Muhiddin Kabiri ( tg, Муҳиддин Кабирӣ), also known as Muhiddin Tilloevich Kabirov ( tg, Муҳиддин Тиллоевич Кабиров; 20 July 1965) is a

Tajik Tajik, Tadjik, Tadzhik or Tajikistani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Tajikistan * Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan * Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan * Tajik (surname) * Tajik cu ...

Muslim politician, former member of the

parliament of Tajikistan The Supreme Assembly of the Republic of Tajikistan ( Tajik: ''Маҷлиси Олии Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон,'' Russian: Высшее собрание (Маджлиси Оли) Республики Таджикистан), also kno ...

and the chairman of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party (IRPT) which was banned in Tajikistan in August 2015. Kabiri is fluent in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, Russian, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Early life and career

Kabiri was born in the

Faizobod District Fayzobod District (russian: Файзабадский район; tg, Ноҳияи Файзобод ''Nohiyai Fayzobod'') is a district in Tajikistan. One of the Districts of Republican Subordination, it is about 60 km east of Dushanbe. It b ...

of Tajikistan into a devout Muslim family. During the country's civil war in 1992–1997, Kabiri lived in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and had a business there. Upon returning to

Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (r ...

in 1997, he became a close ally of

Said Abdullo Nuri Sayid Abdulloh Nuri ( Tajik: Сайид Абдуллоҳи Нурӣ, Perso-Arabic script: سید عبدالله نوری) (March 15, 1947 – August 9, 2006), also transliterated as ''Abdullah Nuri'', led the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikis ...

, the leader of the IRPT, becoming deputy chairman of the party in 2000. In 2005, he was elected to the parliament of Tajikistan through an IRPT party list. Kabiri effectively led the IRPT since 2004 when Said Abdullo Nuri was diagnosed with cancer. Despite the resistance of many conservative members of the party, Nuri recommended Kabiri as his replacement, and Kabiri was elected the chairman of IRPT following Nuri's death in August 2006. Kabiri is credited with repairing ideological divisions within the party, strengthening it, and sidelining the more conservative and radical members of the party. In October 2011, he was reelected as chairman of the party. After the IRPT gathered only 1,5% votes, and no seats in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for first time in 15 years, Kabiri left the country amid widespread speculation that the party would be shut down by authorities. Kabiri's current whereabouts are unknown, although he is rumored to be in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. The 50-year-old was last seen publicly at an international conference in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, where he attended the International Conference of Islamic Unity on December 27 and was seated next to the head of Tajikistan's state-backed Council of Islamic Ulema and other members of the official delegation from Tajikistan. Kabiri's colleagues have urged him not to return to Tajikistan from abroad, saying it was not safe and citing the mysterious assassination of another opposition leader, fugitive tycoon and opposition

Group 24 Group 24 (russian: Группа 24, translit=Gruppa 24; tg, Гурӯҳи 24, translit=Guruhi 24) is a political opposition movement in Tajikistan. It opposes the rule of president Emomali Rahmon, who it accuses of corruption and nepotism. Group ...

founder

Umarali Quvvatov Umarali Quvvatov ( tg, Умаралӣ Қувватов; 21 November 1968 – 5 March 2015) was a Tajikistani businessman and politician. He was the leader of the opposition Group 24. He was shot and killed on 5 March 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey. ...

, in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

in March. In August 2015, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan was banned by the Tajik Justice Ministry.

References

Tajikistani politicians 1965 births Living people Tajikistani Islamists Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan politicians Islamic democracy activists Tajikistani expatriates Tajikistani Muslims Members of the Supreme Assembly (Tajikistan) Tajik National University alumni People from Districts of Republican Subordination {{Tajikistan-politician-stub