Islamic invective against Botox in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan

Cosmetic surgery and women's clothing are being targeted by the authorities in Central Asia. In a sermon that went viral, the mufti of Dushanbe harshly condemned the injections, while in Ashgabat the police stopped women “wearing excessive make-up”. Sociologist Anora Sadykova: ‘Campaigns created to avoid discussions about unemployment, corruption and rising prices’.

Dushanbe (AsiaNews) - A Tajik preacher recently said that women will have to answer for ‘beauty injections’ in the afterlife. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Turkmenistan, the risk for cosmetic surgery is not only heavenly punishment, but also very earthly repression: women with plumped lips and lengthened eyelashes are not allowed on international flights.

The president of the Council of Ulema and mufti of Tajikistan, Saidmukarram Abdulkodirzoda, has spoken out harshly against the ‘Botox craze’, fillers and plastic surgery among women, and the video of his sermon has been posted on the Tajik Islamic Centre's YouTube channel, with tens of thousands of views.

The mufti described cosmetic procedures as haram, i.e. forbidden by Islam, and called on the faithful to “improve their behaviour, not their appearance”, condemning injections and operations as “the body is a gift from Allah”, and we will have to answer to Him.

Religious rhetoric is reinforced by wide-ranging state restrictions, as last year Tajikistan tightened its policy on women's clothing when, in the spring of 2024, President Emomali Rakhmon signed amendments to the law on “restoring traditions, solemnities and rituals”, effectively banning 'the import, propaganda and sale of clothing that does not correspond to the national culture' and imposing heavy fines of between 8,000 and 57,000 somoni (between 800 and 6,000 US dollars, ed.).

The types of clothing are not specified in the text of the law, which essentially refers to Islamic Middle Eastern dress codes, using the term “foreign clothing”. Women wearing the Khidžab are even prevented from entering healthcare facilities until they adjust their headscarves “Tajik style”, with the knot at the back.

Short skirts and bras that are too tight do not comply with national standards. In July 2024, police arrested two young women for posting photos of themselves in skimpy clothes on Instagram, stating that this “offends the honour of Tajik women and mothers”.

In Turkmenistan, too, women's appearance has been subject to state regulations, with very strict controls, especially since the transition from President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to his son Serdar in 2022, with a ban on overly obvious make-up, dyeing hair light colours, eyelash and nail extensions, and Botox injections. In 2023, two women were arrested in Mari on charges of choosing “clothing inappropriate for Turkmen women” because “half of their breasts were exposed”.

The ban on international flights is explained by the impossibility of recognising people with security systems if “their appearance has been distorted”.

MP Serdar Arazov explained that the bans are “based on health regulations” and in no way intend to restrict women's rights, who must be “properly informed” about them. The police carry out checks on the streets, stopping women with excessive make-up or non-compliant clothing; alleged compliance with the “fundamentals of Turkmenism” is verified not only in terms of appearance, but also in terms of lifestyle and daily habits. Dozens of women have lost their jobs, especially hostesses and railway operators, because their appearance was too “foreign” to morality.

As Anora Sadykova, a sociologist from Dushanbe, states, “the demands on make-up and clothing serve to avoid discussions about unemployment, corruption and rising prices”, and under the pretext of defending national culture, images of the “ideal submissive, modest woman without freedom of expression” are constructed. Similar elements of particular control over women, while men are allowed almost everything, also occur in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, often using the argument of “national traditions” to limit the influence of overly radical Islam.