The key facts
- On 20 October 2026, the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan turned 83 years old.
- The institution was founded on 20 October 1943 at a kurultai in Tashkent, attended by more than 160 representatives from five republics.
- Eshon Bobokhon ibn Abdulmajidkhan was unanimously elected the first mufti; the board has carried its current name since 1996.
83 Years of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan
On 20 October 2026, 83 years passed since the establishment of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan. For this date, Kun.uz, in cooperation with the board's press service, gathered information about the history of the institution. According to the board, on 20 October 1943 in Tashkent, at a congress of ulama and religious figures, the foundation of this structure was laid.
Creation During the War Years
The Board was created during the Second World War, when the Soviet government began easing restrictions on religion. In the summer of 1943, a group of ulama led by the Tashkent scholar Eshon Bobokhon ibn Abdulmajidkhan took the initiative to unite the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan into a single religious administration. They appealed to Mikhail Kalinin, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and in July of the same year official permission was received to open the board.
The First Kurultai and the Election of the Mufti
The first kurultai took place on 15–20 October 1943 in the courtyard of Eshon Bobokhon's home on Korasaroy Street. More than 160 representatives from five republics took part in it, and they unanimously elected Eshon Bobokhon chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan and mufti of the five republics.
Changes of Name
Over the course of its existence, the board changed its name several times. In the Soviet period, the muftiate was called a 'spiritual administration'. In the early 1990s, each republic of the region established its own spiritual administration. In 1992–1995, the institution in Uzbekistan was called the Muslim Board of Maverannahr, and since 1996 it has been named the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan.
