Kazakhstan bans series of religious works

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KAZAKHSTAN — On July 3, a court in Astana deemed a series of works extremist and banned their distribution in Kazakhstan. They include more than 50 brochures, 100 leaflets, 15 books, 20 audio recordings and electronic texts – 207 works in all. The majority of them are propaganda for the pan-Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir political party, which is banned in many Muslim CIS countries and Russian republics.

The list includes not only contemporary documents circulated by the extremist organisation, but several religious works as well. The books of Muhammed ibn Abd al-Vahhab al-Tamimi (1703-1792), religious leader and proponent of the ideas of another Muslim scholar, Ibn Taimiin, have been banned. The ideas in their works form the basis of the Salafist branch of Hanafi Islam, which was propagated by the founders of Saudi Arabia, though in the former Soviet Union their teachings were considered dangerous extremism. Among Salafists (better known in the CIS as Wahhabis) are fighters who oppose Russian authorities in the northern Caucasus region. This year, activities by Salafists were officially banned in Tajikistan. Kazakhstan has not yet adopted a similar ban.

Kazakhstan has labeled 14 organisations terrorist. The overwhelming majority of them are radical Islamic groups. Among them are: Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami; the Organisation for the Liberation of Eastern Turkestan; Al-Qaeda; the Uzbek Islamic Movement; Asbat al-Ansar; the Muslim Brotherhood; the Taliban; the Mojahed Zhamaat of Central Asia; Lashkar-i-Taiba; and the Society for Social Reform. Also on the list are the Kurdish National Congress and Boz Gurd, and the Japanese network Aum Senrike.

[KazPravda.kz, CA-News.org, KNB.kz]