughter, and then the youngest, who was in the seventh grade at that time. After law enforcement agencies found out about this, the man was detained. His “younger wife” was pregnant by that time.
The court found Mullo Sobir guilty of raping a minor and sentenced him to 23 years in prison. The girl’s mother and the religious leader who married Gieev to the minor were also convicted of complicity. The head of the local administration was removed from office amid the scandal.
The President of Tajikistan drew attention to the case of Mullo Sobir when he spoke about abuses among religious figures. He also recalled the story of a certain Jabbor Abdurakhmonov from the Bokhtar region (southwest of the country). Abdurakhmonov, known as Mullo Jabbor, persuaded a group of young men to rob a local businessman (according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he convinced them “through suggestion and hypnosis”). Mullah promised the robbers that he would use his magic to prevent the police from solving the crime.
Believing the sorcerer, the young people stole 80 thousand dollars from the businessman; Abdurakhmonov took about half of this amount. True, in order to confuse the investigation, his witchcraft abilities were not enough. The robbery victim complained to the police, and the criminals were detained.
Fellow villagers of Mullo Jabbor said that he made his living by spells and witchcraft. According to neighbors, the sorcerer “knew how to read from an ancient book that was passed down to him from his teacher.”
The institution of mullahs in Tajikistan, as Asia-Plus notes, began to be popularized after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In a country where currently the vast majority of the population professes Islam, mullahs are turned to for cures of illnesses, resolution of family and other issues. True, as Islamic researcher Mahram Anvarzod notes, the idea of a “mullah” in Tajikistan has little in common with the true status of such a religious figure. “Mullahs not only have tasks of religious teaching, but must solve national problems,” he explains. “They must strengthen cultural and national values, serve in the name of peace, stability and security of society. The level of knowledge of those who present themselves as representatives of a religion must be extensive and very high.”
In fact, as the President of Tajikistan admitted, the country is ready to call “mullah” “everyone who puts on the clothes of a religious minister, regardless of his level of literacy and piety.” The level of religious knowledge of most of these figures, Anvarzod agrees, is very low; they themselves need training.
The popularity of “mullah sorcerers” is supported by widespread superstitions among the population and the demand for various kinds of occult services. There is also rumored demand among the elite. “Almost all our high-ranking officials go to these “mullo” and sorcerers,” a government source claimed a couple of years ago (the journalists who published his words did not name him). “Although they will never admit it, so as not to be branded as ‘dark’ people.”
Criminal punishment for witchcraft during sexual harassment. According to amendments to the Criminal Code adopted by the upper house of parliament, such crimes are punishable by imprisonment for a period of 3 to 8 years. Folk magicians and healers are extremely popular in Tajikistan. Lenta.ru talks about the high-profile scandals associated with them.
Age is not a barrier
As a rule, local mullahs are accused of this. The new law even has a special clause stating that punishment will also apply to those who exploit religious feelings for such purposes.
In 2014 on Tajik television showed Hidden camera footage of 66-year-old mullah Narzuly Salikhov communicating with a client on the phone. “Prepare seven bunches of unripe harmala (herbaceous poisonous plant - approx. "Tapes.ru"), two liters of boiled water, one pack of tea and a pack of salt. Also be sure to have a tube of Vaseline. I will come to your home to treat you. I don’t host them - the police get on my nerves,” says Salikhov. Later, he told the police that he read dua (prayer) to infertile women through a hose. “The women inserted one end of the hose into themselves, and I read dua at the other end. I had duas for 5, 10 and 15 minutes,” admitted Salikhov.
In October 2013, “mullah sorcerer” Asadullo Ibrokhimov was convicted of fraud and assault on honor. The evidence was a video recording of his communication with Zilola Rakhimova. The “healer” first quotes the Koran, then performs sexual acts with the “patient”. This “sex therapy” was posted on the Internet and later partially demonstrated on state television. It was reported that Rakhimova herself made the video. Ibrokhimov claimed that he treated exclusively with talismans and amulets, but the court sentenced him to seven years in prison and a fine.
A video of the harassment of 80-year-old mullah Burkhoniddin Asomiddinov was also widely circulated on blogs and social networks in Tajikistan. “Shaitan pushed me into this, or Allah was angry with me. I repented, I ask all the girls for forgiveness,” stated healer during arrest. In 2014, employees of the department for combating organized crime detained the 56-year-old imam-khatib of a mosque in the Bokhtar district of Tajikistan, Abdurakhim Ibrokhimov. “I took off her dress and bloomers and hugged her. After that, I wrote dua under my navel and on my chest. Then he began to rub these inscriptions with his palms,” admitted he is a law enforcement officer.
In September 2013, the Vose district court in Tajikistan sentenced Sobir Gieev, known as Mullo Sobir, to 23 years in prison. He married his own underage stepdaughter, a seventh grade student. After law enforcement agencies found out about this, he was detained. The “younger wife” was already pregnant. The girl’s mother and the mullah who married Gieev to the schoolgirl were also convicted of complicity in the crime. In February 2015, a certain Shaikh Temur was arrested in the Gissar region of the country. He forced local girls to marry him - this was confirmed by their relatives. A state television report on the matter showed people kissing the hands and car of an elderly man who called himself the “prophet of the end of the world.”
But those convicted of witchcraft with sexual harassment can avoid prison. On February 10 of this year, the country's parliament allowed them to be released after paying a fine of 200 somoni (about 2 thousand Russian rubles) for each day of the assigned prison sentence.
Frame: Yakub Tamaev / YouTube
It's not just girls who are into magic.
In Tajik crime reports, mullahs-sorcerers appear not only in connection with seduction and harassment. In November 2013, a 19-year-old Tajik citizen who suffered from mental illness died after an attempt was made to “drive out the genies” from him. Mullah of the Pyanj region Abdulvokhid Kodirov was charged with murder. According to the investigation, in order to “cure” the patient, the mullah “first beat him with seven wooden rods until they crumbled, and then made several cuts with a knife on his body, as well as under his tongue.” The young man’s body could not withstand the beating and such blood loss.
In June of the same year, Mullah Abdujabbor Abdurakhmonov, who makes his living through conspiracies and witchcraft, was detained in the Khatlon region. As they said in the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he organized the robbery of a businessman in the city of Kurgan-Tube. Abdurakhmonov, also known as Mullo-Jabbor, used "suggestion and hypnosis" to force several young men to do his bidding. In addition, Abdurakhmonov told them that after the robbery, he would use his magic to prevent the police from tracking down the robbers. 80 thousand dollars were stolen from a businessman, 35 thousand of which were taken by the organizer of the robbery. But the criminals were caught, the “magic” did not work.
In total, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, there are about five thousand professional sorcerers in the country. Most of all - in the Sughd and Khatlon regions and the outskirts of Dushanbe. The popularity of magic has reached such proportions that the country's President Emomali Rahmon drew attention to it. He noted that “some mullahs... commit actions that are considered an offense and a crime, dishonoring the name and image of a religious person and a Muslim.”
Frame: YouTube
All the power is in the right forearm
The absolute majority of the population of Tajikistan are sincerely believing Muslims. When health problems or family difficulties arise, they prefer to turn not to doctors and psychologists, but to mullahs. Although they often do not have any religious education, they use their status for personal enrichment.
The number of mullahs increased sharply after the collapse of the Soviet Union. “And many live very well in this “position” at the expense of the people... Unfortunately, often random people who do not have the necessary knowledge in the field of religion and have not seen the correct religious upbringing become mullahs. The people themselves are to blame for this, because they deeply believe in all these superstitions and blindly follow the admonitions of all sorts of fortune-tellers and pseudo-mullahs,” explains religious scholar Kamar Nurulkhakov.
It’s not just people from the outback who turn to sorcerers and sorcerers. The services of magicians are also in demand by high-ranking officials. “Feel the right forearm of any official - on most of them you will find a small hard package on the hand. This is a tumor - an amulet against the evil eye and damage,” says the material entitled “The Power of Magicians” by the Asia Plus publication. The publication reports that the services of a fortune teller in Dushanbe are used, for example, by one of the former leaders of the Tajik parliament, who is trying to cleanse himself of corruption. To do this, he even repeatedly traveled outside the republic - “to more powerful sorcerers.” “The 28th of every month is considered a particularly important day for magicians. On this day, according to them, people come not to be treated, but to get rid of their enemies,” Asia Plus reports and adds that the activities of sorcerers have already turned into a national disaster.
Tajik human rights activist Gavhar Juraeva believes that the prevalence of magic is easily explained. “When a country is in a transition period, when there are certain difficulties and hardships, all sorts of psychics, magicians and sorcerers always come to the surface. People need hope, they need to somehow fill the spiritual vacuum,” she says. According to her, Tajik migrants in Moscow often “solve issues” with the help of magic.
Criminal punishment for witchcraft during sexual harassment. According to amendments to the Criminal Code adopted by the upper house of parliament, such crimes are punishable by imprisonment for a period of 3 to 8 years. Folk magicians and healers are extremely popular in Tajikistan. Lenta.ru talks about the high-profile scandals associated with them.
Age is not a barrier
As a rule, local mullahs are accused of this. The new law even has a special clause stating that punishment will also apply to those who exploit religious feelings for such purposes.
In 2014 on Tajik television showed Hidden camera footage of 66-year-old mullah Narzuly Salikhov communicating with a client on the phone. “Prepare seven bunches of unripe harmala (a herbaceous poisonous plant - approx. "Tapes.ru"), two liters of boiled water, one pack of tea and a pack of salt. Also, be sure to have a tube of Vaseline. I will come to your home to treat you. I don’t host them - the police get on my nerves,” says Salikhov. Later, he told the police that he read dua (prayer) to infertile women through a hose. “The women inserted one end of the hose into themselves, and I read dua at the other end. I had duas for 5, 10 and 15 minutes,” admitted Salikhov.
In October 2013, “mullah sorcerer” Asadullo Ibrokhimov was convicted of fraud and assault on honor. The evidence was a video recording of his communication with Zilola Rakhimova. The “healer” first quotes the Koran, then performs sexual acts with the “patient”. This “sex therapy” on the Internet was later partially demonstrated on state television. It was reported that Rakhimova herself made the video. Ibrokhimov claimed that he treated exclusively with talismans and amulets, but the court sentenced him to seven years in prison and a fine.
A video of the harassment of 80-year-old mullah Burkhoniddin Asomiddinov was also widely circulated on blogs and social networks in Tajikistan. “Shaitan pushed me into this, or Allah was angry with me. I repented, I ask all the girls for forgiveness,” stated healer during arrest. In 2014, employees of the department for combating organized crime detained the 56-year-old imam-khatib of a mosque in the Bokhtar district of Tajikistan, Abdurakhim Ibrokhimov. “I took off her dress and bloomers and hugged her. After that, I wrote dua under my navel and on my chest. Then he began to rub these inscriptions with his palms,” admitted he is a law enforcement officer.
In September 2013, the Vose district court in Tajikistan sentenced Sobir Gieev, known as Mullo Sobir, to 23 years in prison. He is with his own underage stepdaughter, a seventh grade student. After law enforcement agencies found out about this, he was detained. The “younger wife” was already pregnant. The girl’s mother and the mullah who married Gieev to the schoolgirl were also convicted of complicity in the crime. In February 2015, in the Gissar region of the country of a certain Shaikh Temur. He forced local girls to marry him - this was confirmed by their relatives. A state television report on the matter showed people kissing the hands and car of an elderly man who called himself the “prophet of the end of the world.”
But those convicted of witchcraft with sexual harassment can avoid prison. On February 10 of this year, the country's parliament released them after paying a fine of 200 somoni (about 2 thousand Russian rubles) for each day of the assigned prison sentence.
Frame: Yakub Tamaev / YouTube
It's not just girls who are into magic.
In Tajik crime reports, mullahs-sorcerers appear not only in connection with seduction and harassment. In November 2013, a 19-year-old Tajik citizen suffered from mental illness after they tried to “drive out the genies” from him. Mullah of the Pyanj region Abdulvokhid Kodirov was charged with murder. According to the investigation, in order to “cure” the patient, the mullah “first beat him with seven wooden rods until they crumbled, and then made several cuts with a knife on his body, as well as under his tongue.” The young man’s body could not withstand the beating and such blood loss.
In June of the same year, in the Khatlon region, Mullah Abdujabbor Abdurakhmonov made his living through conspiracies and witchcraft. As they said in the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he organized the robbery of a businessman in the city of Kurgan-Tube. Abdurakhmonov, also known as Mullo-Jabbor, used "suggestion and hypnosis" to force several young men to do his bidding. In addition, Abdurakhmonov told them that after the robbery, he would use his magic to prevent the police from tracking down the robbers. 80 thousand dollars were stolen from a businessman, 35 thousand of which were taken by the organizer of the robbery. But the criminals were caught, the “magic” did not work.
In total, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, there are about five thousand professional sorcerers in the country. Most of all - in the Sughd and Khatlon regions and the outskirts of Dushanbe. The popularity of magic has reached such proportions that the country's President Emomali Rahmon drew attention to it. He said that “some mullahs... commit actions that are considered an offense and a crime, dishonoring the name and image of a religious person and a Muslim.”
Frame: YouTube
All the power is in the right forearm
The absolute majority of the population of Tajikistan are sincerely believing Muslims. When health problems or family difficulties arise, they prefer to turn not to doctors and psychologists, but to mullahs. Although they often do not have any religious education, they use their status for personal enrichment.
The number of mullahs increased sharply after the collapse of the Soviet Union. “And many live very well in this “position” at the expense of the people... Unfortunately, often random people who do not have the necessary knowledge in the field of religion and have not seen the correct religious upbringing become mullahs. The people themselves are to blame for this, because they deeply believe in all these superstitions and blindly follow the admonitions of all sorts of fortune-tellers and pseudo-mullahs,” explains religious scholar Kamar Nurulkhakov.
It’s not just people from the outback who turn to sorcerers and sorcerers. The services of magicians are also in demand by high-ranking officials. “Feel the right forearm of any official - most of you will find a small hard parcel on the hand. This is a tumor - an amulet against the evil eye and damage,” says the material entitled “The Power of Magicians” by the Asia Plus publication. The publication reports that the services of a fortune teller in Dushanbe are used, for example, by one of the former leaders of the Tajik parliament, who is trying to cleanse himself of corruption. To do this, he even repeatedly traveled outside the republic - “to more powerful sorcerers.” “The 28th of every month is considered a particularly important day for magicians. On this day, according to them, people come not to be treated, but to get rid of their enemies,” Asia Plus reports and adds that the activities of sorcerers have already turned into a national disaster.
Tajik human rights activist Gavhar Juraeva believes that the prevalence of magic is easily explained. “When a country is in a transition period, when there are certain difficulties and hardships, all sorts of psychics, magicians and sorcerers always come to the surface. People need hope, they need to somehow fill the spiritual vacuum,” she says. According to her, Tajik migrants in Moscow often “solve issues” with the help of magic.
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