Jehovah's Witnesses Jailed in Uzbekistan Terror Raid

Forum 18 reports that two Jehovah Witnesses have been jailed after a raid by anti-terrorist police. Other members of the faith have been fined or sentenced to labor camps. The current total of Jehovah's Witnesses now imprisoned in Uzbekistan now stands at four.

Authoritarian regimes in the region have used the 'threat' of terrorism as an excuse to lock up or persecute religious minorities consistently since 9/11, including minority Muslim groups that don't subscribe to 'official' Islam. The Jehovah's Witness faith was outlawed in 2006 and the members of the organization were arrested as part of a special terrorist cleaning campaign.

Shi'ism: Part III

Here is footage I accidentally took with digital camera on the way to Guba, Azerbaijan. This shrine is located at the foot of Beshbarmak Mountain, which is considered a holy place local Muslims. The mountain is visible in the background. In the foreground to the left is the shrine and to the right is a fountain visitors use to wash themselves.

Our driver, Chingiz, a Sunni, told us he didn't believe the shrine was true Islam, just superstition. I wish I had more info about the shrine, but I can't find any.

The Shia Revival

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

I'm reading The Shia Revival by Vali Nasr and at about 140 pages in I'm hooked. I got the book from my brother for my birthday the other night and I read over hundred pages of it today. Nazri's book is a well balanced blend of popular history, insightful analysis and colorful anecdotes. Above all, it is well and thoughtfully written.

The thesis of Nasr's book revolves around the millennium and a half conflict between the Sunni and Shia branches of Islam and how that conflict continues to shape events in the Muslim world today. Essentially, Nasr argues that the war in Iraq has revitalized the sectarian antagonism between the two branches of Islam and that this renewed internecine feud will play a leading role in shaping the Muslim world now and in future.

This book is an excellent read for a general audience and anyone interested in getting a better understanding of the forces at work in the Islamic world will find this book fascinating. Anyone interested in the future of the world will find it fascinating, for that matter.

Sole Tajikistan Synagogue Razed

Reuters reports that Tajikistan's only synagogue has been razed to make room for a new palace for President Imomali Rakhmon, who has ruled since 1992. There are talks in the works to build a new synagogue, but it sounds like nothing concrete has been agreed upon. This community of 350 Jews in Dushanbe is part of the 2,000 year old Persian-speaking Bukharan Jewish community, which is centered in Bukhara, Uzbekistan.

I don't have much analysis to add to this except to add that it is no small tragedy. Not only was it the spiritual home of Dushanbe's mostly impoverished and elderly Jewish community, but the the 19th century synagogue was a historical heritage site. According to Radio Free Europe UNESCO petitioned the Tajik government to make it a protected landmark, but their request was ignored. Jews in Central Asia have faced increased discrimination and persecution since the fall of the Soviet Union and many have made their way to Israel. Tajikistan's Jewish community has shrunk from 15,000 at the fall of the USSR, to its current number of 1,000.

While I was in Bukhara my brother and I had the unique opportunity to surreptitiously observe a group of Jews in Bukhara, Uzbekistan at study for moment through a crack in the wooden doors of the synagogue. Watching them study was a brief glance back in time and one of the most memorable moments of the trip.