Tajik Religious Scholars Underestimate the Values of Cultural Identity
Author: Nurulloh Valizoda, analyst, especially for “Sangar”
Last night, our friends at the Soniya news agency hosted a special program dedicated to the celebration of the Night of Chilla (Yalda). Mawlavi Waliulloh Labibi, a former lecturer at Biruni University, addressed the topic from a religious perspective, while I approached it from a cultural one.
Although the respected Labibi explicitly stated that there is no clear religious text or ruling that prohibits honoring the Night of Chilla, and clearly emphasized that issuing a fatwa banning it is dangerous and should not come from religious scholars, he simultaneously noted that if the celebration of the Night of Chilla is carried out with the intention of imitating the ancestors, then from a spiritual standpoint it is impermissible and falls under the hadith: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.”
My position is that our cultural and identity-based traditions should not be viewed through the lens of religious halal and haram, nor should they be burdened with jurisprudential “ifs” and “buts.” These “ifs” and “buts” open the door to abuse. Already, the Taliban, relying precisely on such reservations, have banned the celebration of the Night of Chilla, and no one can stop them. Since power is in their hands, they forcibly impose their own understanding of religion (even if it is erroneous, weak, and incorrect).
In my view, in such matters, informed and enlightened religious scholars must clearly distance themselves from takfiri and prohibitionist approaches and, with courage and determination, declare that such practices are neither haram nor forbidden in religion.
The celebration of the Night of Chilla and Nowruz is part of the distinctive features and, in essence, the pillars of the cultural and civilizational identity of Persian-speaking peoples. For more than a thousand years, Arabs, based on ethnically fanatical views and under the guise of religion, oppressed manifestations of our Persian-speaking culture, and this chain must not continue.
Yalda does not contradict religious principles and values in any way. Contrary to misleading propaganda, this tradition is not a religious or doctrinal ritual such that one could claim it is associated, for example, with fire-worshippers or Zoroastrians.
Yes, Zoroastrians also honored the Night of Chilla, but this celebration is not religious. It is connected to nature. Our ancestors established a deep bond with nature and lived in harmony with it, to the extent that they linked transformations and changes in the movement of the Earth and the solar system to life cycles.
The Night of Chilla represents a natural transformation in the solar system. After the longest night of the year, nights begin to shorten and days grow longer following Yalda. This natural cycle was a source of joy for our ancestors and had a deep philosophical and logical foundation.
In today’s conditions, when there is a political enemy acting against our culture, celebrating the Night of Chilla is not merely a cultural and symbolic act or a revival of a sense of belonging to the culture of our ancestors; it is also part of the struggle for identity and culture. When a value that belongs to you is under threat of erasure or prohibition, defending it requires both awareness and a sense of cultural and identity responsibility, as well as a high fighting spirit and the ability to say “no” to a culture of coercion and imposition.
I hope that Tajik religious scholars will pay greater attention to cultural issues, expand the scope of their cultural and historical studies, and not allow hostile groups and organizations opposed to Persian culture and civilization to use them as tools of propaganda against our culture. There is not a single anti-religious value in celebrating the Night of Chilla.
Tajik religious scholars must understand that, alongside religious responsibility, they also bear social, cultural, and political responsibility. Unfortunately, to date, compared to religious scholars of other peoples, Tajik theologians have been less active in defending cultural and identity values and have more often fallen under the influence of takfiri ideas directed against their own identity and civilization.
