The declaration of independence and the commitment of the Government of Uzbekistan to the ideals of democracy, the choice of a secular path of development of society gradually made it possible to create equal legal conditions for religions in general and religious groups in particular.
In the religious sphere, this large-scale work is carried out by relevant government agencies and civil society institutions and is aimed at ensuring citizens’ constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of conscience; strengthening religious pluralism, tolerance and interfaith dialogue.
In recent years, significant changes have taken place in Uzbekistan and large-scale reforms have been implemented in many areas, including religious education.
A number of legislative acts have been adopted aimed at further improving activities in the religious sphere.
The Law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations,” which regulates religious life in the country, entered into force on July 6, 2021.
As is well known, this Law incorporates universally recognized rights and freedoms of believers in the religious sphere, guaranteed by international human rights standards. At the same time, it takes into account the specific features of the current religious situation and the historical prerequisites for the formation of interfaith relations in Uzbekistan. Without considering these factors, it would be impossible to maintain the delicate balance of relations among the nations and ethnic groups living in the country, as well as to ensure respect for their religious beliefs and feelings.
At present, we also rely on another important document — the Concept of Ensuring Freedom of Conscience of Citizens and State Policy in the Religious Sphere in the Republic of Uzbekistan, adopted on February 25, 2025.
The Concept is aimed at ensuring a stable environment in the multinational and multiconfessional society of Uzbekistan, which is necessary for the realization of the interests of the entire society and for living in mutual harmony based on the principles of democracy, secularism, freedom, equality, social justice, solidarity, and consistent development.
In addition, on April 21, 2025, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed the Decree “On Measures to Further Strengthen Guarantees of Citizens’ Rights to Freedom of Conscience and to Elevate Reforms in the Religious and Educational Sphere to a New Stage.”
This document also reflects the close attention of the country’s leadership to the comprehensive development of activities in the religious sphere, the protection of the rights of believers, and the support of religious organizations.
The International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan has been established for the purpose of in-depth study of Islam and teaching its scientific foundations. The academy specializes in teaching secular and religious knowledge, training qualified personnel in the interpretation of the Quran, islamic law, religious dogmas and hadith.
Uzbekistan employs unique mechanisms for reviving national and religious values, studying and promoting the rich scientific and spiritual heritage of its great ancestors, and strengthening religious tolerance in society. The Center for islamic civilization and the International research centers of Imam Bukhari, Imam Termizi and Imam Maturidi have been established.
As a result of the large-scale reforms and transformations carried out in the religious sphere, the Mir Arab higher madrasah in Bukhara, the School of Hadith studies in Samarkand, the Imam Termizi madrasah and the Imam Termizi islamic institute in Termez began their activities.
In addition, the “Waqf” charitable public foundation has been established under the Muslim board of Uzbekistan, whose tasks include financing the reconstruction of mosques, holy places of pilgrimage and visits, and other facilities, providing a logistical base and providing financial support to workers in this field. The foundation was given the opportunity to dispose of funds credited to 3 accounts: charity, waqf and zakat (ushr, fidya, fitr).
In accordance with the adopted legislative acts, in order to further improve the activities of the Committee on religious affairs, a new composition of the Council on religious affairs, which is a public advisory body under the Committee, has been approved.
The Council’s activities are inextricably linked to ensuring religious freedom in the country, and respecting the rights of religious organizations and believers. The initiatives of the Council members are being fully implemented as part of the measures taken by the country’s leadership to protect and further strengthen the rights and freedoms of religious movements.
In accordance with the above-mentioned Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated April 21, 2025, the activities of the Council are now carried out not only at the national level but also at the local level. In particular, local Councils for Religious Affairs have been established and are currently functioning in regions with a significant presence of various religious confessions, namely the Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent, and Fergana regions.
The importance and timeliness of the measures taken by the country’s leadership led to the holding of the international forum “Dialogue of declarations” on May 16-20, 2022 in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara. This event was part of Uzbekistan’s systematic and consistent efforts to put into practice the principles and provisions enshrined in the Special resolution of the UN General Assembly on “Education and religious tolerance”, adopted in 2018 at the initiative of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
I would especially like to note that at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, the “Bukhara declaration”, adopted as a result of this forum, was recognized as an official UN document. As an official UN document, the document has been translated into 6 languages and distributed among the UN member states, as well as specialized agencies of the organization.
At the moment, the uzbek side, together with some foreign partners, has begun preparations for the next round of the international forum “Dialogue of declarations”. The event is scheduled to take place on September 10-13, 2025 in Tashkent and Samarkand.
There are special dates in Uzbekistan that are closely related to the religious life of believers: these are the “Peoples’ friendship day”, celebrated on July 30, and the “International day of tolerance”, celebrated on November 16. Both of these dates are marked not only by events, but also by the presentation of appropriate badges – the badge “Halklar dustligi” (“Friendship of peoples”) has been awarded since 2021, and the badge “Diniy bagrikenglik” (“Religious tolerance”) has been awarded to distinguished citizens since 2023. Among the awardees there are representatives of various religious denominations of Uzbekistan.
At the same time, Uzbekistan attaches great importance to preserving religious and spiritual heritage, enriching existing funds, creating the necessary conditions for local and foreign researchers to work with historical sources, and comprehensively studying historical and cultural heritage samples.
Today, in order to ensure interethnic and interfaith harmony in society, a legislative framework has been created in the country that ensures respect for the rights and legitimate interests of citizens.
The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan establishes a norm on the freedom of religion of every person. Attention is also being paid to improving and liberalizing national legislation in the field of religion. Procedures for obtaining permits for the manufacture, import and distribution of religious literature have been simplified. The procedure for state registration of religious organizations has been further optimized.
Noting the fundamental innovations in the Law as a consistent continuation of large-scale reforms in the religious and educational sphere, special attention should be paid, first of all, to creating favorable conditions for ensuring freedom of conscience of every person, clarifying law enforcement practice.
Currently, a total of 2376 religious organizations of 16 religious denominations operate in Uzbekistan. Of these, there are 2177 muslim organizations, which is 92 percent of the total number.
There are also 181 christian organizations in Uzbekistan, 8 jewish communities, 7 baha’i faith communities, one Hare Krishna society and one buddhist temple, as well as the interfaith Bible society of Uzbekistan.
During the period since the entry into force of the new Law, a total of 65 religious organizations have been registered across the country, including one higher religious educational institution, 56 mosques, and eight religious organizations representing four different non-Islamic confessions.
At the same time, the national legislation of Uzbekistan does not provide for any restrictions on the number of religious organizations or the timing of their registration.
Religious organizations operating in the republic, along with other public organizations, actively participate in spiritual and educational work, make a significant contribution to improving the spirituality of society, forming strong beliefs among young people based on patriotism, as well as interfaith and interethnic tolerance.
It should be noted that religious policy in Uzbekistan is based on the principles of the secular nature of the state, tolerant and equal treatment of all religions. Representatives of various nations and ethnic groups professing islam, christianity, buddhism, judaism and other religions carry out their activities in the republic on equal terms.
All conditions have been created for adherents of each denomination to freely and unhindered practice their religion.
Believers pray freely in mosques, churches, synagogues, observe fasting, and also make pilgrimages. Religious organizations have the right to own territories, publish literature, train their religious ministers, and organize pilgrimages to sacred sites.
The freedom of religion guaranteed by the national legislation of Uzbekistan has created all the necessary conditions to meet the religious needs of all citizens representing 138 national and ethnic groups.
Representatives of different faiths freely celebrate all religious holidays. Thus, Eid al-Adha and Ramadan hayit are celebrated on an increasing scale by muslims, Easter and Christmas by christians, Passover, Purim and Hanukkah by jews, Nowruz by Baha’is, as well as celebrations dedicated to Buddha and Krishna and other major events.
Believers make pilgrimages to holy places: muslims go to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj and Umrah rituals, christians to Russia, Greece and Israel, and jews to Israel.
Over the years of independence, about 484 thousand muslims have made pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia, including 188 thousand for Hajj and 296 thousand for Umrah, and more than 3.2 thousand christians and jews have visited religious shrines in Israel, Russia, Turkey, Italy, Georgia, and Greece.
To meet the spiritual needs of society, a large number of religious literature of various orientations is published annually. To fully cover the religious life of Uzbekistan, a number of newspapers and magazines are published, including the newspapers “Islom nuri”, “Word of life”, “Hidoyat” and “East from above”.
Today, Uzbekistan systematically implements a set of measures to protect the population from the negative impact of destructive ideas reflecting radical extremist ideology and religious fanaticism.
An important step in this direction was the application of acts of pardon. In particular, since 2017, 29 decrees of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan have been adopted on pardoning persons who have committed crimes.
It should be noted that in recent years, as part of a consistent policy in Uzbekistan in the field of protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens, special attention has been paid to measures aimed at protecting the rights, freedoms, honor and dignity of not only citizens living in the republic, but also our fellow citizens who find themselves in difficult situations in foreign countries..
Unfortunately, some of our citizens, who fell under the influence of alien ideas and believed false promises, joined the ranks of international terrorist organizations in armed conflict zones abroad over the years. The spouses and fathers of some of the women returned as part of humanitarian operations were killed in armed clashes.
Taking this into account, on behalf of the President of Uzbekistan, five humanitarian actions “Mehr” were successfully conducted in 2019-2021, during which more than 500 citizens of the republic, mostly women and children, were returned to their homeland from armed conflict zones in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
In order to further facilitate their early reintegration and rehabilitation, a set of measures has been implemented at the state level to provide timely medical, psychological, material and moral assistance. To date, all repatriates have been provided with the necessary conditions for their adaptation to peaceful life and integration into society, and access to educational and other social programs has been provided, including through housing and employment.
In general, it is worth noting that an important distinguishing feature of the religious life of modern Uzbekistan is the inadmissibility of establishing advantages or restrictions for one religion in relation to other faiths.
One of the main priorities of reforming society in order to ensure interethnic harmony and religious tolerance is to ensure and protect the rights and freedoms of citizens, their equality before the law, regardless of race, gender, nationality, language, social origin, beliefs, religion, personal and social status, which are enshrined in the Constitution of Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan consistently and strictly fulfills its international obligations in the field of ensuring religious freedoms within the framework of international human rights treaties.
As known, Uzbekistan has now joined more than 70 major international human rights instruments. The accession to these documents contributed to the creation of an effective human rights protection system in Uzbekistan.
It is important that Uzbekistan’s religious policy, aimed at strengthening interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance in society, is an important factor for stability and security.
In conclusion, It should be noted that the large-scale reforms being implemented in the country are a clear confirmation of the consistent continuation of the implementation of the principle “Everything for the sake of man, for the sake of his future” by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Committee on religious affairs