The Tajikistan government, including President Emomali Rahmon, continue to enunciate a policy of active secularism.
Some mainstream Muslim leaders occasionally express, through sermons and press articles, their opinion that minority religious groups undermine national unity.
In 2020, 97.45% of the population were Muslim (Mainly Sunni), 1.67% had no religion and 0.69% were Christian; the largest non-Muslim groups include Russian Orthodox, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lutherans, Baha'is, Zoroastrians and Jews.
In 2006 a new unregistered Islamic group of the Salafi sect began worshipping in Friday mosques in Dushanbe, Sughd, and Khatlon.
To register with the DRA, a national religious group must submit a charter, a list of at least 10 members, and evidence of local government approval of the location of a house of worship, if one exists.
While the vast majority of citizens consider themselves Muslim, there is a significant fear of Islamic extremism, both within the government and among the population at large.
On June 28, 2007 representatives of 22 minority religious groups, including Baháʼís, Catholics, Baptists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Lutherans, Pentecostals and other Protestant denominations, signed an open letter to the President and Parliament expressing concern that the draft law would effectively outlaw minority religious groups in the country.
President Rahmon also declared that the Islamic University would be funded by the state, and the curriculum would include science and math.
In May 2022, the Committee on Religion, Regulation of Traditions, Celebrations, and Ceremonies (CRA) announced that they will no longer register any new Christian churches.
The Council of Ulamo, an ostensibly nongovernmental body that monitors and standardizes Islamic teaching, justifies the fatwa by explaining that according to the country's historical tradition, women do not pray in mosques.
Some considered the fatwa a political move inspired by the government under the guise of religious law to reduce the access women have to IRPT[who?]
In practice, many female students and teachers were expelled from school for wearing the hijab; there has been no official government reaction to the ongoing expulsions[citation needed].
There were no further reports of local government officials prohibiting Muslim women from having their photographs taken for an internal identification document while wearing the hijab[non sequitur].
This action was taken after government officials declared that children should be studying in schools, not worshipping in mosques[citation needed].
[citation needed] Missionaries of registered religious groups are not restricted by law, and they continue to proselytize openly.
Beginning in April 2007 government authorities prohibited the release of religious literature imported by Jehovah's Witnesses, despite the group obtaining permission and proper documentation[citation needed].
[citation needed] Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Tajikistan government has attempted to restrict the influence of two popular Islamic scholars [who?]
A Christian refugee couple from Iran, an Iranian woman and an Afghan man, remain in Tajikistan while appealing a denial of resettlement[citation needed].
The country did not grant this couple full refugee status according to international standards[citation needed].
The city government alleges that a piece of property owned by the church does not meet architectural standards[citation needed].
[citation needed] On April 2, 2007, Dushanbe city government officials shut down a religious celebration of Jehovah's Witnesses that more than 1,000 people attended.
Municipal officials partially tore down the synagogue, along with several mosques and administrative buildings, in February 2006, because it was in the middle of a planned park area[citation needed].
The city and Jewish community leaders were unable to reach a suitable compromise to relocate the synagogue or pursue an alternative solution.
On two separate occasions in April and May 2007, government officials allegedly beat a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses they had brought in for questioning.
On December 6, 2006, the Khujand City Court convicted IRPT member Mukhtorjon Shodiev and sentenced him to nine months in prison for inciting violence and calling for an overthrow of the Tajikistan government.
On July 26, 2006, the Tursonzade City Court convicted and issued a fine to a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses for conducting religious education without a permit.
On May 4, 2006 IRPT member Sadullo Marupov fell from the third story of a police station in Isfara, a town in the northern Sughd region known for its strong Islamic roots.
During the reporting period, women were increasingly permitted to be photographed for official identification while wearing the hijab, particularly to participate on the Hajj.
While most citizens consider themselves Muslim and most of the inhabitants are not anti-Islamic, there is a pervasive fear of Islamic extremism, felt both by the government and the general population.
On August 18 and September 14, 2006, unknown assailants threw Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in Dushanbe, setting parts of the building on fire.