DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, August 22 (IslamOnline.net) - The Islamic Center’s Scholars Committee in Tajikistan has banned Muslim women from praying at mosques or attending religious classes to the outrage of citizens and religious leaders in the Muslim Central Asian country.

Committee Chairman Khudayberdi Egamberdiev told reporters Saturday, August 21, that it is better for Muslim women to perform prayers at home rather than at mosques.

“Women praying at mosques can give way to seduction and mixing, given that most of the mosques don’t have special prayer rooms for women not to mention ablution areas,” Egamberdiev said.

He said the issue has been thoroughly debated by Tajikistani scholars for one month.

But the decision came under fire from the country’s religious leaders and even lay people.

Saidumar Mohammad Nazar, a senior member of the opposition Renaissance Islamic party, said the decision is unjust and runs counter to Shari’ah (Islamic law).

“It also contravenes the constitution, which safeguards freedom of religion,” he said.

He said Muslim women, according to Shari’ah are entitled to attend congregational prayers at mosques.

Tuda Teshaeva is irked by the decision. She vowed to defend their right with every possible legal means.

Imam Nurddin Turajonzoda argued that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs did not prevent women from attending prayers at mosques.

“Muslim women today are in a dire need to attend religious classes as immorality is spreading like wildfire and proselytizing is on the rise in Tajikistan,” he said.

Muslims are making up the majority of Tajikistan’s six million population. Sunni Muslims represent 85 percent, according to the CIA’s World Fact Book.

At the time of the Prophet, women used to perform prayers at mosques along with men.