Imam-khatibs (imam-khatib is the leader of a local Islamic community, particularly as practiced among Sunni Muslims) and their deputies have been asked to surrender their passports for foreign travels to the country’s Spiritual Directorate for Muslims, Radio Liberty’s Uzbek Service, known as Radio Ozodlik, reported on April 8.   

Representatives of the clergy, with whom journalists spoke, attribute this decision to the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall near Moscow that claimed more than 140 lives and responsibility for which was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, as well as to the desire of the country’s authorities to establish control over religion in the country.  

According to journalists, imams (a prayer leader of a mosque) of all mosques on April 3 received a letter requesting them to hand over their passports for foreign travels to representatives of the Spiritual Directorate for Muslims.  

The representative of the Spiritual Directorate for Muslims of Uzbekistan, Ergash Rustamov, reportedly confirmed this information in an interview with Radio Ozodlik, but he refused to explain the reason for taking away their passports for foreign travels.